How to Write Sales Prospecting Email That Gets Replies

You and I both know you aren’t a spammer. You’re a service professional or perhaps a salesperson. But given the fact that you need to generate leads and make sales—and given how easy it is to send email—it’s tempting to just blast out email prospecting and see what happens.

That approach is completely counterproductive. Yes, you want to send out 20-50 emails a day, but sending them is not the important part. The important part is getting the readers to reply. If you can start a conversation with a prospect, even just over email, your chance to close the deal skyrockets.

So, if getting a reply and generating high response rates is the goal, it’s absolutely worth taking an extra two minutes to customize your introductory emails.

Getting someone to reply to your cold email is challenging. Here are five tips that will help enhance your email prospecting.

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1. Initiate a conversation based on something they do or just did

Take a minute and look up the prospect online — check their LinkedIn, company website, socials, etc. Did their company do something recently? Did the prospect? Did their quarter just end? Did their local sports team just win? Find something relevant to them, and include it in your email prospecting.

If you are responding to an inbound behavior or a request, be as specific as possible about what triggered your email. Put this trigger in the subject line so they know you are writing about them.

Pro tip: Check out the tool below to save time inserting these personalized messages into all your outbound email outreach.

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2. Be timely with your email prospecting

The shelf life of any activity is getting shorter and shorter, and the value of being timely is higher and higher.

If you can reach out within a minute after a prospect does something, that’s great. Within an hour — good. Within a day — OK. Within a week? That’s borderline. If your response time is longer than that, find something else to write about in your email prospecting.

3. Deliver real value, not a pitch that falls flat

You made the first impression with the trigger event. Now build on that by giving them something of value. Share a great article, website, video, or cartoon.

In 99 percent of cases, what you share should not be about your company. Your marketing department should be churning out collateral and white papers, but those reek of self-interest. In order to establish credibility, you have to offer something that doesn’t help you in any way. It’s all about them—your prospect. Go find something that would genuinely help them be more successful, and offer that.

10 Cold Email Formulas That Just Plain WorkSee how B2B sales professionals are using these cold email templates to engage more prospects, fill the top of their funnel and build more sales pipeline faster.

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4. Invite prospects into a conversation by asking a question

Having offered your prospects something valuable in your sales email, you can then ask them to engage with a call to action.

The more specific and straightforward your question is the better. You want to make it easy to reply, and you want to make sure they clearly see the benefit of replying.

Ideally, your question links the resource you offered with the services you provide or are selling. But be careful: don’t be too obvious. If I sent out the consultant comic above, I might ask, “Have you had any success with bringing in outside consultants? We’re growing quickly over here and looking for resources or best practices to scale quickly.”

5. Follow up with recipients

If you can track when the recipient reads or forwards your prospecting email, it is worth sending a follow-up email within 24 hours. 90 percent of email replies are sent within one day after the email is first opened.

Even without this insight, you should make it a practice to revisit your prospect list at least four times by email. The good news is that by continuing to offer something of value to the start of your messages, you’ll begin to be seen as a generous and trusted resource instead of just another salesperson.

It’s tempting to meet your daily goals by blasting through as many emails as you can. That’s short-sighted. It burns good leads, and it burns you out. Think instead about how you can start a timely conversation and how you can provide something valuable. You’ll find yourself having more genuine conversations and, by extension, closing more deals.

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This article originally appeared on Rain Today.

Extra Guides for Sales Prospecting Emails:

• How to Send Super Personalized Emails (That Prospects Actually Want to Read)
• 20 Prospecting Email Templates & Tips to Drive Sales
• Sales Prospecting: How To Find Great Leads That Actually Turn Into Buyers
• 20 Cold Email Subject Lines Proven to Get Over 85% Open Rates