Successful sales emails are usually a chain of small victories. Your prospective customer opens the message after reading an effective subject line. From there, a compelling email introduction keeps them reading. But past that point, you have just seconds for your message to resonate before the other person closes or deletes the email and moves on.
To keep them reading, you need effective “value propositions,” otherwise known as your product or service’s benefits.
It’s always challenging to build trust over email with a total stranger, but really, it’s not that different from the way we interact with strangers offline. If an unknown person approaches you at a conference and tries to start a conversation, most of us instinctively “size up” the other party to assess their intentions. Only then do we choose to engage with them.
It’s the same in sales emails. Prospective customers immediately wonder why they should read your email. Your value prop must answer that question—confidently, succinctly, and immediately.
Before you sit down to write the actual email, follow these three steps to plan out the kinds of value propositions prospective customers will actually get excited about.
1. List how you can help solve their pain points.
In cold emails, you’re approaching potential customers from a place of zero familiarity. So your top priority should be proving you know about their business in a professional sense, even if you don’t know them personally. Show that by referencing pain points you know the reader is likely to have, but focus on how you help make those pains disappear.
For example, if you’re offering software that reduces the time it takes to update electronic medical records, you could illustrate that benefit with a line like, “Our platform cuts the time it takes to update records by more than 70%, freeing you up to focus on what matters—treatment for your patients.”
2. Describe the benefits you offer with brevity and clarity.
Be clear and concise when describing the value your business offers. Busy prospects appreciate when you avoid using filler jargon or vague wording.
For instance, every human-resources manager has been promised a tool or service that helps “boost employee engagement” or “recruit better talent.” So stand out by including some compelling statistics or social proof that keeps them engaged, like, “Our data-driven insights helped [client] increase engagement by 35%” or, “Enjoy a 47% higher retention rate when we help you recruit better talent.”
Work at painting this picture of the happy future prospects can enjoy simply by working with you. Remember, what your customers really want is the outcome, not the service.
3. Make your value stand out from the competition.
Your potential customer gets new sales pitches in their inbox daily. To stand out, highlight what’s different about your product or service. If you offer a secure cloud-based tool in a heavily regulated industry like finance, highlight that security aspect. If you can name a few Fortune 500 companies as clients, use them.
It also helps to get people thinking of the value they lose by not working with you. If you have proven success with one of your potential client’s competitors, slip in a line like, “{!Competitor} has already seen a 42% increase in their website traffic, and I’m confident we can deliver similar results to you.”
Yes, good subject lines and introductions will get more emails opened, but your value propositions are key to getting more replies that lead to sales conversations. If you’re testing out four or five value propositions in an eight-touch email campaign, make sure each one checks the three boxes above. You never know what might prompt a response.
What are your tactics for writing good value propositions?
For more advice on sales, marketing or persuasion, check out the Salesfolk Blog. You can also follow me on Twitter or connect with me on LinkedIn to ask me questions.