6 Things Every Prospecting Email Should Have & 1 Thing They Never Should

Thanks to everyone who attended our webinar: Prospecting 2017: the New Normal. If you missed it we recorded the webinar for your OnDemand viewing pleasure. The feedback was extremely positive (Thanks Mom!), as most attendees enjoyed "real world" examples of email prospecting and social selling that were discussed and presented. So often, these webinars remind me of Sales Call Role Play (SHUDDER) - where EVERY call, conversation and interaction ends in a SALE!

Quick aside - I was participating in a cold phone call role play a few years back where the boss was a stickler for "realism" - and by that I mean he made us verbally say "Ring, Ring, Ring" to approximate the sound of the phone ringing before it was picked up. Genius.

So when it came to my turn as the "prospect", the poor rep across from me started doing the old "Ring. Ring. Riiinng. Riinnnng." I just let it go on and on and on. He must of said "Ring" for 20 seconds and my boss said to me "Aren't you going to pick up the phone?"

I said, "Nope, I don't recognize the number and I hate cold calls!" ZING! Everybody laughed. Except my boss. But when you're a salesperson who's 200% of quota, you get to joke around in training.

Ok - back to the the post. One of the things that was most appreciated about the webinar was the part where I talked about what I thought were the 6 Things All Prospecting Emails Should Have! and if you want more than just 6, join us in May 24th as we explore how to effectively craft prospecting emails that click!

Please register for Sales Hacker Guide To the Galaxy: Vol. 3. A Prospecting Email that Clicks! on May 24, 2017 2:00 PM EDT at:

Register Here- https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/8683922327256348161

I'm going to list the six things here:

1. Personalized Content - the only thing people like more than talking about themselves is hearing about themselves. Don't fight millions of years of evolution - just do it. 'Nuff said.
2. Market Insights - this doesn't have to be the latest Gartner numbers or the analytics from some Swiss study about Australian B2B buyers who work in South America. Isn't there ENOUGH of that on the web? How about something YOU'VE noticed? I mean, you are a professional, aren't you? If you can't think of anything, how about all the posts and comments to those posts here in LinkedIn? There's GOLD in those comments. Great "real world" insights just WAITING for you to find them.
3. Content Links - LINKS, not attachments. And good ones. Not just stuff from your marketing department (yes, I'm talking to you, Janice.) Heck, they can even be third party - like a youtube of a TEDTalk. It's not important "what" it is, it's just important the LINK is there.
4. Proof Source - Since my application is on the Salesforce App Exchange, I have a built in Social Proof Source: the public comments and the rating of my application. Every prospecting email I send (hell, EVERY EMAIL I send) has a LINK to the proof source in my signature. What's your proof source? Is it reviews? Case Studies? Pod cast interviews with clients? Whatever is it is, it should be linked the emails you send out. You don't have to BLATHER ON about them - just make the links self-explanatory. (example in the Slideshare)
5. Social Presence - Like your Content and your Proof Source, the prospect should be able to quickly click a link and go to your LinkedIn, twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Myspace (really?) - whatever. In the New Normal, WHO you are PERSONALLY and what VALUE YOU bring to the table PERSONALLY are just as important as whatever widget you're selling. When I get a prospecting email that I have ANY interest in, I look for the sender on Social Media. And since I'm incredibly lazy, if it takes more then 10 seconds, I'm moving on. So Just Link It!
6. Interaction Tracking - ok, this one isn't IN the email you send, but it's probably the most important of all. None of the other five even MATTER if you don't know whether or not your prospect is reading your email, clicking the links or looking at your social proof. Every prospecting email you send should show you (the sales rep - not someone in marketing) who reads it, when they read it, if they forwarded it, if they clicked the links in it and even if they went to your social media sites or your webpage and what they clicked and did there. This way if your emails AREN'T being read, you can finagle the template you used until they do. If one type of email gets read more than others or gets more clicks, then you can repurpose the stuff that works. Those who hate email prospecting always say "you can't sit by your inbox waiting for replies to emails." Well, no sh*t Sherlock. With Interaction Tracking, they don't even NEED to reply. In my example in the slideshare I show that an email that wasn't responded to has a WHOLE bunch of relevant data attached to it that can make you re-tune your outreach to a prospect who is OBVIOSULY interested but just hasn't replied yet. You see, people click on links that INTEREST them. So if you're able to see WHAT interested them in your email, you can map out how to approach them to talk about what THEY ARE INTERESTED IN.

Here's the 1 thing that should NEVER be in a prospecting email - in my humble (HA!) opinion:

1. An ASK for a XX minute MEETING - Is there anything worse that getting a meeting request from someone who you don't know? Well, yes, I would assume falling off a mountain into a deep hole filled with broken glass and tabasco sauce is worse....but not by much. And I'm no saint here, I used to send these type of "Hey I just want 15 minutes of you time" emails ALL THE TIME. But I also used to wear parachute pants (Millennials - Google it) and I figured out on my own that those didn't really work either. Think of it this way - I'm only going to meet with you if I have perceived you could provide me some value. Do you think you can show me your value in a few sentences in an email well enough to ask me for a meeting? If you do, you shouldn't be reading this post - you should be on the beach, retired, because you made a zillion dollars selling your widget over email. For the rest of is here on Earth, let's just stop asking for a meeting with the first prospecting email...Mmmmkay?

There - that's my $0.02. I'm interested in knowing what's working for you - and what's not. Leave a comment or reach out to me via InMail if you w to do it on the QT. I have some upcoming webinars, so watch this space. Also, if you're at all interested, check out ZynBit.

Cheers!