7 Mistakes in Sales Prospecting Emails
7 Mistakes in Sales Prospecting Emails
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Generating sales leads and getting new clientele can be more difficult than it may seem. For this, all businesses, especially those involved in service provision and product development, write sales prospecting emails. They are intended to target the right segment of customers that might need the exact product or service.
Usually, these emails are sent by marketers who keep abreast of the recent industry trends and monitor all news. These letters often become a response to major events that occur in firms operating in different industries, e.g., rebranding, new line launch, new market entry, discount season, etc. In sales prospecting emails, companies which are interested in promoting their particular services and products, usually describe the way how their product or service can help customers satisfy their needs.
However, it would not be such a great marketing tool if it were that simple. Mistakes in sales prospecting emails occur often enough, and sometimes, these letters reach quite the opposite purpose. Instead of calling for action and generating sales, they distort the message sent by the company. Thus, to make sure you are doing everything right, read the following article to learn about the seven most common mistakes in sales prospecting email writing.
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Irrelevant Prospecting Email Subject Line
Many people confirm that some subject lines in sales prospecting emails got them frustrated. This emotion is hardly the one that promises a sales increase. Usually, subject lines are used to grab your attention. However, sometimes, creativity and imagination play a bad trick.
Customers do not like subject lines that are dishonest. For example, when people see “Re: your invite” or “Re: your offer,” they expect everything but a web development agency trying to sell them a new service. Especially this is true if they had never engaged in communication with this firm. Other irritating subject lines include something like, “We know what you were doing last summer,” “Your membership is expiring,” “Your significant other needs your help,” etc.
To write a good subject line, try to be relevant and include the most recent trends from your industry. Do not invent other ways to grab attention. Be straightforward. Otherwise, you risk losing a client.
Plagiarism
Yes, this is a serious problem, not only in academic writing or content creation. Sales prospecting emails get copied-pasted too often to make people receiving them angry. Imagine what your reaction would be if you received five similar emails out of 15? You would definitely consider what business is it if it cannot generate unique content for sales prospecting emails.
Thus, it is important to check plagiarism levels every time you are going to send something out. You can check these free essayontime tools or use any other software which is easy to find online. Remember that it is okay to get an idea of how sales prospecting email can be written. However, it is wrong to use these ideas as if they were your own.
Poor Writing
Impeccable writing should be your general motto. With the growing importance of content quality, an inability to write mistakes-free endangers the success of your entire venture. Mistakes throw emails off balance because they are highly noticeable in such little amount of text. It is better not to write a letter at all than to write it with errors. Ensure that each of the texts generated by you or your team is checked for grammar, stylistic and punctuation mistakes. If you happen to notice these errors, make sure to get rid of them.
Lack of Connection
If you want your email to be read, you need to establish a personal connection. Otherwise, the person reading it will lose interest. Thus, a typical structure should include a reason for reaching out, an explanation of why this is the best time to reach out and a call-to-action. Above all this, you need to write your company’s name and the product you offer for your potential customers to understand how this offer relates to them.
Make your email more personal by including some information that would positively impact the reader. If you know for sure who you are addressing, you can include several of his or her achievements to make the letter more targeted. This is especially needed if you are writing to the CEO of a startup, for example.
Having Too Much to Offer
People like flattery but only to a certain extent. If you offer too many benefits, it usually starts looking suspicious. You need to sum up what you have in mind and present the information about the advantages of concisely. Try to hint on the actual benefits rather than name them. Since you are writing a sales prospecting email, it should be short but precise enough to call for action. Your goal is to initiate communication rather than convert a client.
Reaching Out the Wrong Person
This mistake will not affect your business in any way except for time loss. However, just imagine how much effort you need to put into your research and how much time you should invest in writing a good letter. It would definitely be sad if it reaches the wrong recipient. Thus, make sure to check several times whether you should send this letter to this particular person before even getting to write it.
Try Several Times
You know that sometimes emails get lost or reach spam folder instead of incoming. Thus, failure to receive a response should not stop you. Also, do not feel wrong about reaching out to the same person once again. It should not look like bombarding. However, putting your ideas in simple words once again can pay you in double. Most people would be grateful for reminding them about something because it is common to miss something in such a fast pace current business lives in.
Final Words
Marketing has its rules, especially what refers to writing. Creating an email is an extra challenge because you need to pack all your ideas into a minimal word count. This is why, before writing a sales prospecting email, make sure you know how to do it right. Do not try to hook your reader with a catchy but irrelevant subject line as well as double-check that this is the right person to address. Make sure your email is not plagiarized and check its grammar and spelling mistakes. Invest your time in establishing a connection with your addressee and try several times if the first attempt failed. However, avoid being clingy or too generous in your offers that many people deem suspicious.
BIO
Sandra Larson is a freelance content writer who works on a project-based basis. She is often assigned to the most difficult writing assignments requiring skills and experience. In this article, she shares her opinion on the most common mistakes in sales prospecting email writing and gives a clue on how to avoid them.