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The Internet, e-mail and other online technologies have changed the sales environment and the sales process. One of the biggest changes to today’s working world is the email. It has altered the sales process; moving it away from a handful of face-to-face meetings to a more complex series of e-mails, phone calls and voice mails. Today’s sales environment involves more back-and-forth communication between the salesperson and prospect, and less face-to-face time. To make e-mail work for you in sales, you need to leverage it to speed up the sales process and facilitate more in-person meetings.
Using Your E-mail as a Sales Tool
E-mail can start the process of building a relationship with a prospect but don’t bombard potential clients with introductory e-mails, follow-up e-mails and e-mails asking if they received your earlier e-mails. This routine can turn you into that “crazy person who keeps e-mailing me.” As you build a relationship, make sure that any information you share with prospects is easy for them to agree with and helps them do their job.Your E-mail offers more opportunities to connect with prospects, but it may also generate false promise. Some people mistakenly think that writing a clever e-mail will magically produce sales. However, that approach focuses on taking orders, when, in reality, you should focus on moving each sales relationship up to the next step.
Remember E-mails can launch the sales process, but it seldom succeeds in completing it. E-mail is a necessary tool that supports, but does not replace, other tools in the sales process. Spend time on crafting your e-mails wisely. And here are some tips/ideas to keep in mind when writing your emails:
1. “People respond in kind” – And you should look to control the flow. Put it out for a handshake, and what happens? Most likely, the other person responds in kind. You can control the flow of conversation by what you write or say.
2. “All responses can be anticipated” – Experienced salespeople have an answer for every possible question or rejection.
3. “People communicate through stories” – When a client shares a story, it may indicate that your relationship is moving in the right direction. Stories help people connect.
How To Get Your Email Right
- Choose a heading that gets you noticed – Use a reference’s name in the subject heading.
- Get to the point – Keep the message brief, two or three sentences.
- Use the person’s name in the body of the message” – That signals that your message isn’t part of a mass mailing.
- Emphasize commonality – Mention something you share, like the same college or a mutual acquaintance.
- Don’t try to sell – Focus on a time and date to meet/talk instead.
- Don’t hound the person – Sending one e-mail a week is plenty.
- Don’t try to turn an appointment into a prolonged pre-meeting correspondence – Follow up an appointment confirmation with a simple short message and a thank you.
And What to Avoid in Your Email
- Don’t write an informal message that uses phrases like, “Can u mt @ 2p on Wed?” You certainly don’t want a CEO or decision maker to see typos or truncated words.
- Misspell a prospect’s name, title or company.
- Attach files to an e-mail message to someone you don’t know.
- Attach the wrong file or omit the attachment you’ve promised in the e-mail.
- USE ALL CAPS, which is seen as shouting.
- Use bad words or tell inappropriate jokes, especially ethnic jokes.
- Write a one-word e-mail. This bespeaks laziness more than respect for someone’s time.
- Write a tirade or an angry message.
- Mention religion, or make any sexist or racist statements. These don’t belong in an e-mail message, period, not even as a joke.
- Write a long message without breaking it up in paragraphs or using bullet points.
- Use inappropriate subject lines to get through sp@m filt3rs.
- Using “reply all” or “cc’ing” everyone without careful thought.
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