6 Quick Tips for More Engaging Sales Prospecting Emails
Uncategorized
Your phone buzzes, so you reflexively pick it up and swipe. It’s a prospecting email.
Do you open it, or flick it into the email abyss? The answer depends on more factors than you might think.
Email prospecting is still a valuable tool for sales reps, but you need to get it right if you want to avoid getting lost in the noise.
You need to send the right content to the right prospect at the right time. And you want the email to be personally crafted for each prospect, if possible.
No small task, but our six tips for sending excellent prospecting emails will give you a strong place to start.
Strike a Balance Between Personalization and Automation
Whenever possible, aim for personalization over automation.
It’s not that automation is bad, or to be ignored. It certainly has its place. The simple fact, though, is that prospects prefer personalized messages. They want to feel like you’ve taken the time to consider their situation specifically.
That’s especially true in the beginning, when you’re working to establish a relationship with the prospect.
Once they know who you are and what you’re about, they’ll be more willing to open automated messages from your address. Even then, you still can’t go wrong adding a personal touch.
Test Everything
What’s the best time of day to email your prospects? How long should the message be if you want to hold their attention? Do outbound links add context, or distraction?
All useful questions, and all easy to test. When it comes to prospecting emails, you should be testing everything you can.
Every sales environment is different, so it’s best to avoid over-reliance on the publicly available email testing results you can find online. Those tests can provide quality starting points, but they aren’t geared to the unique needs of your prospects.
Test your email templates and test them often.
Write Emails for Mobile
If you catch your prospect at just the right time, maybe they’ll receive your email on their desktop computer, in a quiet office. But when does that actually happen?
More likely, your prospect will receive your message on their smartphone, while waiting in line for coffee or shuffling between work-related tasks.
If you want your prospecting emails to make an impact, you need to craft them with mobile in mind.
Pay special attention to formatting. A photo or list that looks great on a desktop monitor might be a disaster on a small screen.
One way to do this is to write your emails on your phone before creating templates in your sales prospecting tool of choice. This way, you’re forced to keep the email short and to the point.
Put Your Signature to Work
What do you do when you get an email from someone you don’t know?
If you’re like most people, you probably look for an email signature.
Your signature comes at the end an email, so the prospect has to scan your content, at the very least, to reach it. In other words, they’ve already demonstrated some interest beyond simply opening the message. Use your email signature to stoke that interest, and direct the prospect to other ways they can engage with you.
What can you put in your email signature to engage prospects?
Like the rest of your email, your signature should focus on providing value. If you have content such as an ebook that your prospects might like, add a link to it. If you have an upcoming product demo or webinar, share it.
Your signature is the perfect place for important links that didn’t fit in the email body. Make it easy for your prospects to engage, and they’ll be more likely to do so.
Segment Prospects by Type
Not every prospecting email needs to be sent to every member of your prospect list.
If you’re like most sales teams, you target various types of prospects, at different levels of your target organizations. Take the time to segment your prospects by type, to ensure that the right messages reach the right prospects.
How do you segment your prospect list for maximum effect?
Segment by job title, company type, or whatever works for your unique group of prospects. With a small investment of time up front, you can dramatically improve the efficiency of your email prospecting.
Speak the Prospect’s Language
Jargon isn’t inherently bad.
When you’re aiming to reach a broad base of consumers, however, using jargon and insider language is confusing.
The opposite is true when you’re trying to reach skilled, knowledgeable professionals. If you avoid jargon with an informed audience, you run the risk of appearing uninformed yourself.
So make sure you understand what the right messaging is for each prospect. Don’t be afraid to use industry-specific terms and jargon, when appropriate. It shows that you know what you’re talking about, and puts the prospect at ease.
There’s a certain sense of comfort that comes from dealing with someone who speaks your language.
Crafting great prospecting emails is a little art, a little science, and a whole lot of data.
Connect with your prospect by speaking their language, and personalizing when possible. Design emails with mobile in mind to maximize your audience. And don’t forget to test everything!
When in doubt, let the data guide you.
Leave a Reply