What makes the difference between an email that gets read and one that gets deleted? How can you write emails that connect with prospects and lead to sales?
In Fanatical Prospecting, Jeb Blount reveals the four essential steps to create compelling prospecting emails. His approach helps salespeople craft messages that grab attention, build connections, and generate responses.
Keep reading to discover the secrets of effective email prospecting that can transform your outreach efforts into meaningful business relationships.
Email Prospecting
Although telephone prospecting has long been a staple of sales, Blount relates that prospecting via email is becoming increasingly common. To that end, he recommends that, to craft a compelling prospecting email, implement these four steps: Catch your audience’s attention, demonstrate understanding, explain how you can help, and make your request.
Step #1: Catch Your Audience’s Attention
Blount explains that the first step of email prospecting is to ensure that your audience actually reads the email you’ve sent them, rather than deleting it on the spot. To do so, he advises that you catch their attention by writing a gripping subject line and opening sentence that are clearly relevant to them. For instance, if you’re writing to the manager of a family-owned bookstore, your subject might read “Small Bookstores Suffocating Under Pressure From Amazon,” and your opening sentence might read “Many experts predict that family-owned bookstores are a dying breed.” This subject line and opening sentences are immediately relevant to your prospect and compel them to read further.
(Shortform note: In addition to grabbing your audience’s attention, others suggest that you try to tap into their curiosity by piquing their interest. In other words, the first line of your email shouldn’t reveal too much, but rather make your prospect curious about the rest of the email.)
Step #2: Demonstrate Understanding
Next, you need to demonstrate an understanding of your prospect’s problems so that you can connect with them on an emotional level. According to Blount, most prospects make decisions based on emotions, so prospects will be more likely to make the decision you want if they think you understand their emotions. For example, returning to the example of the bookstore owner, your next sentence might read, “I’m sure that it’s difficult to keep your business afloat when competing against massive corporations like Amazon.”
(Shortform note: While Blount writes as if demonstrating understanding is merely the second step in crafting an effective email, other experts clarify that you should express empathy throughout your entire email to best relate to your prospects. At the end of your email, for example, this might entail reiterating how thankful you are that they’ve taken the time to read your email.)
Step #3: Explain How You Can Help
After you’ve related to your prospect, it’s time to give a concrete reason why you can help them. After all, Blount explains that most people are motivated by selfish considerations, so clarifying how exactly you can benefit your prospect will draw them in. For instance, if you ran a consulting company that focused on small businesses, you might tell your bookstore owner, “I’ve worked with several other smaller bookstores in the area and helped increase their yearly revenue by 10% through new marketing techniques.”
(Shortform note: In The Way of the Wolf, Jordan Belfort clarifies that when you explain how you can help a prospect, you should do so by focusing on your product’s benefits rather than its features. For example, if you were selling high-end laptops, you should focus on how much it could improve your prospects’ efficiency rather than its advanced technical specifications that most people don’t understand anyway. In doing so, you make the reasons why your prospect should consider buying your product much more salient.)
Step #4: Make Your Request
Finally, after you’ve explained how you can help your prospect, you need to make a formal request to take the next step toward a sale. For example, you might ask the bookstore owner, “Are you free to meet next Thursday at 2 p.m. so that I can learn more about your business and see whether my consulting company might be a good fit?”
(Shortform note: After you’ve made your request, there are various ways you can close your prospecting email to maximize your chance at a sale. For example, you might end by reiterating how excited you would be to have your prospect as a customer since that excitement signals that they’re important. Alternatively, you could end by offering to answer any questions so that your prospect can learn more about you if they desire.)
