Selling via Email – 5 Guidelines To Do It Right

When I scanned through my inbox, I saw a name I didn’t recognize.

Like most people, I’m hesitant to open emails from strangers. The subject line, however, gave no indication that it was spam.

In fact, it actually caught my attention because it dealt with a topic near-and-dear to my heart.

Subject: Prospecting Technique | Cold Emailing vs Cold Calling

So I opened it. In the preview box was a simple, straightforward message:

I learned about your consulting practice in an article I read on a sales website. I’m doing some research and would like to ask you two quick questions.

1. As a sales consultant, have you ever heard of cold emailing as a prospecting technique? 
2. After you read (link to article), do you think this is a good prospecting technique? 

The writer immediately caught my attention. It seemed legitimate. His full contact info was included in the email. Plus it was a topic of high interest to me as an emerging account entry strategy. I was glad to be able to learn more on my own.

I clicked through to the article and read it. I liked what I saw. My return email was short: “Interesting. Tell me more.”

Selling by Email

Mind you, I didn’t want to encourage a hungry salesperson. I dreaded the thought of having to extricate myself from the clutches of a product-pushing peddler who wouldn’t stop talking. My guard was up. I was prepared to throw out an objection the minute that happened.

He got back to me quickly with a one-paragraph note that answered my question. He also sent a link to another information resource on his website he thought I’d find valuable. I clicked through, downloaded the white paper and read it. Clearly his company understood the challenges my clients were facing. And, more importantly, it looked like they could address them. When he contacted me a week later, I was ready to engage in a serious business discussion.

So does selling via email or email cold calling work? Yes. If done correctly it can be a highly effective tool in today’s market.

Here are some guidelines to follow to do it right:

1. Personalize every message. Decisions makers must know immediately that the email was written just for them. Mention your research. Highlight a triggering event. Reference a referral.
    
2. Tie your message to their business needs. Don’t talk about your company, products, services or solutions. Nada! Not one word about this. Instead, focus on their issues, concerns, problems and challenges. 
    
3. Keep it short and sweet. You have less than 20 seconds to capture the attention of decision-makers. After the first couple sentences, they decide if they’ll delete it, forward it or respond. 
    
4. Make it readable from the preview window. Most people do a quick scan of their messages in the preview window before opening them. If your message is longer than this, make it shorter. 
    
5. Start a conversation. Your goal is to engage decision makers in an online discussion. In order to do this, you have to give them something they can respond to. Ask a question, invite them to a webinar, see if they’d be interested in an information resource on your website. Focus on creating the dialogue. 

In today’s crazy business environment, it’s next to impossible to catch a decision maker on the phone. That’s why you need to immediately include email in your account entry campaigns. But be smart about it. Just because it’s so easy to dash off an email message, doesn’t mean you should do it that way. Instead, think long and hard about any message you send. That’s how you’ll become more effective.