An irresistible question
February 2022
As you build your approach to connecting with a dream client, or potential collaborator, or whoever, the most powerful tool you can wield is an irresistible question.
You still have to reach them, and get their attention for long enough to ask, and they need to have the trust and free time required to respond.
But asking an extremely intriguing question will do wonders for increasing the odds of getting a response.
What makes a question irresistible?
- It should indicate deep familiarity with their area of interest and body of work
- It should not be a question they’ve answered somewhere else, at least not publicly
- It should be easy to respond in brief
- … but it should point to more questions
One common failure mode for outreach is the asking of boring, predictable, easy-to-ignore questions.
Are you available to meet this Thursday to discuss your sales team’s operations? 🙄
Do you have need of these services? 😴
Send this out to a list of 10,000 people and sure, a few might reply. One might even hire you. But you’ve annoyed and eroded the good will of several thousands of people in the process.
Instead, take the time to figure out a question that nobody is more qualified to answer than the person you’re asking.
This means crafting a unique question to each person you reach out to. It also means doing your homework.
All of which takes time. But you’ve got time, because you’re playing a long game.