Maybe you already know this, but writing effective sales emails is a serious practice. It takes time, quite a large amount of time - in fact, most sales reps spend 21% of their time writing emails. But that’s not all. There are many hurdles and hoops salespeople have to jump through from one stage to another.
How to get prospects to open your carefully drafted emails?
How to keep their precious limited attention once it’s granted?
AND how to get a response?
According to the Email Benchmarking Report, the email open rate in the B2B sector is 15.1% on average. Right off the bat, the sales challenges are real and big.
But it doesn’t have to be like this.
The skilled and seasoned salespeople know half of the battle boils down to a few key things:
Take a look at the 10 sales email templates distilled from many sources - that we’ve been using to get the conversation going.
This is the phase where things can get awkward or even frustrating easily. Everyday your prospect receives like 100 cold hard-sell emails. Don’t be just another self-centred sales rep! Give people compelling reasons why they should hear you out.
Usually, a little empathy and pre-discovery work go a long way.
Subject: a small question
Hey [First.Name],
Happy Friday!
I noticed that you and the team at [company name] are trying to reach the goal [company objective]. Side note: loved your work on [areas for compliment - be genuine].
Since I’ve been working in the [your industry] for X years and helping businesses like [testimonials] to succeed with our solutions[your product], I thought [Y] might be helpful for you.
Do you mind if I send you [helpful resources]?
Building rapport with potential customers is essential yet often neglected by sales reps. Disrupting people’s inbox without any relevant reasons or jumping straight to meeting request does not do the work.
As shown in recent research, B2B buyers are increasingly demanding authenticity and personalization.
What does this mean?
The top sales reps see prospects as people with out-of-work interests and real-life problems, instead of merely “an opportunity”. Very often, they bring their whole self to the table - their sense of humor, relatableness and appreciation of the prospect's individuality.
Here’s a template on how you can build rapport with your prospects:
Subject: [Location, activity, interest] recommendations?
Hey [First.Name],
In our last talk, you mentioned your interest in [insert interest area]. I was curious what advice you'd have for someone just getting started in [interest area]?
Many thanks,
Download our email writing checklist for every sales rep.
Believe it or not, it’s not enough to only scan the business cards you’ve got from the last trade shows and log them into your CRM.
Strike while the iron is hot - sending a personalized email referring to the event and the discussion topics is an effective way to explore new opportunities or establish new relationships.
Try to think of different ways you can add value to this person in simple ways, for example sending relevant resources.
This is a nice balanced point where you can get started.
On the one hand, it’s not a too hasty pace that makes people feel uncomfortable. On the other hand, providing helpful content to their pain points gives you reasons to sustain the conversation. For example, you can reach out later to ask for their opinions on the resources.
Subject: [First.Name], was nice meeting you at [event name]
Hey [First.Name],
Was really nice to have a chat with you last week at [event name] on [relevant topics] and get to know more about [company name]. Since we talked about how to spur business growth in the B2B sector, I thought you might find these links helpful:
I have been specializing in [your industry] for X years to build solutions for businesses like yours with [your product]. [Appropriate Call To Action - Feel free to drop in our office or grab some coffee!]
The follow-up emails after people have requested a demo will set the expectations of the customers and form their experience of the brand during the sales process.
Try to be concise and to the point in order to minimize any possible confusion.
Subject: Show you around at Salestrail
Hey [First.Name],
Thanks for your interest in Salestrail. I’m Laura and I’ll help you to walk you through our demo process and answer any questions you might have (well, almost any :D).
The first part of the demo is a quick discussion on your company’s use case of Salestrail as well your strategy and objectives in general. This will help me better contextualize the demo experience for you.
To get started, please book time on my calendar right here: [booking link]
Subject: How has it been?
Hi [First.Name],
Awesome to see that you’ve been trying out our [free tool / trial version]. I’m more than happy to share with you the best practices from our happy customers related to our product. There are also a number of features with [product] that might help you and your team achieve [business goals].
Please book a time on my calendar here and I’ll follow up: [Meeting link]
Subject: Is everything alright?
Hi [First.Name],
It seems like you’re having difficulty in [product] evaluation process. As passionate as we are about finding the best ways to drive growth for our fellow businesses, your user experience is extremely precious and highly appreciated.
Let me know what might be in your way of utilizing our solutions and how I can help - by clicking on this link for a quick talk.
This may mean many things. Maybe the prospect would like to learn more about your company and your product, but they’re not interested in enough or they’re just too busy.
Anyway, when writing the next follow-up email, make it brief and to the point about the next steps for your prospect.
Remember, you’ve gotta sell the meeting before selling your product!
Subject: Helping you achieve your business goals
Hi [First.Name],
Following upon my last email, I wanted to see if [goal achievement] in [industry context] is something you’d love to discuss more.
Our solution helps businesses like [existing customers] with:
If you’re interested in learning more, I’m more than happy to give you a quick intro and customize a demo for your business.
What do you think?
It can be infuriating when you’ve done your homework, ready to pitch, just to find out no one’s listening.
However, not all is lost.
You can try to engage the prospect again in a more relaxed and easy-going way. Be careful so that you do not come across as aggressive or guilt-tripping.
Subject: No hard feelings...
Hey [First.Name],
We haven’t been able to re-scheduled our call / meeting on how we can help your team accomplish [outcomes] in the next period with [product features].
If you’re still interested and would like me to get back later, please mark a time here [calendar link] when you’ll be available for a quick 10-minute chat.
If not - no hard feelings, I’m always happy to talk in case you change your mind.
Try a little bit of humor and lighten up the situation of closed opportunity.
Subject: One last question
Subject: Say something
Hi [First.Name],
On a more serious note, last time we discussed on how [product] could help you achieve [goal] through [product features] over [timeframe].
Would you still be interested in continuing the discussion? Please let me know so I can stop blasting Christina Aguilera.
Cheers,
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