At AE Marketing Group, like most marketing agencies, we receive countless business inquiries from service providers and production companies, creative freelancers and digital resources, bankers and boatloads of others, each and every month.
Now, we know that companies and individuals need revenue to grow their business and that people need jobs. We get it. But what we don’t understand is why so many of these inquiries lack even the most basic business fundamentals.
After all, in today’s digital age, what would make anyone think that a generic “Your Name Goes Here” email that’s popped out of a cookie cutter is going to earn a response, let alone a sale?
Every day, our CEO Brian Walker‘s inbox fills with inquiries that all have one theme in common. They basically read, “Hi Brian … I’m amazing … hire me … Thank you.” There’s no mention about AE Marketing Group or Brian Walker, other than our company and his name pasted into a template.
As with most every company, the Internet is crawling with information about AE Marketing Group. With just a click on Google, you can find details about our history, our customer brands, our mission, our awards, and so on. Yet, probably 9 of 10 inquiries that reach our inboxes from companies seeking our business don’t include anything about our business.
Rather, the inquiries are all about them.
Yes, it’s true that credentials and experience matter when pitching us your brand, but they don’t matter as much as demonstrating that you understand our company and can add value to what we actually do.
And that’s a valuable lesson for all marketers to remember: The next time you seek out someone for an introduction, or a referral, or a job inquiry, or so on, make the effort to actually show you’re amazing, don’t just tell how you are.
It’s that simple.