To open, or not to open?”
That’s the question running through everyone’s mind each time they skim their inbox.
And if that someone is a potential customer, the answer to that question could become the difference in our paycheck. So, naturally, we want the answer to be “open.” Of course this leads to the next dilemma ...
“To respond, or not to respond?”
And the answer to this question also has the power to change the figures of our paycheck. So, naturally, we want the answer to be “respond.”
But, how do we get them to open and respond? That’s the question running through our minds, and the one that we’re about to answer. Below we break down the steps to writing and sending an effective sales email. We'll cover:
- 5 steps to writing a sales email
- 4 examples of sales emails that can’t be ignored
- 3 stats on when to send an email
- 3 post-send strategies to improve response rates (tools included)
Know the second someone opens your email, send a perfectly timed follow-up, and close deals faster than ever. Start tracking emails for free.
Sent.
Phew, the hardest part is over!
But, we’re not done yet. Not even close, in fact, considering that 80% of sales require five follow-ups [Source: Marketing Donut].
So what can we say if we see someone opening our emails? How do we build rapport and trust with our prospects?
We’ve outlined a 3-step strategy for what to do after we send that initial sales email in order to effectively follow up and engage with prospects:
- Measure engagement, call fast, and open with context
- Track trigger events, follow up fast, and open with context
- Find a way to consistently add value until they’re ready
Strategy 1: Measure engagement, call fast, and open with context.
If we see a prospect engaging with our emails on multiple occasions, opening them many times or clicking on links and attachments, we can use that as a measure of interest. The more interested a prospect, the higher probability we have of engaging with them.
Rather than follow up with contacts who haven’t engaged with our outreach, we can follow up naturally, at a time when they’re actually interested.
We can track and measure this engagement with HubSpot Sales Software which also allows us to easily personalize email templates and reports, create an automatically-logged call queue, learn how prospects engage with content through document sending/tracking, and follow up with highly targeted, timed emails through email automation.
Once we determine that a contact is engaging with our emails, we can act on the remainder of our strategy like in the example below:
Pro Tip: Call fast and Open with Context
[Salesperson]: "Hey Josh, this is Tim over at X Company ... am I catching you at an alright time?"
[Prospect]: "Wow, Tim, I was actually just reviewing the email you sent over earlier. Great timing."
[Salesperson]: “Excellent, I will be brief. I noticed you were checking out some of the information around the link I sent on improving your sales team performance. Wanted to circle back and see if there was anything you had questions on, or if there was further information I could point you towards that would be helpful …”
Free Tool: HubSpot CRM
Take control of your sales process with HubSpot CRM, a flexible, intuitive solution for managing your prospects and sales pipeline.
Strategy 2: Track trigger events, follow up fast, and open with context.
Rather than follow up with prospects randomly, we can use trigger events to target highly relevant, personalized follow ups that prospects are more likely to respond to.
Trigger events include anything from product launches, going on vacation, a birthday, exceeding Q4 earnings expectations, or getting a yorkshire terrier puppy. .
Use these tools to keep track of trigger events:
Google Alerts
We can use these to send us notifications whenever a prospect, their company, product, or industry buzz words are mentioned on the web.
Newsle
This tool sends us notifications whenever our connections appear in the news or in articles on the web.
LinkedIn
Find a LinkedIn group relevant to the prospect’s company or industry and use relevant resources, material, or information to follow up.
Strategy 3: Add value at regular intervals until the prospect is ready to talk business.
Sometimes we catch prospects at a bad time, whether they’re going on sabbatical for a month or simply focused on other priorities.
This doesn’t mean game over though. In fact, it’s a unique opportunity to demonstrate genuine value and prove that a relationship, at some point in the future, may be beneficial.
With that in mind here are five examples of how we can add value to prospects:
Share the company, product, or articles with others on social media or other mediums
Mention them in an article or offer to promote their content
Share a helpful article or book on a problem they’re encountering. Even better, buy and send the kindle version of the book to them.
Introduce them to someone they may find valuable such as a thought leader in their industry or a candidate for a role they are trying to hire
Provide them with insightful feedback on their product, company or content.
Open and respond.
That’s what our prospects will be doing now that we’ve covered the essentials to crafting a sales email.
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