We live in a tech world and it’s growing more techy by the minute. I know many sales reps who believe the only way to prospect is to pound the streets or make calls, but whether you like it or not, email is an essential tool for reaching clients and prospects. Prospects rarely return phone calls unless you come recommended by a mutual acquaintance or leverage their superior (“I talked to your CEO, and she said…”) If you write a good email you’re far more likely to get a response than a callback from a voicemail.
Honestly, email is the best way to reach a prospect and/or client, because you don’t take up too much of their time and it allows them to respond on their own terms. Most people are curious about all emails they receive - except obvious junk - so chances are that within a day they’ll get around to reading what you have to say.
I appreciate a good phone conversation, but 50% of my prospects and clients are often accessible only via email, especially when I want to reach them within 24 hours. The good news is I’m reaching them; the bad news is there’s nothing like a phone call to do a basic Q&A; email makes it tough to accurately convey my tone and capture their undivided attention.
So what’s the trick to eliciting a quick and positive response? Craft and compose your email carefully; the structure of your email is critical to driving a response. Value should be threaded throughout the email, and the description of your product should communicate how you can help your prospect solve critical problems, become more of an expert, or make them look better.
Also, before crafting an email you should conduct a little background research so you can better tailor your message to target their needs and weaknesses. We have plenty of resources on the web to help us learn a little more about who we are trying to reach: LinkedIn, Zoom Info, Facebook, Company Websites, Alumni information, etc… and sales intelligence tools like InsideView.
Every prospect has different a motivation, need, and ideology. It’s your job to tell a good story that will trigger interest in what you have to offer. With just a little tweaking here and there you will be surprised to see more people responding to your message.
Tips on Improving Your Emails
- Keep it short and to the point: don’t try to pass your message off as art, go straight for the bottom line.
- Write clearly: make sure you wroie what you really mean to write. Have a second set of eyes take a look before sending as well.
- Write in descending order of importance.
Email Check List
- What action do I want the person to take after reading my email?
- Will the email I crafted help me achieve my objective? Did I make my message clear and the product seem valuable?
- Will the person reading this email find it appealing, professional, and beneficial to them?
- What can I erase from the email that makes it too verbose? Many people make this mistake!
- Is my subject line straightforward and professional? Will it encourage the reader to open the email?
- Since you are not in person, your wording must be perfect so that the reader interprets your message in the way you want them to understand.
- Don’t overdue the sweetness. Be humble, but not too humble. Be nice, but not a “brown noser.”
- You should only write an email containing information that you are okay with the rest of the world possibly seeing. This is a permanent record in writing from you.
- Bullet items if you have many facts or ideas to state in your email.
- Don’t send attachments that will fill up the reader’s inbox.
- Don’t tag or/and ask for a receipt unless it is REALLY necessary. People get annoyed with these tags.
- If you’re sending the email to multiple people and don’t want each recipient to see the other recipient’s email addresses, be sure to BCC everyone, not CC.
- Have I done a little background research to learn a little more about who I’m contacting? Look for them on social networking sites and do a quick Google search.
Email can be a positive and negative tool in the business world. If you spend the time to use it effectively, email can help you attain your goals and keep your business flowing.
