Question of the Month: How Do I Write a Better Prospecting Email?

by Shannon F. Almost everyone has room for improvement when it comes to writing an effective sales email. If you don’t have a marketing department to help you strategize in this area, you may feel a bit lost—after all, sales is your area of expertise, and perhaps you don’t know the finer points of crafting a compelling paragraph. It’s not as hard as you think. We’ll cover 5 common missteps and show you how to correct them. Before long, your emails will be soaring through spam filters and delighting your prospects. Misstep #1 Salesy or spammy language If you’re sending emails like this one, you may be in trouble: Dear Benjamin Klein, Want to save money on your phone bill? Cut costs the easy way. Call ABC Telecom today to get a free quote. The email above makes a few mistakes. For one, it auto-fills Benjamin Klein’s first AND last name, making it pretty obvious that you are sending a generic email template. The body of the email also uses the kind of language that triggers spam filters and also makes the prospect unlikely to give it a second glance; “save money,” “cut costs,” “easy,” and “free,” should be used sparingly, and never all at once. The biggest fault of the email is that it fails to build trust or engage the prospect. A better version of this email might sound like this: Hello Benjamin, I just wanted to reach out and invite you to an informative webinar we are […]

Permission-based marketing is simply good manners…even when you have a list of sales leads.

by Shannon F. If purchasing a list of sales leads doesn’t sound like permission-based marketing to you, keep reading. At InsightPRM, we provide targeted office relocation leads while also encouraging our customers to say “please” before aggressively marketing to those prospects. In fact, we’d like to take the word “aggressively” out of that last sentence and replace it with “politely.” You’ll be most effective if you follow these three Victorian-inspired etiquette rules. Don’t contact someone without an introduction. In the Victorian era, it was unheard of to call someone without a formal introduction. Even if your sales lead provider gives you some great contacts, never call those first. Instead, see if you know someone who knows someone within the company, and get a proper introduction. Your mutual contact should say something along the lines of, “Hello X, my acquaintance Z is ever so desirous of meeting you. With your consent, I’ll bring her around in my carriage tomorrow at half past two.” (Arranging an introduction is actually much simpler than it used to be. Simply do a Linkedin search for contacts you know or wish to know at the company you are hoping to do business with. If you have a Linkedin connection in that company already, he or she should be your first contact. If you don’t know someone at that company, you surely know someone who knows someone. Actively build up your local Linkedin network until you have a means of introduction at any company you wish to […]

Tips for better email campaigns

  by Shannon F.     It doesn’t matter whether you are selling commercial real estate, reams of paper, or your services as a consultant—prospecting is an integral part of growing your business. Prospecting often comes with predatory associations (in the past, you may have rolled your eyes at comparisons to tracking game and hunting down your prey). But pursuing potential customers should be much more convivial than that—think prospecting for vegetarians. Email marketing is a less-invasive way to introduce your product or service to customers who may be in the market for it. Of course, you have to do it right. Here are some tips to convert your email list into customers, or at least keep them from hitting “mark as spam” and damaging your reputation as an email marketer. 1. Don’t try to sell…yet. If you are making contact with a prospect for the first time via email, focus on engaging him or her. Offer free information, like an article or factsheet. Provide a link to your blog, and invite prospects to follow you on Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn. (It’s also a good idea to ask prospects to opt in to receiving similar emails from you in the future—this deters them from marking your messages as spam.) Whatever you do, don’t start pitching your product—it’s like proposing marriage on a first date. Stick to friendly small talk in the beginning, and watch how your relationship grows. 2. Choose your words carefully. There are certain words that trigger “spam” […]