When I receive an unsolicited email or phone call from a vendor, it’s usually quite easy to see who has done their homework. Perhaps more accurately, the lazy, mail merge types tend to show their colors within the first few lines of an email, or the first 15 seconds of a phone call. Whether it’s spelling our company name wrong or badly mispronouncing my own name, these messages get deleted in seconds.

However, let’s say you’re a legitimate operation and you’re trying to reach new prospects via cold calling. Which approaches should you use to make a good first impression? Here’s a few that come to mind:

– If you’re sending an email, be sure to write their company name and personal name the same way they do. Pay attention to spelling, capitalization and spaces between words.

– If you’re placing a phone call, make an honest effort to pronounce their company name and personal name correctly. If you don’t know how to say it, ask a friend or colleague for help.

Of course, this is a lot of work compared to blindly sending out spam. But it’s also way more likely to get you past the initial few seconds of screening, thus increasing the chance that the recipient will take a moment to read or listen to what you have to say.