How to contact prospects

I’ve seen and sent out a lot of ‘applications’ for work in my time, with a fairly high success rate. Here are some of my tips:

1. Warm leads over cold emails.

Seeking out the people you want to work with because you have shared values or specialisms is a much better approach than sending out hundreds of cold emails. It takes longer, but it’s targeted, so you’re more likely to find the people you’re looking for without wasting anyone’s time.

There was a point when I was project managing for two different translation companies. From time-to-time, a duplicate email from a translator would land in both company inboxes. Bearing in mind these were two very different companies, with very different services and offerings. There was just no point contacting me, and they would have realised that had they looked at the company websites first. It’s a project manager’s equivalent of being called ‘Dear resource’.

2. Do your research

Check if they actually work in your languages, then check if they work in your area of expertise.

A lot of agencies will list just about every specialism, which is fine, but tells me they have a lot of ‘resources’. That’s also fine, but I prefer to be a bigger fish in a smaller pond.

So I dig a bit deeper to find out more about their clients. I’ll look on their website for testimonials, logos, and things like that. If their clients look like they’re a good match for me, I’ll go ahead to the next step.

3. Find the right person

I will try and contact the right person, personally. This eliminates the chance that my message will go into the wrong person’s inbox on a bad day when they’re too busy to forward it on. I do this by looking at the ‘about us’/’meet the team’ pages, or searching on LinkedIn.

4. Keep their brand in mind

Next I explore their ‘brand’ a bit further. It gives me a bit more inspiration for my approach. Is their writing style friendly, or matter of fact? I’ll adapt. Are they funny? I can attempt to make them smile.

5. Don’t go for the hard sell

My message to them is friendly. I don’t do the hard sell, because I know that there’s a good chance they won’t need my services at that moment in time. I’d rather introduce myself and leave a memorable impression on them in case they ever need a French>English translator in the future.

6. Remember, you have a skill they need

People don’t ‘give’ out jobs. You’re offering a service that they’re probably looking for. I like to come across as confident rather than deferent – an equal collaborator.

Bonus tip: always proofread. I used to always take into account that people were often writing to me in their second or third language. But if you’re worried about making mistakes, you could partner up with a colleague in the reverse language combination to proofread each other’s sales emails and social media posts.