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by Wendy Connick
Email is probably the best way to reach large numbers of leads quickly. If you have a big lead list, you can send a well-designed email and get responses back much faster than if you simply dialed your way through the list. The catch is that sending an email makes it much easier for leads to ignore you, so it’s even more important to plan an effective email campaign than it is to craft a good script for your cold calls. And since email is a written medium, any goofs you make will be preserved for posterity, so you should be extremely careful about what you write in those messages. Here are some suggestions to get you started.
Use the Right Email Template The design of the email template you choose for your emails should reflect your company’s overall image. The company website is a good place to start looking. For example, you’ll probably want to use the same colors and the same font that shows up on the website. If you have a company logo, include the image somewhere near the top of your email. And if you’ve decided to have your email template professionally designed, don’t forget to send the designer a link to your website and let her know that you want something in a similar style for your emails.
Know What The Public Wants There are plenty of possible offers that you can include in your email campaign: coupons and discounts, free shipping, extended free trials, gifts, extra services like training or maintenance at no cost, and so on. The quickest and easiest way to find out which offer will appeal to your prospects the most is to simply ask them. You might distribute a survey (or post one on your website), call up a few customers and ask them, or even offer prospects a choice of bonuses (e.g. either a discount OR a free training session) in order to see which option most people will pick.
Start Slow Don’t start up your email campaign with an intense sales pitch. In fact, it’s best if your first set of emails doesn’t even mention your product. Instead, fill that email with ideas and information that your prospects will find useful. For example, if you sell to manufacturers, you might write up a list of ‘9 Ways to Build a Better Assembly Line’ and use that list as the body of your email. If there are trade shows or other industry-related events coming up, add in a brief reminder of the event and a mention that you’ll be there.
Engage the Recipients Encourage your prospects to reach out to you, whether by phone, by email, or other means. These conversations don’t necessarily have to be about making a sale, either. The more interaction you have with someone, the more likely you are to convert her into a customer. So include features like polls, quizzes, or short surveys in your email. Make it easy for prospects to respond by a variety of channels by including your contact information prominently in every email.
Don’t Just Use Email That contact information should also include links to your social media pages (LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, etc.) and your company website. Getting prospects to visit those sites frequently gives you even more chances to show them how much value you can provide. If you have a blog, include a 1-2 sentence summary of your most recent post and link to it from your email. Of course, this only helps if you keep those sites up to date and post fairly frequently.
About the author
My first sales position was a summer job selling vacuum cleaners door-to-door. I continued through a variety of sales jobs ranging from retail sales for a storage company to selling bank products for a Fortune 500 financial institution.
As a small business owner, I now focuses on selling for my own company, Tailored Content, a website content provider. I write on a wide range of topics but my primary focus is sales and how to sell effectively.