Would you send unsolicited calendar invites to prospects?
This is a question that came up recently on a LinkedIn sales profession discussion board.
My answer – no. Here’s why –
I know that it can be frustrating constantly contacting the same prospects and not receiving any call backs or email responses in return. You start to get desperate. When you become desperate, that’s when you start making bad decisions that could hurt you.
I know some salespeople who actually have tried sending unsolicited meeting invites, only to have them backfire when prospects refused to ever deal with them or their company again.
Look, sending unsolicited emails is one thing. It’s commonplace and part of being in sales. But sending unsolicited calendar invites is kind of creepy. Its borderline invasion of privacy when you put a meeting invite on someone’s calendar that you have never spoken to before. It’s almost like arriving at your office in the morning and finding someone sitting your chair.
My advice – forget sending unsolicited calendar invites. Stick with the try and true method of cold calling, sending emails and direct marketing pieces. If that doesn’t work, you can always circle back later. There is plenty of other fish in the sea to find.