“Should I open it or not?”
If this thought even passes through a customer’s mind then I assure you that they will not open an email (especially a very salesy one). Even if they open the email, they just skim through it and seldom bother to respond. The average response rate of a cold email is approximately 1%-5% (and that’s not good enough). So considering all the statistics and thinking from a customer’s perspective a huge change is needed in curating the emails that you send out to your prospects as well as customers. Before we get into that we need to understand all the important components of a sales emails.
Anatomy of sales emails
Subject line
If you’re wondering why the subject line needs to be discussed since it is a common practice to send an email with the subject then ah! Got you. Using a subject line might be a common practice but using a ‘common subject line’ shouldn’t be. Let’s dig deeper.
Consider this example:
You received two emails. Both of them are related to sales templates and cater to your requirements. But which one will you choose to open? Especially, if you are short on time and need to get quality work done.
I will go with the first one and I am certain you will too. But why? The reason is that it is providing you with a solid solution while the other one is a generic subject line that is not even intriguing enough to catch your eye.
So keep your subject line crisp, interesting, and yet informative. Your goal is to intrigue your customers, here are the ways to make your sublime line creative:
- Pose a question.
(For example, if you provide cloud telephony to your customers then your sales emails can have the subject line as: ‘How to handle huge customer call volume?’
- Get creative and witty.
(For instance: Marvel suggested I get in touch with you.)
- Provide solutions through subject lines that the customer might be searching for.
- Add a casual touch without losing out on professionalism.
The subject line is like the preamble of your sales pitch emails. Make sure it attracts the customers but avoid using cliche words as well.
Words not to use in the subject line
- Amazing
- Limited period offer
- Discount discount discount!
- Final
- One-time offer
- Avoid
- Unique
- Best price
Opening statement
The first impression is the last impression! I’d suggest you take it quite literally when it comes to sales emails. After you leverage a reliable LinkedIn email finder to source contacts, you should craft personalized and impactful initial messages, ensuring that your first contact leaves a lasting positive impression on potential clients. A creative subject time will ensure that your mail does not go unnoticed and is opened by the customer. But a strong opening line will ensure that your mail also gets a response. So curate it carefully!
Avoid starting with monotonous sentences like- “Hey I am xyz…”. Or “Hi I am contacting you because..”.
Instead, start like:
- “I noticed your profile on Linkedin and I found it fascinating (anything to describe their profile”
- “Hello, a mutual friend mentioned you and your work…”
- “I must tell you that I loved your post on…”
- “You are really good at what you do…”
- “It’s funny how we both have common interests…”
Make sure you do some research about the prospect before you use these opening statements or else it might backfire. When you will start your email with one such statement it will make your prospect feel that you have researched about them and that’s exactly what you want to think. When a customer feels that a brand cares about their needs and wants he is more likely to respond to a sales emails or a proposal.
So start working on your opening statements. Use an opening line that not only flatterers the prospect but also initiates a healthy bond with them because relationships go a long way when it comes to doing business.
Email body
If you want your customer to respond to you, then talk about things that will be of use to them. The email body is basically your sales pitch. Before you write an email think of how you will be able to convince a prospect. It’s similar to the process of pre-planning your arguments when writing a narrative essay.
Do not just start telling what you do and what your product is. Instead, start by addressing the customer’s problem first and then provide your service as a solution to that problem. Link your pitch to the customer’s problem.
A good way to address these problems is by writing in a comprehensive way. Make sure the reader understands the problem well. To do this effectively, you can use a paraphrasing tool. These tools simplify your content to make it more comprehensive for the readers to understand it well.
Consider this email from Trello. Nobody likes to spend a lot of time doing boring routine tasks. So Trello addressed that issue and also provided a solution. Now that was smart because they picked up a problem and gave a tempting solution to it. That is exactly what you have to do as well.
Problem-Solution-Pitch
These are the must-haves of your email body.
CTA/Closing statement
Your closing statement should give a lucid idea to the reader of what to do next. They should not be perplexed about how to reach out to you or vail your services. Everything should be right there in front of the reader’s eyes. For this you to happen you must add a clear Call To Action statement or a button. It would be even better if it is a one-click button that takes them to the main page without much hassle.
Consider this email example from a makeup brand. It is full of CTA and one click will take me to the right destination.
If you look closely, this one sales emails alone has 3 CTAs guiding the customers about what to do next. Do not underestimate CTAs as they are the easiest way for your customers to reach and explore your website. More customers will get in touch with you if you’ll provide them with a hassle-free path.
Another way of closing your sales emails that will get you a response is posing a meaningful question that the customer will be willing to answer.
- “Are you free for a 10 minutes call?”
- “When can we get in touch regarding the same?”
- “Do you think our product is of use to you?”
- “Does it make sense to you? If not then who would be the right person for it?”
- “If you are interested can we discuss it on a call”?
Asking questions like these not only get your mail a response but will also tell you the intent of the customer and then you will be able to make out if you have to pursue the customer further or not.
Signature
A signature is crucial for a sales email because firstly, it gives the customer an idea about who they are talking to and who they should contact if needed. Finally, it is a good practice to end your sales email with a name and designation to let the customer know that it is not written by a robo.
How to sign:
- Keep it short and simple. Going over the top with it can make it a distraction.
- If possible, make it witty. Instead of saying ‘Thank you & Regards’ you can write ‘Cheers!’. You have to make your sales email captivating from head to toe to leave an impact on the reader.
- Include your phone number if needed.
- NEVER FORGET TO SIGN!
Here are 19+ sales email templates that will help you get a response from your customers!
1. Cold email template for scheduling a call or demo
If you read the template given below, you will find out that it is a witty yet professional template to approach your customer for a sales call. The key points of this template that will make the customer open it and respond to it are:
- An intriguing subject line.
- A compelling open statement.
- Clear CTA
- Defined action of what the reader needs to do next
- Precise and to the point.
2. Reaching out by telling them what they must fix
Everyone is looking for perfectionism when it comes to work or even personal life. The template given below can be used for both the worlds i.e B2B as well as B2C. Offer two-three fixes for free that a prospect needs to make and then pitch your product to them by telling them that this is the product that will help them.
Even though the template given below is not as crisp it will still keep the customer interested and also prompt them to reply or take an action because you helped them. ‘What needs to be fixed’ sales emails are a smart way of gaining a lead as well as customer’s trust.
3.The curiosity email
This is the email template that you use when you need to ask questions from the recipient. The purpose of curiosity emails is to find out more about your clients or offer a proposition or simply an interesting way to get a reply back.
4. Milestone sales email template (cold)
Even a sales email become merrier if it starts with best wishes. Do not lose an opportunity to wish as well as land a new client.
Congratulatory emails serve two purposes in one go:
- They are polite, so they flatter the recipient and build a good reputation for you.
- They do not appear sale-sy. They sound like a friendly proposition.
5. Business value sales email
Business value sales emails have just one purpose and that is mutual benefit. You have to be precise and to the point while writing this mail.
Offer something that solves an issue for them and adds value to their business or life. Be honest and write more with fewer words.
6. A good review email
This sales email is one of the smartest emails to reach out to your clients. This email shows that you have done your homework and you found out important details about your client. This kind of email leaves an impact on the client and they tend to respond as they want to hop onto any opportunity that gets them more clients and customer satisfaction.
7. The FFR email
It is a friendly-flattery-relevant email.
- The tone should be friendly to make your email avoid seeming pushy.
- You must include a compliment (probably about how good they are doing) to flatter the client.
- Lastly, you should provide a relevant solution to them that solves a problem that is yet unattended from their end.
8. You have been on our site email
I am certain that this email will definitely get you a response. When someone has surfed your site or has signed up then they are interested in your product. The moment you find out they have been on your site you take the opportunity to shoot a mail at them.
The earlier you will do it the more with be the chances for you to get a response.
9. Cut to the chase email
Waste no time and get to the point. To the point, email leaves an impression that you are not there to waste the client’s time and that you are genuinely interested in helping them solve an issue or provide relevant information.
Furthermore, this kind of email saves both your and the clients time. If the client would be interested they’ll contact you, if not then you’ll get to know. This email makes the process so much less complicated.
10. Address a challenge email
This might sound like a cliche email, but it works. Every person is looking forward to performing better in their profession or business. You need to pick up a challenge that they are facing and provide them with a solution and assure the client that there will be consistent growth if they will opt for your services.
Hitting the clint’s weak nerve will definitely prompt them to reply to you.
11. The Upto you email
Salespersons are not liked by many because of the reason that they get pushy. No one likes to get forced into something which is why to leave the choice to your customers. Give them an ‘up to you’ option.
This will make them feel that you are not just focusing on increasing sales but also care about the customers’ choices. This is the reason clients usually respond to this email if they are interested and even if they are not. It helps in establishing mutual respect.
12. The ‘Timed email’
Firstly, this is a very witty email that immediately makes your customers open it. Secondly, it shoes you respect customer’s time and that it why you have written a precise email and also times it.
Along with wittiness do not forget to add necessary information that your clients can skin through within few seconds. Suggestion: usually write an email which can be read in seconds.
12. Follow up Emails
These emails should be engaging. Why? Because if a customer did not respond to your previous emails you need to give them something entertaining or of interest that might make them laugh or evoke them to participate and respond. Moreover, when you put in the effort to write an email it shows and it immediately makes the client respond to it.
(Do not follow up more than 3 times. If you do not get a response even after them you’ll know the client isn’t interested :/)
Here are a few templates for follow-up emails.
13. First follow up email
14. Second follow up email
15. Third follow up email
16. Email opened but no response
When you see that your email has been opened but not responded two there are only two options:
- The customer likes the email but they did not get time to respond to it.
- The customer opened the email because it seemed useful but they are not interested.
You’ll find out which of the above is the reason by writing another email that lists down the benefits or features of your services/products lucidly. Whatever the reaction from the customer maybe you’ll get your answer and then you can proceed further accordingly.
17. The CBTH email
It is the compliment-benefit-help-time email. The email must have the following components.
- A complement for the client to make an impression that you researched about them.
- A benefit that you will be providing them through your services/products.
- A proposal to help them- (convey it politely yet affirmatively).
- Ask for their time to connect.
This email will be crisp and to the point avoid adding anything more or else the email will not convey what it is supposed to.
18. Break up Email
Ah no! Do not get perplexed. This email is solely to know about the customer’s intentions. If they haven’t responded to you even after several follow-up emails you need to shoot a final email called the ‘break-up’ email.
In this email, you must clearly ask the customer if they are interested or not. Do not sugarcoat anything in this email. Be strictly professional, to the point, and polite.
19. Sales proposal email
This is going to be a typical sales email with an enclosed proposal. This is not a cold email. You first establish a repo with the customer and then send your proposal to them and follow up further.
It is not a good practice to send your proposal to random cold leads. First, know about the interests of the customer and then share your proposal with them. Save yourself some effort. Keep this email short and simple. Write your sales pitch and everything that the client needs to know in your proposal.
20. Product trial email
This email is used to kill two birds with one stone. If someone is trying your product for a good time but still hasn’t become a premium member then it is time you shoot this email. The product trial email should sound like you are checking up on the client if they need any help with the product and also enquiring if they are looking forward to becoming a prime member.
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