What makes a message persuasive?


Hi Reader,
โ€‹
I was reviewing outbound SDR messages for a founder recently.

And I couldnโ€™t help noticing the pattern.

It sounded scripted.
And engineered.
And over-personalized.
Even over-keyworded.
Click-baitish.
Bordering on manipulative.

That's the problem with most B2B SaaS sales and marketing.

It sounds too much like marketing and sales speak.

And because of that, it fails to persuade.

If you want your sales and marketing messages to work, let authenticity and humaneness be your central strategy.

Silky Agarwal

A newsletter for B2B SaaS founders and marketers who don't want the curse of knowledge to mess with their messaging.

Read more from Silky Agarwal

Hi Reader,Many B2B SaaS founders know about the Jobs theory. ๐—•๐˜‚๐˜ ๐˜„๐—ฒ ๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—น๐˜† ๐—ฎ๐—ฝ๐—ฝ๐—น๐˜† ๐—ถ๐˜ ๐˜๐—ผ ๐˜€๐—ฎ๐—น๐—ฒ๐˜€ ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐—บ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ธ๐—ฒ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด.Just as customers hire products for a job.They also hire your sales and marketing for a job.The job of buying.Tฬฒhฬฒeฬฒ ฬฒdฬฒeฬฒeฬฒpeฬฒrฬฒ ฬฒquฬฒeฬฒsฬฒtฬฒiฬฒoฬฒnฬฒ:Is your sales and marketing focused on ๐˜ธ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜ฏ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ค๐˜ถ๐˜ด๐˜ต๐˜ฐ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ด?Or on ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ญ๐˜ฑ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฎ ๐˜ฃ๐˜ถ๐˜บ?The former is just the outcome of doing the latter well.

Hi Reader,It might be killing your judgement in the name of efficiency and speed. You know what I am talking about.A lot of sales and marketing effectiveness relies on judgement.You try something, it works or it doesnโ€™t.Then you look back at the core assumptions of why you did it that way.You learn something new. And then you improve upon it the next time.This is precious memory. And it gets better with practice.Continue investing in it for long term gains.Donโ€™t outsource human judgement to a...

Hi Reader,How do we make big decisions in personal life?We ask ourselves 'who am I'?And then make choices that align with that answer. Buying a business software is also a tough decision.The company invariably asks itself 'who are we'?And then chooses software that aligns with that answer. What if you already answered that question in your positioning?That would help them make more confident decisions, right?