Wow. It’s always embarrassing to admit you’ve been doing something wrong, even when your clients seem to like it ok.
So, what have I been doing wrong? Well, when it comes to writing promotional emails, just about everything. Lame subject lines, copy that should go on a diet, and the like. Rather than going into exhaustive detail about my missteps, allow me to talk about how to do email right. For this I am hugely grateful to Jill Konrath, author, speaker, and sales strategist—and a wonderful presenter. Check out her 30-minute webinar “How to Write Emails that Don’t Get Deleted” (I think you can still register for it at and download the presentation so you can take notes. You will want to jot down her major points, I guarantee.
According to Jill, you’re probably messed up from the get-go by telling the recipient how wonderful your company is, how “cutting edge” its solutions are, etc. You blather (my word, not hers) on about things the prospect doesn’t care about. The prospect only cares about his problems and how the heck to solve them. If you don’t grab his attention in 2.7 seconds (argh!), he presses the “delete” key and presses ahead with his day.
You have 90 words or less to make your case. Do it this way:
- Establish your credibility: Reference a referral in the subject line, show you’ve done your homework about their company, or mention an internal or external event that is driving them to take action
- Pique their curiosity: Share your value proposition, bring them good ideas that are grounded in their business objectives, or offer helpful information, such as a link to an article
- Close graciously: This is not the place for the hard sell. You just want to set up a phone call or meeting.
What’s so hard about that? Just about everything, it seems. We all get sidetracked by wordiness and an intense and anxious desire to sell. We forget to focus on the prospect and instead shine the spotlight on ourselves. We want one little email to do the job of many. In fact, Ms. Konrath suggests that it takes a campaign to get through to our prospects and that, of course, takes planning. If we’re able to get past the 2.7 second “Delete” bomb, then that planning and smart execution are surely worth our time.
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