Secrets of a Sales Prospecting Email

Here’s a hard fact: according to research and advisory firm, TOPO, only 24 percent of sales emails are ever opened.

And another from Boomerang: an average user receives 147 emails and deletes 71 of them five minutes later without even reading them.

With that information, you might be wondering why the heck would your company even waste time sending those emails when you don’t even know if they’re going to be read or not.

Despite these depressing facts, sales prospecting emails have more benefits for you:

Low cost, high ROI

Compared to other sales channels, emails have little overhead cost but promises high returns. If you use an automated email marketing tool, you can send thousands of emails with just one click.

Non-invasive

Compared to cold calling, a sales email is less annoying because it does not put any pressure on your prospects to give you an answer immediately. It gives them time to think about your offer or read your email again before deciding.

Measurable and customizable

If you’re using an email automation platform, you can easily track and measure your email campaign. You’ll be able to evaluate and determine what is wrong and make changes within just a period of time.

Predictable revenue growth

Compared to blogging, inbound, and other channels, you can easily predict your revenue growth on email prospecting. Once you established a model and a working process, you can modify it further as you go and create a predictable lead generation tool.

On top of all the given benefits, statistics also show that an average user spends 2.5 hours every day to read their emails. That’s still a big chunk of time, so if you’re able to get your recipients to open your emails, you are on the right path.

How to get prospects to reply to your email

Sales prospecting using emails is definitely a challenge — one that requires work — but it doesn’t mean that you cannot succeed with it.

1. Be as Low-Pressure as You Can Be

No one wants to be strong-armed into doing something they do not want to do. That’s the reason why people are allergic to salespeople.

Entrepreneur and Growth Strategist Devin Beverage of DevBev.Co suggests that instead of asking people for a meeting to discuss your services, you can invite them for a cup of coffee.

The invitation should look/sound like this: Let’s have a cup of coffee and see if we are a good fit. If not, I’ll be happy to point you in the right direction. What day works best for you?

That invitation does not look like your typical sales prospecting email but some sort of consultation. It has no elements of you pressuring the prospect. Plus, you offer to help them even if they did not choose you makes it nearly irresistible.

2. Give Them Freedom to Choose

One of the most effective ways to always get a yes from prospects is to send them a calendar invite where they can choose the day and time they want to schedule a meeting with you. Make sure to directly link that calendar to your sales team so they can get notifications every time there are changes.

3. Ask for Referrals

Ollie Smithy of ExpertSure said that asking friends and customers for prospects is like letting someone do the heavy lifting for you. That’s because the trust they have for the referer transfers to you. Then, you’ll be able to work smarter and focus on what’s important to strengthen your relationship.

4. Be Brief and Straightforward

Everybody’s busy, especially your prospects who belong to the top tier level of the company. They don’t have time for some chit-chat so your email should be short, sweet, and straight to the point. Keep your sentences short — the shorter, the better.

Experts say that you have to get your recipient’s attention with your chatbot message, elevator pitch, and email headline. If you are able to do that, you’re likely to make them commit to you.

5. Utilize Your Website

Do you know that you can use your website to your advantage in booking meetings?

Featuring success stories and putting the limelight on old and new clients will give your prospects an idea of what your company is all about. It also backs up any claims you have about your business.

6. Ask for Feedback

Everybody has an opinion and they love expressing that opinion. When you are reaching out to a prospect for the first time, asking them for feedback about your product is more likely to get a response rather than selling them your product. Once you establish some sort of a relationship with them, you can ask whether it is something they would consider buying.

Conclusion

Stop wondering how you’re able to convince your prospect to have a “date” with you. Choose one technique or combine some of them together to get your business noticed and finally get that coveted “yes” from your target.