Here's Why Prospects Don't Respond To Your Cold Emails: The X --> Y Paradox
The Discovery That Changed Everything
I was catching up with my friend Jason Bay (Cofounder and CRO of Blissful Prospecting) recently and we were talking about all the things we’ve learned about messaging over the last few years.
Particularly as it relates to cold outreach.
Jason told me, “It took me the longest time to really figure this out, but the empathy piece is so important.”
If you’ve ever attended one of my How To Not Suck At SaaS or How To Not Suck At Pitching Your Startup workshops then you’re familiar with something I call The Superhero Positioning Strategy™ to develop your brand’s positioning.
It’s our proprietary strategic positioning framework built on the concept of empathy.
I can’t stress this concept enough.
Show your target customer you understand them and they are more likely to listen to you.
I know plenty will read that previous line and say, “Yeah I know...that’s like Sales 101”.
But many who I interact with -- I’m talking Founders, BDRs, SDRs, and VPs -- may say they get it, but they don’t fully realize what it means from an execution standpoint.
I know I used to make this mistake.
Because I didn’t fully realize what it meant.
And then I made a discovery that changed everything...
The X → Y Paradox
Here’s a screenshot of a pitch I received via LinkedIn InMail recently:
There are a handful of mistakes with this email that I would correct, but for the sake of this article, let’s focus on one item in particular.
I call it The X → Y Paradox.
“We’re showcasing our best customers in the email! Why aren’t they responding to us! Maybe we should show them even better examples??”
Most companies like to highlight successful examples of customers who use their product, with good reason.
You definitely should reference customer success.
But just how successful should your customers be?
The natural inclination for many founders, sales enablement, and marketing departments is to showcase their alpha case study(ies) -- the examples of massive customer success.
Herein lies the paradox:
Your alpha case study disregards empathy with your prospect.
As the person selling the product, you know you can help them achieve massive success in your specific niche, as evidenced by your alpha.
But your prospects don’t believe they are capable of massive success.
Their current state is “X”.
You are selling them “Y”.
Y is a total transformation.
Y is a departure from their existing behavior.
Y is something they are completely unfamiliar with.
Y is a state they don’t see as possible for them, because of their specific situation.
Y is a disregard for empathy.
Y is unbelievable.
The X → Y Paradox, defined:
THE X → Y PARADOX
In trying to convince a prospect of the value of your product, you leverage a case study showcasing massive success of an existing customer -- the alpha case study. Your prospect sees themselves in a state of X and your alpha represents Y. This creates a paradox where using legitimate evidence of massive customer success actually works against you, because the prospect either refutes it, or believes it wouldn’t work on them.
In the eyes of the prospect, Y is too far a departure from their current state of X.
The Psychology behind the X → Y Paradox
Photo credit: psypost.org
Let’s focus on the second half of that definition…
...using legitimate evidence of massive customer success actually works against you, because the prospect either refutes it, or believes it wouldn’t work on them.
In the eyes of the prospect, Y is too far a departure from their current state of X.
There are multiple psychological factors working against you in the X → Y Paradox.
You’re speaking to the rational brain. The part that likes to say “Yeah but--”.
Your alpha case study features a massive statistical improvement of your customer (“We helped them sell $20k more of their product in just one week!”, “They 10x’d their employee efficiency!”, “We cut their costs by $100k in just 4 months!”).
Your big hook is selling them on the ROI which speaks directly to the “Yeah but--” brain.
When given the opportunity, the “Yeah but--” brain will find an excuse to say no.
Analysis of actual sales conversations from sales intelligence company Gong.io shows a 27% decrease in close rates when ROI language is used.
There are 2 possible “Yeah but--” responses activated by your alpha case study
“Yeah but--What data did you fudge to get those numbers?”
“Yeah but--our situation is different, so this wouldn’t work for us.”
You’re sensationalizing.
We live in an era of sensationalism, and as a result, we’ve built up an internal protection mechanism to tune out sensational news.
I’m not saying you didn’t help your customer achieve massive success. But in the eyes of the prospect -- the person who doesn’t know you yet -- it feels too sensational.
There’s no empathy -- no ability for the prospect to say, “this person understands me.”
How NOT To Pitch Case Studies In Outbound
Let’s come back to the prospecting email I received, and how the X → Y Paradox was in effect here:
First, let’s look at the upside of this email and the reasons why, logically, I should be DYING to click that calendly link.
They specifically work with B2B companies, and I run a B2B company.
At the time of the message, I was in the market for this service.
They have a results-based payment model -- meaning if they don’t generate leads, they will refund me 100%. There’s nothing to lose in working with them, much less just having an intro conversation.
The market conditions were perfect -- so why would I not take them up on their offer?
They used their alpha case studies to try to convince me of their value.
In only 10 months they have:
generated $1.24 million in revenue
generated over 6,780 leads
And their flagship alpha -- one customer got 26 new clients in the first 90 days.
Those are some serious results!
But it didn’t work on me.
They were building a coffin with the cumulative numbers, and they hammered the final nail with the flagship alpha.
You remember the “Yeah but--” brain, right?
My instinctive thought upon reading their alpha was, “There’s no way I could even handle 26 clients in 90 days.”
Basically, my brain said, “Yeah but--that’s way too much volume for me to manage.”
I am in a state of X.
They tried to turn me into Y.
And Y is too far a departure from my current state of X.
So What Should Your Messaging Say?
Photo Credit: The Dilemma, Movie, from Youtube
I’m glad you asked.
If the X → Y Paradox isn’t the path forward, then what is?
And is it ever appropriate to share your alpha case study of massive customer success? (I mean, what good is that success if you can’t brag about it, right?)
There IS a path forward that evades the paradox, and, yes, there is a time when it’s appropriate to share your alpha.
It’s what I’ve implemented with Startup Hypeman clients to help them STAND OUT to their audience.
And it’s rooted in empathy.
I call it The X+1 Effect.
(And no, it’s not as obvious as you might think).
And you’re in luck -- I’ve packaged it into an info-stacked guide called STAND OUT Messaging That Doesn’t Suck that I’m giving to you for Free99.
It’s a step-by-step walkthrough of how to reframe your outbound messaging at top of funnel to garner interest, and then on your demo calls to increase conversion.
It even shows you how and when to throw down your alpha case study.
You’ll be able to read it and start making changes immediately.
You can get it for FREE right here.
Download the STAND OUT Messaging That Doesn't Suck guide now
Now to be honest, the last time I created a free tool like this I legitimately didn’t think it was that good.
It was the Startup Hypeman 10 minute SaaS Masterclass video series and after I finished making it I thought it was just meh.
But then, to my surprise, I had BDRs, SDRs, and founders (even at the companies I was already working with) telling me things like, “After the 2nd video I was like ‘holy shit’ and I stopped what I was doing to work on that immediately.”
And I’m thinking “wait -- you’re already working with me, and you STILL found this content helpful??”
This time around I actually do think what I’ve made is really good, which means it’ll be even more valuable to you.
Download the FREE STAND OUT Messaging That Doesn’t Suck Guide now.
Got the Guide? Good!
Before you go back to responding to emails, I want to know your answer to this question in the comments:
What is YOUR alpha case study? Your example of massive client success? Bonus points if you can screenshot an example of an outbound email or call script using it.
I'm pumped to see your responses.
Stay Hyped,
RajNATION - The Startup Hypeman