I receive at least one cold email every day from a salesperson, and as I read these, I always see some things that could be done better. Here are some thoughts on small changes that can have a significant impact.
1. Try not to sound like a salesperson.
All of these emails I receive have a clear tone: “I am a salesperson, and I am sending this email to try to sell to you.” Even though that is what is going on, you don’t have to communicate that so blatantly.
Prospects don’t mind buying, but they usually don’t enjoy being sold to. And if the prospect begins to read your cold email and they start to feel like you are trying to sell to them, they can begin to shut down and this can impact how quickly they delete your email.
Yes, you have something to sell. But you can try to sound more like a consultant and advisor than a salesperson, and some of the next tips will help with that.
2. Minimize how much you talk about your company and product.
In all of these cold emails that I get, there is the following flow used:
- This is the company that I work for.
- This is what we sell.
- This is what it does.
- I would like to schedule time with you
Of course, there are more details mentioned, and that might be worded a little better, but that is the main structure of their cold email.
The first problem with this flow is that it screams, “I am a salesperson trying to sell something.” But more importantly, if you are sending a cold email, you are reaching out to a prospect who is not raising their hand to say they need what you have. And the prospect is not likely to be in “buying mode.”
As a result, all the well-crafted points about the product and what it does might not capture attention or interest.
3. Focus on the value that you offer.
In place of talking about your company and products, talk about the benefits that you offer. For example, instead of talking about a software platform that provides scripts, I could say some of the following:
- Improve your ability to always say the exact best thing to grab someone’s attention
- Improve your ability to always ask the right questions
- Generate more leads, more sales, and more commissions
4. Focus on the pain that you resolve.
You can also replace product details in your cold email with common problems that you help to resolve. For example, I might say in my cold emails that we help to:
- It can take a long time to get new sales resources ramped up
- There are always too many underperforming reps
- It is difficult to control and decrease sales staff turnover
5. Share a name-drop example.
A great way to build interest and communicate what you want to sell is by sharing an example of how you helped another client. For example, instead of talking about a software app that creates scripts and cold emails, I might say something like this in my cold email:
We provided TigerTech with our Scripter Team solution and this helped them to get all of their reps saying the right talk tracks and asking the right questions. This not only improved sales for each rep on the team, it also decreased sales staff turnover and all the costs that come with that.
6. Make your email appear one-to-one.
One thing you may want to start thinking about with your cold email is not to design it so the prospect buys, but rather to design it so the prospect does not delete it unread. And one way to do that is to make the email look like it is a one-to-one email, meaning you wrote it specifically for the prospect.
Think about when you receive an email that looks like an email that was sent out to a lot of people. This can create a number of negative impressions, and these can influence a quick delete:
- You are being spammed
- You are being sold to
- You are not important, as they are not taking the time to email you specifically
- You can delete and will not miss anything
If you agree with that, here are some small changes you can make to make your appearance more one-to-one:
- Decrease HTML formatting – images, borders, etc.
- Decrease hyperlinking in the body of the email
- Write it as though you are talking to one person
7. Change the goal for your cold emails.
When I receive cold emails, the goal of the salesperson is usually to see if I need or want what they have, and to get me to meet with them so they can see if I will buy it. While those are all good ultimate goals, they are not the immediate next step in the sales process.
The immediate goal is to just have a conversation. This is not only an easier goal to shoot for, but it is also too early to try to sell the prospect on the ultimate goal of purchasing your product.
For example, you may describe what you do in your cold email in terms of your product, then ask for a meeting to see whether they need what you sell. The problem with this is that the prospect might genuinely need what you have, but you are not able to figure that out and build interest in an email, so when you ask for the meeting, in the prospect’s eyes, it does not make sense to meet.
This is why you want to just try to close for the conversation, or meeting, as this is where you will be able to figure out if they are a fit. And once you do that, you can begin educating them on why they need what you have to offer.
In order to execute this change, you can go from saying something like this:
I would like to schedule a meeting with you to see if you need our services.
And change to something like:
We would like to meet with you to learn more about your goals and challenges and can share any value and insight that we have to offer.
SalesScripter will help you to develop your cold email.
