When was the last time you responded to a cold email? You probably can't remember -- for good reason. Most people simple delete outreach emails from reps they haven't met or mark them as spam. Even if some prospects do read the email, few bother to respond.

However, a well-crafted prospecting email is a powerful weapon in any salesperson's arsenal.我使用七个原则将一封勘探电子邮件从Bad到Great,并将我的回应率从1%提高到14%。

In this blog post, I'll analyze the real emails I sent to prospects before and after my revisions, then explain the rules I used toupgrade my sales emails

电子邮件1:之前

How did this email perform?

  • 发送:100
  • 开放:11
  • Response Received: 1

Where this email went wrong

I won't sugarcoat it -- these results were pathetic. A number of mistakes are made in thisterrible prospecting email。Here are the most glaring errors:

  • 结构:该电子邮件没有有序的流程,从一个点跳到另一点。
  • Subject Line:It's vague and lacks context. There is no incentive for the prospect to open or read the email.
  • 开头句子:The message opens by introducing what my company does. Why would I want to read an email from a stranger taking about what his company does? People might have been willing to let this in 2005 when the average volume of email received was a fraction of what it is now, but few people would bother to read this today. Most people who opened this email probably didn't read beyond the first line.
  • Inappropriately Placed Call-to-Action:The very first paragraph includes the line: "Look forward to hearing from you and connecting soon." This line has no business in the middle of an email.
  • 销售量person-Centric Content:Lots of features are mentioned without specifying any benefits relevant to the recipient's company. The email says nothing about why that particular recipient should be interested in what I have to offer.
  • Close:The end of the email is absolutely criminal. It includes no call-to-action whatsoever and is just a random closure.
  • Length:很少有前景会花这么长时间阅读电子邮件。
  • 附件:最后,该电子邮件包含一个附件,这会触发许多公司的垃圾邮件过滤器。

My miserable response rates prompted me to start learning about how to write better prospecting emails. Over a period of seven months, I overhauled myemail prospecting策略并开始看到14%的回应率,增长了1400%。虽然您的响应率将取决于您的产品和行业的性质,但如果遵循正确的方法,则可以进行如此明显的转换。

Find out how your email open rate compares to your industry and how to improve  that number.

Email 2: The After

Here’s another real email from the most recent prospecting campaign I ran.

How did this email perform?

  • 发送:100
  • 开放:56
  • Response Received: 14

What did this email get right?

  • 结构:This email follows a logical flow, something completely absent in the first email.
  • Subject Line:The subject line is effective because it refers to something my target audience is highly interested in.
  • 开头句子:电子邮件首先谈论收件人。我更改了每封电子邮件中的第一段,个性化,以确保潜在客户不仅是一个随机的陌生人在黑暗中拍摄,而且还遇到麻烦的人要了解它们。尝试建立连接以打破冰和make prospects want to read the emails更远。
  • Buyer-Specific Content:The email highlights a very specific problem that's very important to my target audience and is consistent with the subject line. The body of the email informs my prospects what's in it for them and encourages them to read more. I emphasize how I can provide value by citing a specific use case relevant to their industry in simple, human language.
  • Close:I use a definitive two-part call-to-action: I ask for a small commitment (a 10-minute call)and提供首选的时间。
  • Length:This email is far shorter than the earlier one, which increases the likelihood that people will read it all the way through.

7个销售勘探电子邮件原则

Based on my experience, here are seven key elements you need to keep in mind to dramatically improve your prospecting email response rates.

1.个性化

Mass emails no longer work -- period. If you want results, you mustcustomize your emails with information demonstrating you know the recipient。Not only will the reader find it easier to relate to your email, but it will show you've done your homework and have spent time trying to understand the prospect's company.

2.研究

在制作电子邮件之前,必须研究行业和您的角色,以便您可以从第一次互动中提供价值并吸引他们的优先事项。这是编写个性化电子邮件的基础。

3.可视化电子邮件的结构

在编写电子邮件之前,请粗略地描绘您的电子邮件结构。此结构构成了您使用的基本模板来创建更多个性化的电子邮件。要清楚电子邮件的不同部分以及您在每个部分中要传达的内容。

此练习将使您明确,并为您提供个性化每封电子邮件的强大基础。

4. Use a Unique Subject Line

主题行的目的是让人们打开您的电子邮件。销售人员犯的最常见的错误之一是每封电子邮件使用同一主题行。您应该根据自己的角色创建4-5个不同的主题行,并根据发送电子邮件给谁使用。

5. Get Straight to the Point

前景注意力不集中,所以邮件哈ve to get to the point and be as brief as possible. If your email does not interest them in the first one or two seconds, you can forget about them reading past your first two lines, let alone getting a response. Focus on crafting an email that takes less than 30 seconds to read and quickly expresses how your company can uniquely solve a problem.

6.包括通话行动

I cannot emphasize the importance of a call-to-action enough. Including a clear ask has single-handedly gotten me so many responses leading to closed business that I always wonder why I didn't do it sooner. In my case, I asked for a reply confirming the meeting or call.

这是一种简单而强大的策略,可以得到更多的回应。当然,基本的假设是您的产品解决了他们的重要问题,因此请确保您不要在没有建筑价值的情况下直接寻求请求。

7. Focus on Benefits

One of the fundamental principles of selling is to talk about benefits and not features. Yet, most salespeople still talk about features far too early. There are two common reasons why we do this.

First, feature-descriptive emails are easier to write when you bulk email people. We don’t invest time to think about what the target customer wants and what is the exact problem they are trying to solve. However, if you want a respectable response rate, you will have to invest enough time to write emails with personalized benefits.

Second, we often fail to distinguish between a presentation and collateral. The purpose of a first-touch prospecting email is to make the reader interested to know more. It's not supposed to be a substitute for a website or a presentation (which won't even be effective until later in the sales process when you can customize it to your buyer's specific needs). Features come into the picture at a later stage in the buyer’s journey, but a prospecting email is the first touchpoint, where features are irrelevant.

Therefore, make sure you focus exclusively on benefits in your cold emails.

Writing powerful cold emails isn’t rocket science. If you are not getting a satisfactory response rate to your cold emails, start applying the above principles to your next set of emails. The more you experiment, the better your emails will become.

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Originally published Jun 27, 2018 11:36:00 PM, updated June 11 2021

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