Transcript Six Keys to Generating More Sales Leads
Slide 1
CHAPTER FOUR
The
Introduction
Email
Tips to Getting Read
How many emails do you receive each day? And how many of those do
you delete without reading more than a few words, the subject line, or
anything at all? What it is that gets you to read the few you do actually
read?
Let’s face it. Sales is a volume game: you’re going to have to spend
some time fishing before you catch a fish. But if you’ve got an empty
hook, you’re very unlikely to catch anything.
Here are nine tips to sending emails that
actually get read:
1. Use a reference whenever possible. Did
someone internally refer you to them?
That’s optimal, but not common. Have you
previously done work for their company, or
even their industry? This creates immediate
credibility and significantly increases your
chances of getting a response.
2. Personalization. Personalizing both the
subject line and the greeting maximizes the
prospect’s likelihood of recognizing that you
are a person, not a machine, and are
sending this email to them directly. If you
are sending emails en masse, personalizing
the email wherever you can is critical – as
long as it’s done in a natural, conversational
way.
3. Keep it short. That’s all.
KEEP
CALM
AND
GET
READ
Bonus Tip:
Did the
prospect
respond and say
they weren’t
the right
person? Always
thank them and
kindly ask them
to redirect you
to the correct
person if they
can.
4. Keep it simple. Try to avoid any confusing jargon,
acronyms, or too many internal abbreviations. You want
to convey your firm’s services in a way that the prospect
will easily understand, while giving them the sense that
you are prepared and knowledgeable. And keep in mind
that, while this may have been initially intended for one
specific audience (i.e. researchers, marketers, brand
managers), different companies manage their research
in different divisions and under different umbrellas, and
you never know who might actually end up receiving
your email. Don’t make it difficult to understand you or
what you can do for them!
5. What’s In it for Them? This is your guiding principle.
They don’t want to hear about you; they want to hear
what you can do for them. How are you going to help
them answer their difficult business questions? How will
using your firm make them look good among their
managers or peers? How can you make their work
easier? That’s what you need to convey.
6. Personality. A little, but not too much. You want to
remain professional and credible, as well as
knowledgeable and nice. Your introductory email is an
opportunity to show them how well you can write
(perhaps related to how smart you are?), how easy it is
to understand what you’re trying to convey (perhaps
related to how clear your reports will be?), and all the
while being polite and pleasant (perhaps related to how
enjoyable it will be to work with you?). This is definitely
more of an art than a science, but anyone can do it.
Double Bonus Tip:
Have some fun! When you’re doing your lead generation work and come across a funny
name, title, etc., keep a whiteboard in the office (or a shared document) and share it with
the rest of the team. A little humor makes a tough assignment a lot more fun.
7. Avoid attachments. Most companies
won’t let emails with large attachments
through, and the ones that get through
will have scary-looking warnings all
around them. Hyperlinks are good, but
not more than two or three, including
any in your e-signature.
8. Avoid attention-makers. Italics,
boldface, and exclamation points – all of
these can get your email stuck in the
junk filter. Be careful about getting too
cute with subject lines…a little intrigue is
OK and can pique curiosity, but they are
closely scanned for certain keywords
that are likely to indicate a non-work
related email. And be careful with esignatures; they account for a
surprisingly large amount of
undeliverable emails, probably because
so many of them include pictures,
hyperlinks, bolding, underlining,
and italics…all the things you should be
avoiding in the body of your note.
Should you start with the most senior contact and then work your way down? Or will you
have more success if you start with the junior folks and work your way up? There is no
hard-and-fast rule about this. Sometimes, the senior person will forward your email to a
more junior person, asking them to contact you and “screen” you. This is good, because
the junior person is less likely to ignore the request from their boss. Other times, the
senior person is less likely to respond, and you are better off starting with the junior
person and working your way up the seniority chain. It really depends on the company, the
size of the research organization, and the individual, so do both until you start to see some
trends emerge.
9. “Professional Persistence”. Getting emails read is also
largely a matter of timing and persistence. If your prospect
is slammed, he or she may just delete your email because
there’s too much work to do. Or it may seem somewhat
interesting, but shipped off to an unread mail folder,
waiting for that elusive day when there might be time to
read it. So to increase the chance that your email will be
read, follow-up…and be professionally persistent.
Bridgemark Solutions recommends sending a follow-up
message about four or five business days after the initial
email, by forwarding the initial email and appending it with
a new, short message reinforcing the points in your original
note. After that, follow up on a similar schedule for a total
of three or four weeks. Don’t create a new email every
time…forward the ones you’ve already sent so that a.) the
prospect knows you’re a real person, not a blast email
machine, and b.) our conclusion is that junk mail filters tend
to allow more emails through that are forwarded, as
opposed to new.
Plan for Success
While the email is important, it must be supported by a consistent process, or
it will just be a random activity. Set aside a time for lead generation, and stick
to it. In addition to being consistent, the process must be repeatable, or it will
not be efficient. Create a set of emails that work for different services and
under different conditions, and customize them for each prospect. Use a CRM
tool (like www.Salesforce.com) to keep you and others honest in following the
lead generation schedule. Keep track of, publicize, and reward your team’s
lead generation metrics (emails sent, follow-up’s made, leads generated, etc.),
so that you have accountability to yourself, as well as others in your company
who are involved in these tough-but-critical business development activities.
Slide 2
CHAPTER FOUR
The
Introduction
Email
Tips to Getting Read
How many emails do you receive each day? And how many of those do
you delete without reading more than a few words, the subject line, or
anything at all? What it is that gets you to read the few you do actually
read?
Let’s face it. Sales is a volume game: you’re going to have to spend
some time fishing before you catch a fish. But if you’ve got an empty
hook, you’re very unlikely to catch anything.
Here are nine tips to sending emails that
actually get read:
1. Use a reference whenever possible. Did
someone internally refer you to them?
That’s optimal, but not common. Have you
previously done work for their company, or
even their industry? This creates immediate
credibility and significantly increases your
chances of getting a response.
2. Personalization. Personalizing both the
subject line and the greeting maximizes the
prospect’s likelihood of recognizing that you
are a person, not a machine, and are
sending this email to them directly. If you
are sending emails en masse, personalizing
the email wherever you can is critical – as
long as it’s done in a natural, conversational
way.
3. Keep it short. That’s all.
KEEP
CALM
AND
GET
READ
Bonus Tip:
Did the
prospect
respond and say
they weren’t
the right
person? Always
thank them and
kindly ask them
to redirect you
to the correct
person if they
can.
4. Keep it simple. Try to avoid any confusing jargon,
acronyms, or too many internal abbreviations. You want
to convey your firm’s services in a way that the prospect
will easily understand, while giving them the sense that
you are prepared and knowledgeable. And keep in mind
that, while this may have been initially intended for one
specific audience (i.e. researchers, marketers, brand
managers), different companies manage their research
in different divisions and under different umbrellas, and
you never know who might actually end up receiving
your email. Don’t make it difficult to understand you or
what you can do for them!
5. What’s In it for Them? This is your guiding principle.
They don’t want to hear about you; they want to hear
what you can do for them. How are you going to help
them answer their difficult business questions? How will
using your firm make them look good among their
managers or peers? How can you make their work
easier? That’s what you need to convey.
6. Personality. A little, but not too much. You want to
remain professional and credible, as well as
knowledgeable and nice. Your introductory email is an
opportunity to show them how well you can write
(perhaps related to how smart you are?), how easy it is
to understand what you’re trying to convey (perhaps
related to how clear your reports will be?), and all the
while being polite and pleasant (perhaps related to how
enjoyable it will be to work with you?). This is definitely
more of an art than a science, but anyone can do it.
Double Bonus Tip:
Have some fun! When you’re doing your lead generation work and come across a funny
name, title, etc., keep a whiteboard in the office (or a shared document) and share it with
the rest of the team. A little humor makes a tough assignment a lot more fun.
7. Avoid attachments. Most companies
won’t let emails with large attachments
through, and the ones that get through
will have scary-looking warnings all
around them. Hyperlinks are good, but
not more than two or three, including
any in your e-signature.
8. Avoid attention-makers. Italics,
boldface, and exclamation points – all of
these can get your email stuck in the
junk filter. Be careful about getting too
cute with subject lines…a little intrigue is
OK and can pique curiosity, but they are
closely scanned for certain keywords
that are likely to indicate a non-work
related email. And be careful with esignatures; they account for a
surprisingly large amount of
undeliverable emails, probably because
so many of them include pictures,
hyperlinks, bolding, underlining,
and italics…all the things you should be
avoiding in the body of your note.
Should you start with the most senior contact and then work your way down? Or will you
have more success if you start with the junior folks and work your way up? There is no
hard-and-fast rule about this. Sometimes, the senior person will forward your email to a
more junior person, asking them to contact you and “screen” you. This is good, because
the junior person is less likely to ignore the request from their boss. Other times, the
senior person is less likely to respond, and you are better off starting with the junior
person and working your way up the seniority chain. It really depends on the company, the
size of the research organization, and the individual, so do both until you start to see some
trends emerge.
9. “Professional Persistence”. Getting emails read is also
largely a matter of timing and persistence. If your prospect
is slammed, he or she may just delete your email because
there’s too much work to do. Or it may seem somewhat
interesting, but shipped off to an unread mail folder,
waiting for that elusive day when there might be time to
read it. So to increase the chance that your email will be
read, follow-up…and be professionally persistent.
Bridgemark Solutions recommends sending a follow-up
message about four or five business days after the initial
email, by forwarding the initial email and appending it with
a new, short message reinforcing the points in your original
note. After that, follow up on a similar schedule for a total
of three or four weeks. Don’t create a new email every
time…forward the ones you’ve already sent so that a.) the
prospect knows you’re a real person, not a blast email
machine, and b.) our conclusion is that junk mail filters tend
to allow more emails through that are forwarded, as
opposed to new.
Plan for Success
While the email is important, it must be supported by a consistent process, or
it will just be a random activity. Set aside a time for lead generation, and stick
to it. In addition to being consistent, the process must be repeatable, or it will
not be efficient. Create a set of emails that work for different services and
under different conditions, and customize them for each prospect. Use a CRM
tool (like www.Salesforce.com) to keep you and others honest in following the
lead generation schedule. Keep track of, publicize, and reward your team’s
lead generation metrics (emails sent, follow-up’s made, leads generated, etc.),
so that you have accountability to yourself, as well as others in your company
who are involved in these tough-but-critical business development activities.
Slide 3
CHAPTER FOUR
The
Introduction
Email
Tips to Getting Read
How many emails do you receive each day? And how many of those do
you delete without reading more than a few words, the subject line, or
anything at all? What it is that gets you to read the few you do actually
read?
Let’s face it. Sales is a volume game: you’re going to have to spend
some time fishing before you catch a fish. But if you’ve got an empty
hook, you’re very unlikely to catch anything.
Here are nine tips to sending emails that
actually get read:
1. Use a reference whenever possible. Did
someone internally refer you to them?
That’s optimal, but not common. Have you
previously done work for their company, or
even their industry? This creates immediate
credibility and significantly increases your
chances of getting a response.
2. Personalization. Personalizing both the
subject line and the greeting maximizes the
prospect’s likelihood of recognizing that you
are a person, not a machine, and are
sending this email to them directly. If you
are sending emails en masse, personalizing
the email wherever you can is critical – as
long as it’s done in a natural, conversational
way.
3. Keep it short. That’s all.
KEEP
CALM
AND
GET
READ
Bonus Tip:
Did the
prospect
respond and say
they weren’t
the right
person? Always
thank them and
kindly ask them
to redirect you
to the correct
person if they
can.
4. Keep it simple. Try to avoid any confusing jargon,
acronyms, or too many internal abbreviations. You want
to convey your firm’s services in a way that the prospect
will easily understand, while giving them the sense that
you are prepared and knowledgeable. And keep in mind
that, while this may have been initially intended for one
specific audience (i.e. researchers, marketers, brand
managers), different companies manage their research
in different divisions and under different umbrellas, and
you never know who might actually end up receiving
your email. Don’t make it difficult to understand you or
what you can do for them!
5. What’s In it for Them? This is your guiding principle.
They don’t want to hear about you; they want to hear
what you can do for them. How are you going to help
them answer their difficult business questions? How will
using your firm make them look good among their
managers or peers? How can you make their work
easier? That’s what you need to convey.
6. Personality. A little, but not too much. You want to
remain professional and credible, as well as
knowledgeable and nice. Your introductory email is an
opportunity to show them how well you can write
(perhaps related to how smart you are?), how easy it is
to understand what you’re trying to convey (perhaps
related to how clear your reports will be?), and all the
while being polite and pleasant (perhaps related to how
enjoyable it will be to work with you?). This is definitely
more of an art than a science, but anyone can do it.
Double Bonus Tip:
Have some fun! When you’re doing your lead generation work and come across a funny
name, title, etc., keep a whiteboard in the office (or a shared document) and share it with
the rest of the team. A little humor makes a tough assignment a lot more fun.
7. Avoid attachments. Most companies
won’t let emails with large attachments
through, and the ones that get through
will have scary-looking warnings all
around them. Hyperlinks are good, but
not more than two or three, including
any in your e-signature.
8. Avoid attention-makers. Italics,
boldface, and exclamation points – all of
these can get your email stuck in the
junk filter. Be careful about getting too
cute with subject lines…a little intrigue is
OK and can pique curiosity, but they are
closely scanned for certain keywords
that are likely to indicate a non-work
related email. And be careful with esignatures; they account for a
surprisingly large amount of
undeliverable emails, probably because
so many of them include pictures,
hyperlinks, bolding, underlining,
and italics…all the things you should be
avoiding in the body of your note.
Should you start with the most senior contact and then work your way down? Or will you
have more success if you start with the junior folks and work your way up? There is no
hard-and-fast rule about this. Sometimes, the senior person will forward your email to a
more junior person, asking them to contact you and “screen” you. This is good, because
the junior person is less likely to ignore the request from their boss. Other times, the
senior person is less likely to respond, and you are better off starting with the junior
person and working your way up the seniority chain. It really depends on the company, the
size of the research organization, and the individual, so do both until you start to see some
trends emerge.
9. “Professional Persistence”. Getting emails read is also
largely a matter of timing and persistence. If your prospect
is slammed, he or she may just delete your email because
there’s too much work to do. Or it may seem somewhat
interesting, but shipped off to an unread mail folder,
waiting for that elusive day when there might be time to
read it. So to increase the chance that your email will be
read, follow-up…and be professionally persistent.
Bridgemark Solutions recommends sending a follow-up
message about four or five business days after the initial
email, by forwarding the initial email and appending it with
a new, short message reinforcing the points in your original
note. After that, follow up on a similar schedule for a total
of three or four weeks. Don’t create a new email every
time…forward the ones you’ve already sent so that a.) the
prospect knows you’re a real person, not a blast email
machine, and b.) our conclusion is that junk mail filters tend
to allow more emails through that are forwarded, as
opposed to new.
Plan for Success
While the email is important, it must be supported by a consistent process, or
it will just be a random activity. Set aside a time for lead generation, and stick
to it. In addition to being consistent, the process must be repeatable, or it will
not be efficient. Create a set of emails that work for different services and
under different conditions, and customize them for each prospect. Use a CRM
tool (like www.Salesforce.com) to keep you and others honest in following the
lead generation schedule. Keep track of, publicize, and reward your team’s
lead generation metrics (emails sent, follow-up’s made, leads generated, etc.),
so that you have accountability to yourself, as well as others in your company
who are involved in these tough-but-critical business development activities.
Slide 4
CHAPTER FOUR
The
Introduction
Email
Tips to Getting Read
How many emails do you receive each day? And how many of those do
you delete without reading more than a few words, the subject line, or
anything at all? What it is that gets you to read the few you do actually
read?
Let’s face it. Sales is a volume game: you’re going to have to spend
some time fishing before you catch a fish. But if you’ve got an empty
hook, you’re very unlikely to catch anything.
Here are nine tips to sending emails that
actually get read:
1. Use a reference whenever possible. Did
someone internally refer you to them?
That’s optimal, but not common. Have you
previously done work for their company, or
even their industry? This creates immediate
credibility and significantly increases your
chances of getting a response.
2. Personalization. Personalizing both the
subject line and the greeting maximizes the
prospect’s likelihood of recognizing that you
are a person, not a machine, and are
sending this email to them directly. If you
are sending emails en masse, personalizing
the email wherever you can is critical – as
long as it’s done in a natural, conversational
way.
3. Keep it short. That’s all.
KEEP
CALM
AND
GET
READ
Bonus Tip:
Did the
prospect
respond and say
they weren’t
the right
person? Always
thank them and
kindly ask them
to redirect you
to the correct
person if they
can.
4. Keep it simple. Try to avoid any confusing jargon,
acronyms, or too many internal abbreviations. You want
to convey your firm’s services in a way that the prospect
will easily understand, while giving them the sense that
you are prepared and knowledgeable. And keep in mind
that, while this may have been initially intended for one
specific audience (i.e. researchers, marketers, brand
managers), different companies manage their research
in different divisions and under different umbrellas, and
you never know who might actually end up receiving
your email. Don’t make it difficult to understand you or
what you can do for them!
5. What’s In it for Them? This is your guiding principle.
They don’t want to hear about you; they want to hear
what you can do for them. How are you going to help
them answer their difficult business questions? How will
using your firm make them look good among their
managers or peers? How can you make their work
easier? That’s what you need to convey.
6. Personality. A little, but not too much. You want to
remain professional and credible, as well as
knowledgeable and nice. Your introductory email is an
opportunity to show them how well you can write
(perhaps related to how smart you are?), how easy it is
to understand what you’re trying to convey (perhaps
related to how clear your reports will be?), and all the
while being polite and pleasant (perhaps related to how
enjoyable it will be to work with you?). This is definitely
more of an art than a science, but anyone can do it.
Double Bonus Tip:
Have some fun! When you’re doing your lead generation work and come across a funny
name, title, etc., keep a whiteboard in the office (or a shared document) and share it with
the rest of the team. A little humor makes a tough assignment a lot more fun.
7. Avoid attachments. Most companies
won’t let emails with large attachments
through, and the ones that get through
will have scary-looking warnings all
around them. Hyperlinks are good, but
not more than two or three, including
any in your e-signature.
8. Avoid attention-makers. Italics,
boldface, and exclamation points – all of
these can get your email stuck in the
junk filter. Be careful about getting too
cute with subject lines…a little intrigue is
OK and can pique curiosity, but they are
closely scanned for certain keywords
that are likely to indicate a non-work
related email. And be careful with esignatures; they account for a
surprisingly large amount of
undeliverable emails, probably because
so many of them include pictures,
hyperlinks, bolding, underlining,
and italics…all the things you should be
avoiding in the body of your note.
Should you start with the most senior contact and then work your way down? Or will you
have more success if you start with the junior folks and work your way up? There is no
hard-and-fast rule about this. Sometimes, the senior person will forward your email to a
more junior person, asking them to contact you and “screen” you. This is good, because
the junior person is less likely to ignore the request from their boss. Other times, the
senior person is less likely to respond, and you are better off starting with the junior
person and working your way up the seniority chain. It really depends on the company, the
size of the research organization, and the individual, so do both until you start to see some
trends emerge.
9. “Professional Persistence”. Getting emails read is also
largely a matter of timing and persistence. If your prospect
is slammed, he or she may just delete your email because
there’s too much work to do. Or it may seem somewhat
interesting, but shipped off to an unread mail folder,
waiting for that elusive day when there might be time to
read it. So to increase the chance that your email will be
read, follow-up…and be professionally persistent.
Bridgemark Solutions recommends sending a follow-up
message about four or five business days after the initial
email, by forwarding the initial email and appending it with
a new, short message reinforcing the points in your original
note. After that, follow up on a similar schedule for a total
of three or four weeks. Don’t create a new email every
time…forward the ones you’ve already sent so that a.) the
prospect knows you’re a real person, not a blast email
machine, and b.) our conclusion is that junk mail filters tend
to allow more emails through that are forwarded, as
opposed to new.
Plan for Success
While the email is important, it must be supported by a consistent process, or
it will just be a random activity. Set aside a time for lead generation, and stick
to it. In addition to being consistent, the process must be repeatable, or it will
not be efficient. Create a set of emails that work for different services and
under different conditions, and customize them for each prospect. Use a CRM
tool (like www.Salesforce.com) to keep you and others honest in following the
lead generation schedule. Keep track of, publicize, and reward your team’s
lead generation metrics (emails sent, follow-up’s made, leads generated, etc.),
so that you have accountability to yourself, as well as others in your company
who are involved in these tough-but-critical business development activities.
Slide 5
CHAPTER FOUR
The
Introduction
Email
Tips to Getting Read
How many emails do you receive each day? And how many of those do
you delete without reading more than a few words, the subject line, or
anything at all? What it is that gets you to read the few you do actually
read?
Let’s face it. Sales is a volume game: you’re going to have to spend
some time fishing before you catch a fish. But if you’ve got an empty
hook, you’re very unlikely to catch anything.
Here are nine tips to sending emails that
actually get read:
1. Use a reference whenever possible. Did
someone internally refer you to them?
That’s optimal, but not common. Have you
previously done work for their company, or
even their industry? This creates immediate
credibility and significantly increases your
chances of getting a response.
2. Personalization. Personalizing both the
subject line and the greeting maximizes the
prospect’s likelihood of recognizing that you
are a person, not a machine, and are
sending this email to them directly. If you
are sending emails en masse, personalizing
the email wherever you can is critical – as
long as it’s done in a natural, conversational
way.
3. Keep it short. That’s all.
KEEP
CALM
AND
GET
READ
Bonus Tip:
Did the
prospect
respond and say
they weren’t
the right
person? Always
thank them and
kindly ask them
to redirect you
to the correct
person if they
can.
4. Keep it simple. Try to avoid any confusing jargon,
acronyms, or too many internal abbreviations. You want
to convey your firm’s services in a way that the prospect
will easily understand, while giving them the sense that
you are prepared and knowledgeable. And keep in mind
that, while this may have been initially intended for one
specific audience (i.e. researchers, marketers, brand
managers), different companies manage their research
in different divisions and under different umbrellas, and
you never know who might actually end up receiving
your email. Don’t make it difficult to understand you or
what you can do for them!
5. What’s In it for Them? This is your guiding principle.
They don’t want to hear about you; they want to hear
what you can do for them. How are you going to help
them answer their difficult business questions? How will
using your firm make them look good among their
managers or peers? How can you make their work
easier? That’s what you need to convey.
6. Personality. A little, but not too much. You want to
remain professional and credible, as well as
knowledgeable and nice. Your introductory email is an
opportunity to show them how well you can write
(perhaps related to how smart you are?), how easy it is
to understand what you’re trying to convey (perhaps
related to how clear your reports will be?), and all the
while being polite and pleasant (perhaps related to how
enjoyable it will be to work with you?). This is definitely
more of an art than a science, but anyone can do it.
Double Bonus Tip:
Have some fun! When you’re doing your lead generation work and come across a funny
name, title, etc., keep a whiteboard in the office (or a shared document) and share it with
the rest of the team. A little humor makes a tough assignment a lot more fun.
7. Avoid attachments. Most companies
won’t let emails with large attachments
through, and the ones that get through
will have scary-looking warnings all
around them. Hyperlinks are good, but
not more than two or three, including
any in your e-signature.
8. Avoid attention-makers. Italics,
boldface, and exclamation points – all of
these can get your email stuck in the
junk filter. Be careful about getting too
cute with subject lines…a little intrigue is
OK and can pique curiosity, but they are
closely scanned for certain keywords
that are likely to indicate a non-work
related email. And be careful with esignatures; they account for a
surprisingly large amount of
undeliverable emails, probably because
so many of them include pictures,
hyperlinks, bolding, underlining,
and italics…all the things you should be
avoiding in the body of your note.
Should you start with the most senior contact and then work your way down? Or will you
have more success if you start with the junior folks and work your way up? There is no
hard-and-fast rule about this. Sometimes, the senior person will forward your email to a
more junior person, asking them to contact you and “screen” you. This is good, because
the junior person is less likely to ignore the request from their boss. Other times, the
senior person is less likely to respond, and you are better off starting with the junior
person and working your way up the seniority chain. It really depends on the company, the
size of the research organization, and the individual, so do both until you start to see some
trends emerge.
9. “Professional Persistence”. Getting emails read is also
largely a matter of timing and persistence. If your prospect
is slammed, he or she may just delete your email because
there’s too much work to do. Or it may seem somewhat
interesting, but shipped off to an unread mail folder,
waiting for that elusive day when there might be time to
read it. So to increase the chance that your email will be
read, follow-up…and be professionally persistent.
Bridgemark Solutions recommends sending a follow-up
message about four or five business days after the initial
email, by forwarding the initial email and appending it with
a new, short message reinforcing the points in your original
note. After that, follow up on a similar schedule for a total
of three or four weeks. Don’t create a new email every
time…forward the ones you’ve already sent so that a.) the
prospect knows you’re a real person, not a blast email
machine, and b.) our conclusion is that junk mail filters tend
to allow more emails through that are forwarded, as
opposed to new.
Plan for Success
While the email is important, it must be supported by a consistent process, or
it will just be a random activity. Set aside a time for lead generation, and stick
to it. In addition to being consistent, the process must be repeatable, or it will
not be efficient. Create a set of emails that work for different services and
under different conditions, and customize them for each prospect. Use a CRM
tool (like www.Salesforce.com) to keep you and others honest in following the
lead generation schedule. Keep track of, publicize, and reward your team’s
lead generation metrics (emails sent, follow-up’s made, leads generated, etc.),
so that you have accountability to yourself, as well as others in your company
who are involved in these tough-but-critical business development activities.
CHAPTER FOUR
The
Introduction
Tips to Getting Read
How many emails do you receive each day? And how many of those do
you delete without reading more than a few words, the subject line, or
anything at all? What it is that gets you to read the few you do actually
read?
Let’s face it. Sales is a volume game: you’re going to have to spend
some time fishing before you catch a fish. But if you’ve got an empty
hook, you’re very unlikely to catch anything.
Here are nine tips to sending emails that
actually get read:
1. Use a reference whenever possible. Did
someone internally refer you to them?
That’s optimal, but not common. Have you
previously done work for their company, or
even their industry? This creates immediate
credibility and significantly increases your
chances of getting a response.
2. Personalization. Personalizing both the
subject line and the greeting maximizes the
prospect’s likelihood of recognizing that you
are a person, not a machine, and are
sending this email to them directly. If you
are sending emails en masse, personalizing
the email wherever you can is critical – as
long as it’s done in a natural, conversational
way.
3. Keep it short. That’s all.
KEEP
CALM
AND
GET
READ
Bonus Tip:
Did the
prospect
respond and say
they weren’t
the right
person? Always
thank them and
kindly ask them
to redirect you
to the correct
person if they
can.
4. Keep it simple. Try to avoid any confusing jargon,
acronyms, or too many internal abbreviations. You want
to convey your firm’s services in a way that the prospect
will easily understand, while giving them the sense that
you are prepared and knowledgeable. And keep in mind
that, while this may have been initially intended for one
specific audience (i.e. researchers, marketers, brand
managers), different companies manage their research
in different divisions and under different umbrellas, and
you never know who might actually end up receiving
your email. Don’t make it difficult to understand you or
what you can do for them!
5. What’s In it for Them? This is your guiding principle.
They don’t want to hear about you; they want to hear
what you can do for them. How are you going to help
them answer their difficult business questions? How will
using your firm make them look good among their
managers or peers? How can you make their work
easier? That’s what you need to convey.
6. Personality. A little, but not too much. You want to
remain professional and credible, as well as
knowledgeable and nice. Your introductory email is an
opportunity to show them how well you can write
(perhaps related to how smart you are?), how easy it is
to understand what you’re trying to convey (perhaps
related to how clear your reports will be?), and all the
while being polite and pleasant (perhaps related to how
enjoyable it will be to work with you?). This is definitely
more of an art than a science, but anyone can do it.
Double Bonus Tip:
Have some fun! When you’re doing your lead generation work and come across a funny
name, title, etc., keep a whiteboard in the office (or a shared document) and share it with
the rest of the team. A little humor makes a tough assignment a lot more fun.
7. Avoid attachments. Most companies
won’t let emails with large attachments
through, and the ones that get through
will have scary-looking warnings all
around them. Hyperlinks are good, but
not more than two or three, including
any in your e-signature.
8. Avoid attention-makers. Italics,
boldface, and exclamation points – all of
these can get your email stuck in the
junk filter. Be careful about getting too
cute with subject lines…a little intrigue is
OK and can pique curiosity, but they are
closely scanned for certain keywords
that are likely to indicate a non-work
related email. And be careful with esignatures; they account for a
surprisingly large amount of
undeliverable emails, probably because
so many of them include pictures,
hyperlinks, bolding, underlining,
and italics…all the things you should be
avoiding in the body of your note.
Should you start with the most senior contact and then work your way down? Or will you
have more success if you start with the junior folks and work your way up? There is no
hard-and-fast rule about this. Sometimes, the senior person will forward your email to a
more junior person, asking them to contact you and “screen” you. This is good, because
the junior person is less likely to ignore the request from their boss. Other times, the
senior person is less likely to respond, and you are better off starting with the junior
person and working your way up the seniority chain. It really depends on the company, the
size of the research organization, and the individual, so do both until you start to see some
trends emerge.
9. “Professional Persistence”. Getting emails read is also
largely a matter of timing and persistence. If your prospect
is slammed, he or she may just delete your email because
there’s too much work to do. Or it may seem somewhat
interesting, but shipped off to an unread mail folder,
waiting for that elusive day when there might be time to
read it. So to increase the chance that your email will be
read, follow-up…and be professionally persistent.
Bridgemark Solutions recommends sending a follow-up
message about four or five business days after the initial
email, by forwarding the initial email and appending it with
a new, short message reinforcing the points in your original
note. After that, follow up on a similar schedule for a total
of three or four weeks. Don’t create a new email every
time…forward the ones you’ve already sent so that a.) the
prospect knows you’re a real person, not a blast email
machine, and b.) our conclusion is that junk mail filters tend
to allow more emails through that are forwarded, as
opposed to new.
Plan for Success
While the email is important, it must be supported by a consistent process, or
it will just be a random activity. Set aside a time for lead generation, and stick
to it. In addition to being consistent, the process must be repeatable, or it will
not be efficient. Create a set of emails that work for different services and
under different conditions, and customize them for each prospect. Use a CRM
tool (like www.Salesforce.com) to keep you and others honest in following the
lead generation schedule. Keep track of, publicize, and reward your team’s
lead generation metrics (emails sent, follow-up’s made, leads generated, etc.),
so that you have accountability to yourself, as well as others in your company
who are involved in these tough-but-critical business development activities.
Slide 2
CHAPTER FOUR
The
Introduction
Tips to Getting Read
How many emails do you receive each day? And how many of those do
you delete without reading more than a few words, the subject line, or
anything at all? What it is that gets you to read the few you do actually
read?
Let’s face it. Sales is a volume game: you’re going to have to spend
some time fishing before you catch a fish. But if you’ve got an empty
hook, you’re very unlikely to catch anything.
Here are nine tips to sending emails that
actually get read:
1. Use a reference whenever possible. Did
someone internally refer you to them?
That’s optimal, but not common. Have you
previously done work for their company, or
even their industry? This creates immediate
credibility and significantly increases your
chances of getting a response.
2. Personalization. Personalizing both the
subject line and the greeting maximizes the
prospect’s likelihood of recognizing that you
are a person, not a machine, and are
sending this email to them directly. If you
are sending emails en masse, personalizing
the email wherever you can is critical – as
long as it’s done in a natural, conversational
way.
3. Keep it short. That’s all.
KEEP
CALM
AND
GET
READ
Bonus Tip:
Did the
prospect
respond and say
they weren’t
the right
person? Always
thank them and
kindly ask them
to redirect you
to the correct
person if they
can.
4. Keep it simple. Try to avoid any confusing jargon,
acronyms, or too many internal abbreviations. You want
to convey your firm’s services in a way that the prospect
will easily understand, while giving them the sense that
you are prepared and knowledgeable. And keep in mind
that, while this may have been initially intended for one
specific audience (i.e. researchers, marketers, brand
managers), different companies manage their research
in different divisions and under different umbrellas, and
you never know who might actually end up receiving
your email. Don’t make it difficult to understand you or
what you can do for them!
5. What’s In it for Them? This is your guiding principle.
They don’t want to hear about you; they want to hear
what you can do for them. How are you going to help
them answer their difficult business questions? How will
using your firm make them look good among their
managers or peers? How can you make their work
easier? That’s what you need to convey.
6. Personality. A little, but not too much. You want to
remain professional and credible, as well as
knowledgeable and nice. Your introductory email is an
opportunity to show them how well you can write
(perhaps related to how smart you are?), how easy it is
to understand what you’re trying to convey (perhaps
related to how clear your reports will be?), and all the
while being polite and pleasant (perhaps related to how
enjoyable it will be to work with you?). This is definitely
more of an art than a science, but anyone can do it.
Double Bonus Tip:
Have some fun! When you’re doing your lead generation work and come across a funny
name, title, etc., keep a whiteboard in the office (or a shared document) and share it with
the rest of the team. A little humor makes a tough assignment a lot more fun.
7. Avoid attachments. Most companies
won’t let emails with large attachments
through, and the ones that get through
will have scary-looking warnings all
around them. Hyperlinks are good, but
not more than two or three, including
any in your e-signature.
8. Avoid attention-makers. Italics,
boldface, and exclamation points – all of
these can get your email stuck in the
junk filter. Be careful about getting too
cute with subject lines…a little intrigue is
OK and can pique curiosity, but they are
closely scanned for certain keywords
that are likely to indicate a non-work
related email. And be careful with esignatures; they account for a
surprisingly large amount of
undeliverable emails, probably because
so many of them include pictures,
hyperlinks, bolding, underlining,
and italics…all the things you should be
avoiding in the body of your note.
Should you start with the most senior contact and then work your way down? Or will you
have more success if you start with the junior folks and work your way up? There is no
hard-and-fast rule about this. Sometimes, the senior person will forward your email to a
more junior person, asking them to contact you and “screen” you. This is good, because
the junior person is less likely to ignore the request from their boss. Other times, the
senior person is less likely to respond, and you are better off starting with the junior
person and working your way up the seniority chain. It really depends on the company, the
size of the research organization, and the individual, so do both until you start to see some
trends emerge.
9. “Professional Persistence”. Getting emails read is also
largely a matter of timing and persistence. If your prospect
is slammed, he or she may just delete your email because
there’s too much work to do. Or it may seem somewhat
interesting, but shipped off to an unread mail folder,
waiting for that elusive day when there might be time to
read it. So to increase the chance that your email will be
read, follow-up…and be professionally persistent.
Bridgemark Solutions recommends sending a follow-up
message about four or five business days after the initial
email, by forwarding the initial email and appending it with
a new, short message reinforcing the points in your original
note. After that, follow up on a similar schedule for a total
of three or four weeks. Don’t create a new email every
time…forward the ones you’ve already sent so that a.) the
prospect knows you’re a real person, not a blast email
machine, and b.) our conclusion is that junk mail filters tend
to allow more emails through that are forwarded, as
opposed to new.
Plan for Success
While the email is important, it must be supported by a consistent process, or
it will just be a random activity. Set aside a time for lead generation, and stick
to it. In addition to being consistent, the process must be repeatable, or it will
not be efficient. Create a set of emails that work for different services and
under different conditions, and customize them for each prospect. Use a CRM
tool (like www.Salesforce.com) to keep you and others honest in following the
lead generation schedule. Keep track of, publicize, and reward your team’s
lead generation metrics (emails sent, follow-up’s made, leads generated, etc.),
so that you have accountability to yourself, as well as others in your company
who are involved in these tough-but-critical business development activities.
Slide 3
CHAPTER FOUR
The
Introduction
Tips to Getting Read
How many emails do you receive each day? And how many of those do
you delete without reading more than a few words, the subject line, or
anything at all? What it is that gets you to read the few you do actually
read?
Let’s face it. Sales is a volume game: you’re going to have to spend
some time fishing before you catch a fish. But if you’ve got an empty
hook, you’re very unlikely to catch anything.
Here are nine tips to sending emails that
actually get read:
1. Use a reference whenever possible. Did
someone internally refer you to them?
That’s optimal, but not common. Have you
previously done work for their company, or
even their industry? This creates immediate
credibility and significantly increases your
chances of getting a response.
2. Personalization. Personalizing both the
subject line and the greeting maximizes the
prospect’s likelihood of recognizing that you
are a person, not a machine, and are
sending this email to them directly. If you
are sending emails en masse, personalizing
the email wherever you can is critical – as
long as it’s done in a natural, conversational
way.
3. Keep it short. That’s all.
KEEP
CALM
AND
GET
READ
Bonus Tip:
Did the
prospect
respond and say
they weren’t
the right
person? Always
thank them and
kindly ask them
to redirect you
to the correct
person if they
can.
4. Keep it simple. Try to avoid any confusing jargon,
acronyms, or too many internal abbreviations. You want
to convey your firm’s services in a way that the prospect
will easily understand, while giving them the sense that
you are prepared and knowledgeable. And keep in mind
that, while this may have been initially intended for one
specific audience (i.e. researchers, marketers, brand
managers), different companies manage their research
in different divisions and under different umbrellas, and
you never know who might actually end up receiving
your email. Don’t make it difficult to understand you or
what you can do for them!
5. What’s In it for Them? This is your guiding principle.
They don’t want to hear about you; they want to hear
what you can do for them. How are you going to help
them answer their difficult business questions? How will
using your firm make them look good among their
managers or peers? How can you make their work
easier? That’s what you need to convey.
6. Personality. A little, but not too much. You want to
remain professional and credible, as well as
knowledgeable and nice. Your introductory email is an
opportunity to show them how well you can write
(perhaps related to how smart you are?), how easy it is
to understand what you’re trying to convey (perhaps
related to how clear your reports will be?), and all the
while being polite and pleasant (perhaps related to how
enjoyable it will be to work with you?). This is definitely
more of an art than a science, but anyone can do it.
Double Bonus Tip:
Have some fun! When you’re doing your lead generation work and come across a funny
name, title, etc., keep a whiteboard in the office (or a shared document) and share it with
the rest of the team. A little humor makes a tough assignment a lot more fun.
7. Avoid attachments. Most companies
won’t let emails with large attachments
through, and the ones that get through
will have scary-looking warnings all
around them. Hyperlinks are good, but
not more than two or three, including
any in your e-signature.
8. Avoid attention-makers. Italics,
boldface, and exclamation points – all of
these can get your email stuck in the
junk filter. Be careful about getting too
cute with subject lines…a little intrigue is
OK and can pique curiosity, but they are
closely scanned for certain keywords
that are likely to indicate a non-work
related email. And be careful with esignatures; they account for a
surprisingly large amount of
undeliverable emails, probably because
so many of them include pictures,
hyperlinks, bolding, underlining,
and italics…all the things you should be
avoiding in the body of your note.
Should you start with the most senior contact and then work your way down? Or will you
have more success if you start with the junior folks and work your way up? There is no
hard-and-fast rule about this. Sometimes, the senior person will forward your email to a
more junior person, asking them to contact you and “screen” you. This is good, because
the junior person is less likely to ignore the request from their boss. Other times, the
senior person is less likely to respond, and you are better off starting with the junior
person and working your way up the seniority chain. It really depends on the company, the
size of the research organization, and the individual, so do both until you start to see some
trends emerge.
9. “Professional Persistence”. Getting emails read is also
largely a matter of timing and persistence. If your prospect
is slammed, he or she may just delete your email because
there’s too much work to do. Or it may seem somewhat
interesting, but shipped off to an unread mail folder,
waiting for that elusive day when there might be time to
read it. So to increase the chance that your email will be
read, follow-up…and be professionally persistent.
Bridgemark Solutions recommends sending a follow-up
message about four or five business days after the initial
email, by forwarding the initial email and appending it with
a new, short message reinforcing the points in your original
note. After that, follow up on a similar schedule for a total
of three or four weeks. Don’t create a new email every
time…forward the ones you’ve already sent so that a.) the
prospect knows you’re a real person, not a blast email
machine, and b.) our conclusion is that junk mail filters tend
to allow more emails through that are forwarded, as
opposed to new.
Plan for Success
While the email is important, it must be supported by a consistent process, or
it will just be a random activity. Set aside a time for lead generation, and stick
to it. In addition to being consistent, the process must be repeatable, or it will
not be efficient. Create a set of emails that work for different services and
under different conditions, and customize them for each prospect. Use a CRM
tool (like www.Salesforce.com) to keep you and others honest in following the
lead generation schedule. Keep track of, publicize, and reward your team’s
lead generation metrics (emails sent, follow-up’s made, leads generated, etc.),
so that you have accountability to yourself, as well as others in your company
who are involved in these tough-but-critical business development activities.
Slide 4
CHAPTER FOUR
The
Introduction
Tips to Getting Read
How many emails do you receive each day? And how many of those do
you delete without reading more than a few words, the subject line, or
anything at all? What it is that gets you to read the few you do actually
read?
Let’s face it. Sales is a volume game: you’re going to have to spend
some time fishing before you catch a fish. But if you’ve got an empty
hook, you’re very unlikely to catch anything.
Here are nine tips to sending emails that
actually get read:
1. Use a reference whenever possible. Did
someone internally refer you to them?
That’s optimal, but not common. Have you
previously done work for their company, or
even their industry? This creates immediate
credibility and significantly increases your
chances of getting a response.
2. Personalization. Personalizing both the
subject line and the greeting maximizes the
prospect’s likelihood of recognizing that you
are a person, not a machine, and are
sending this email to them directly. If you
are sending emails en masse, personalizing
the email wherever you can is critical – as
long as it’s done in a natural, conversational
way.
3. Keep it short. That’s all.
KEEP
CALM
AND
GET
READ
Bonus Tip:
Did the
prospect
respond and say
they weren’t
the right
person? Always
thank them and
kindly ask them
to redirect you
to the correct
person if they
can.
4. Keep it simple. Try to avoid any confusing jargon,
acronyms, or too many internal abbreviations. You want
to convey your firm’s services in a way that the prospect
will easily understand, while giving them the sense that
you are prepared and knowledgeable. And keep in mind
that, while this may have been initially intended for one
specific audience (i.e. researchers, marketers, brand
managers), different companies manage their research
in different divisions and under different umbrellas, and
you never know who might actually end up receiving
your email. Don’t make it difficult to understand you or
what you can do for them!
5. What’s In it for Them? This is your guiding principle.
They don’t want to hear about you; they want to hear
what you can do for them. How are you going to help
them answer their difficult business questions? How will
using your firm make them look good among their
managers or peers? How can you make their work
easier? That’s what you need to convey.
6. Personality. A little, but not too much. You want to
remain professional and credible, as well as
knowledgeable and nice. Your introductory email is an
opportunity to show them how well you can write
(perhaps related to how smart you are?), how easy it is
to understand what you’re trying to convey (perhaps
related to how clear your reports will be?), and all the
while being polite and pleasant (perhaps related to how
enjoyable it will be to work with you?). This is definitely
more of an art than a science, but anyone can do it.
Double Bonus Tip:
Have some fun! When you’re doing your lead generation work and come across a funny
name, title, etc., keep a whiteboard in the office (or a shared document) and share it with
the rest of the team. A little humor makes a tough assignment a lot more fun.
7. Avoid attachments. Most companies
won’t let emails with large attachments
through, and the ones that get through
will have scary-looking warnings all
around them. Hyperlinks are good, but
not more than two or three, including
any in your e-signature.
8. Avoid attention-makers. Italics,
boldface, and exclamation points – all of
these can get your email stuck in the
junk filter. Be careful about getting too
cute with subject lines…a little intrigue is
OK and can pique curiosity, but they are
closely scanned for certain keywords
that are likely to indicate a non-work
related email. And be careful with esignatures; they account for a
surprisingly large amount of
undeliverable emails, probably because
so many of them include pictures,
hyperlinks, bolding, underlining,
and italics…all the things you should be
avoiding in the body of your note.
Should you start with the most senior contact and then work your way down? Or will you
have more success if you start with the junior folks and work your way up? There is no
hard-and-fast rule about this. Sometimes, the senior person will forward your email to a
more junior person, asking them to contact you and “screen” you. This is good, because
the junior person is less likely to ignore the request from their boss. Other times, the
senior person is less likely to respond, and you are better off starting with the junior
person and working your way up the seniority chain. It really depends on the company, the
size of the research organization, and the individual, so do both until you start to see some
trends emerge.
9. “Professional Persistence”. Getting emails read is also
largely a matter of timing and persistence. If your prospect
is slammed, he or she may just delete your email because
there’s too much work to do. Or it may seem somewhat
interesting, but shipped off to an unread mail folder,
waiting for that elusive day when there might be time to
read it. So to increase the chance that your email will be
read, follow-up…and be professionally persistent.
Bridgemark Solutions recommends sending a follow-up
message about four or five business days after the initial
email, by forwarding the initial email and appending it with
a new, short message reinforcing the points in your original
note. After that, follow up on a similar schedule for a total
of three or four weeks. Don’t create a new email every
time…forward the ones you’ve already sent so that a.) the
prospect knows you’re a real person, not a blast email
machine, and b.) our conclusion is that junk mail filters tend
to allow more emails through that are forwarded, as
opposed to new.
Plan for Success
While the email is important, it must be supported by a consistent process, or
it will just be a random activity. Set aside a time for lead generation, and stick
to it. In addition to being consistent, the process must be repeatable, or it will
not be efficient. Create a set of emails that work for different services and
under different conditions, and customize them for each prospect. Use a CRM
tool (like www.Salesforce.com) to keep you and others honest in following the
lead generation schedule. Keep track of, publicize, and reward your team’s
lead generation metrics (emails sent, follow-up’s made, leads generated, etc.),
so that you have accountability to yourself, as well as others in your company
who are involved in these tough-but-critical business development activities.
Slide 5
CHAPTER FOUR
The
Introduction
Tips to Getting Read
How many emails do you receive each day? And how many of those do
you delete without reading more than a few words, the subject line, or
anything at all? What it is that gets you to read the few you do actually
read?
Let’s face it. Sales is a volume game: you’re going to have to spend
some time fishing before you catch a fish. But if you’ve got an empty
hook, you’re very unlikely to catch anything.
Here are nine tips to sending emails that
actually get read:
1. Use a reference whenever possible. Did
someone internally refer you to them?
That’s optimal, but not common. Have you
previously done work for their company, or
even their industry? This creates immediate
credibility and significantly increases your
chances of getting a response.
2. Personalization. Personalizing both the
subject line and the greeting maximizes the
prospect’s likelihood of recognizing that you
are a person, not a machine, and are
sending this email to them directly. If you
are sending emails en masse, personalizing
the email wherever you can is critical – as
long as it’s done in a natural, conversational
way.
3. Keep it short. That’s all.
KEEP
CALM
AND
GET
READ
Bonus Tip:
Did the
prospect
respond and say
they weren’t
the right
person? Always
thank them and
kindly ask them
to redirect you
to the correct
person if they
can.
4. Keep it simple. Try to avoid any confusing jargon,
acronyms, or too many internal abbreviations. You want
to convey your firm’s services in a way that the prospect
will easily understand, while giving them the sense that
you are prepared and knowledgeable. And keep in mind
that, while this may have been initially intended for one
specific audience (i.e. researchers, marketers, brand
managers), different companies manage their research
in different divisions and under different umbrellas, and
you never know who might actually end up receiving
your email. Don’t make it difficult to understand you or
what you can do for them!
5. What’s In it for Them? This is your guiding principle.
They don’t want to hear about you; they want to hear
what you can do for them. How are you going to help
them answer their difficult business questions? How will
using your firm make them look good among their
managers or peers? How can you make their work
easier? That’s what you need to convey.
6. Personality. A little, but not too much. You want to
remain professional and credible, as well as
knowledgeable and nice. Your introductory email is an
opportunity to show them how well you can write
(perhaps related to how smart you are?), how easy it is
to understand what you’re trying to convey (perhaps
related to how clear your reports will be?), and all the
while being polite and pleasant (perhaps related to how
enjoyable it will be to work with you?). This is definitely
more of an art than a science, but anyone can do it.
Double Bonus Tip:
Have some fun! When you’re doing your lead generation work and come across a funny
name, title, etc., keep a whiteboard in the office (or a shared document) and share it with
the rest of the team. A little humor makes a tough assignment a lot more fun.
7. Avoid attachments. Most companies
won’t let emails with large attachments
through, and the ones that get through
will have scary-looking warnings all
around them. Hyperlinks are good, but
not more than two or three, including
any in your e-signature.
8. Avoid attention-makers. Italics,
boldface, and exclamation points – all of
these can get your email stuck in the
junk filter. Be careful about getting too
cute with subject lines…a little intrigue is
OK and can pique curiosity, but they are
closely scanned for certain keywords
that are likely to indicate a non-work
related email. And be careful with esignatures; they account for a
surprisingly large amount of
undeliverable emails, probably because
so many of them include pictures,
hyperlinks, bolding, underlining,
and italics…all the things you should be
avoiding in the body of your note.
Should you start with the most senior contact and then work your way down? Or will you
have more success if you start with the junior folks and work your way up? There is no
hard-and-fast rule about this. Sometimes, the senior person will forward your email to a
more junior person, asking them to contact you and “screen” you. This is good, because
the junior person is less likely to ignore the request from their boss. Other times, the
senior person is less likely to respond, and you are better off starting with the junior
person and working your way up the seniority chain. It really depends on the company, the
size of the research organization, and the individual, so do both until you start to see some
trends emerge.
9. “Professional Persistence”. Getting emails read is also
largely a matter of timing and persistence. If your prospect
is slammed, he or she may just delete your email because
there’s too much work to do. Or it may seem somewhat
interesting, but shipped off to an unread mail folder,
waiting for that elusive day when there might be time to
read it. So to increase the chance that your email will be
read, follow-up…and be professionally persistent.
Bridgemark Solutions recommends sending a follow-up
message about four or five business days after the initial
email, by forwarding the initial email and appending it with
a new, short message reinforcing the points in your original
note. After that, follow up on a similar schedule for a total
of three or four weeks. Don’t create a new email every
time…forward the ones you’ve already sent so that a.) the
prospect knows you’re a real person, not a blast email
machine, and b.) our conclusion is that junk mail filters tend
to allow more emails through that are forwarded, as
opposed to new.
Plan for Success
While the email is important, it must be supported by a consistent process, or
it will just be a random activity. Set aside a time for lead generation, and stick
to it. In addition to being consistent, the process must be repeatable, or it will
not be efficient. Create a set of emails that work for different services and
under different conditions, and customize them for each prospect. Use a CRM
tool (like www.Salesforce.com) to keep you and others honest in following the
lead generation schedule. Keep track of, publicize, and reward your team’s
lead generation metrics (emails sent, follow-up’s made, leads generated, etc.),
so that you have accountability to yourself, as well as others in your company
who are involved in these tough-but-critical business development activities.