 Everything has changed and nothing has changed. I'm talking about the way that we reach out to our meeting planner prospects through email to try and build a relationship. Since COVID-19 hit, everything in our industry has changed, including the way that we communicate and interact with one another. But some things haven't changed. And so I want to show you some of the nuances that we need to exercise when communicating by email with our meeting planner prospects. Are you looking to grab more meeting planner attention? Then stick around. Hey friends, it's Leanne. And when COVID-19 hit the meetings industry, it felt like our communications instantly changed. Or at least I thought it did. I've been receiving a mixed bag of email communications from hotels and destinations, everything from the incredibly thoughtful and empathetic to the ones where I'm not even sure they realized were in a pandemic. So I wanted to review some of my email tips and really polish them up as some of them have changed a little bit as we find ourselves in a different time of communication. And I want all of us to focus on building relationships, even using email. And so I'm passing these along to you. But before we launch into the updated tips, don't forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel and click on that little bell to be notified of new content. I'm creating content for you meeting partners to ensure that you're continuing to build relationships with your clients and prospects through this time. So ensure that you subscribe. Remember, the full list of tips is found over on my blog at LeanneCulderwood.com. And the original video that accompanied the original tips can still be found up here. Nothing much has changed, but let me point out what has. Tip number one, now is not the time to sell to our meeting planner prospects. Instead, it is our time to serve. It's our time to be there for our meeting planners and to serve them in a way that they need it most. They're learning some new skills and going through a learning curve like no other. And if we're there to support them, they won't forget about it when it comes time to buy again. So refrain from the hard sell and look to have a servant heart instead. Tip number two, ask them how they are doing. And this is a change from my original tips because how are you prior to COVID-19 was an empty statement. It was, it was what we ask everybody. But do you notice now we're a little bit more empathetic and we actually really want to know how someone is doing? You want to do that as well in your email, but express that sincerity when you are asking so that it does come across as sincere and not as a canned response for every email that you send out. Tip number three, practice empathy. First and foremost, please practice empathy. Here's a few things that are going on in that planner's life. Number one, their conferences have canceled. It's depressing as heck when a thing that you've worked so hard to see come to fruition is all of a sudden taken from you. So practice some patience and empathy as they're dealing with the loss of their event and now maybe even dealing with the rush to learn a new skill set when it comes to creating a virtual or hybrid event. And here's the other thing that they may be dealing with. They may have reduced hours or could have been furloughed at this time. And I know that a lot of us have also been furloughed as meeting suppliers and hotel sales managers, but our planners were not excluded from this. And a lot of organizations have had to let go or furlough their meeting planning staff until meetings have started up again. Tip number four, do not ask your clients if they ever plan meetings dot dot dot. Alongside my original tips, if you do some research, you'll learn a lot about your client and their organization and maybe some of the buying trends that they have. But again, when you say, do you ever plan dot dot dot, it is a hard sell right now. And they are not interested in buying. They are just trying to keep their heads above water. So be very careful if you want to explore what kinds of meetings they're planning and where they are planning them. You need to tread very carefully here to ensure that you are building a relationship and not hindering your chances to do business with them by pushing a little too hard and too fast. Tip number five, do not just follow up or just check in. Once again, that word just really bothers me because it diminishes your value in the meetings process. So please take that word just right out of your vocabulary. But again, the following up and checking in, we need to still ask those questions to ensure that we're moving our business forward. But we need to be very respectful of the responses that are coming back. They may not have answers for us right now. In fact, 90% of the time they won't have answers for us right now. And they may not have answers for weeks or months to come. So we need to be very careful when following up on information that we don't position it as the only thing we're doing when we're reaching out to them. If you visit the blog post over on Leanne Calderwood.com, you'll see a lot of those similar statements. And here's the thing with those statements like just following up or I'd like to take the time to is they've now taken the focus off of the meeting planner and put the focus on you. And we want to do the opposite. We want the meeting planner to be the person that we're focusing on. So make the email less about yourself and more about what the meeting planner may need. And you may receive some more return on your investment. Tip number seven, as always, provide something of value. And right now there is so much information and education out there that creating something of value for your clients should be easy to do. And it will be welcomed. So ensure you don't show up empty handed when you're emailing them. And finally, include a call to action. Be sensitive around this time that they may not be able to get back to you right away, but include a gentle and respectful call to action to further the dialogue and continue building that relationship. Remember to stay sensitive throughout the entire process. Again, they're dealing with a lot and they may be furloughed at this time. Friends, I'm always open to a conversation about practices that make sense for building relationships. If any of these tips have worked for you or you want to present some other tips, let me know in the comments below. I would love to hear from you. For more sales inspiration and tips, check out my sales and service videos up here. And don't forget to visit me over on the blog at liankholderwood.com. I wish you nothing but the best at this time as you build relationships with your meeting planners. Stay safe, be well, and we'll see you soon. Bye for now.