Your Ultimate Guide to Sales Email For 2021

A sales email is the first and most challenging step in your sales cycle, learn how to create a sales email that will boost sales for 2021.

Your Ultimate Guide to Sales Email For 2021

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A sales email is the first point of contact with a potential client and is often one of the most challenging steps in the whole sales cycle. With so much competition in your niche, your email has to strike just the right balance between providing a solution to a problem and selling your business. How can you create sales emails that highlight your value and elicit responses from your recipients?

 

This guide will look at how you can create a sales email to pique your recipients’ interest and increase your client base and revenue. We will look at the main elements of an effective sales email and some email marketing best practices that will help you stand out from the crowd. 

Five Elements of an Effective Sales Email

Your potential clients receive hundreds of sales pitches every month, all from companies promising to be the best in the industry. You want your email to stand out. To do that, you need to optimize your email copy and style, keeping the reader—not your bottom line—at the top of your mind.

 

In this section, we will look at some of the ways your sales email can cut through the inbox clutter and capture the attention of your prospects, helping you make a strong first impression. These tips will help your sales team get more leads and save your emails from being banished to the dreaded spam folder.

1. Catchy Subject Line

A Marketo study estimates that readers stop engaging with your email after seven words. This observation means one thing: your subject line is arguably the most important part of your sales email. Because it sits in your prospects’ inboxes, competing for their attention with hundreds of other sales emails, the subject line needs to be catchy and worth opening. 

 

A good subject line can pose a question to the client. It could also include a direct offer, such as “Save $xx – click to learn more”. If you are contacting them thanks to a referral, including the name of the person who referred them in the subject line will build rapport with the recipient. If it is a follow-up email, work a reminder into the subject line: “Here’s some more information that will help you solve XYZ”. 

A sales email is the first point of contact with a potential client and is often one of the most challenging steps in the whole sales cycle. With so much competition in your niche, your email has to strike just the right balance between providing a solution to a problem and selling your business. How can you create sales emails that highlight your value and elicit responses from your recipients? This guide will look at how you can create a sales email to pique your recipients’ interest and increase your client base and revenue. We will look at the main elements of an effective sales email and some email marketing best practices that will help you stand out from the crowd. Five Elements of an Effective Sales Email Your potential clients receive hundreds of sales pitches every month, all from companies promising to be the best in the industry. You want your email to stand out. To do that, you need to optimize your email copy and style, keeping the reader—not your bottom line—at the top of your mind. In this section, we will look at some of the ways your sales email can cut through the inbox clutter and capture the attention of your prospects, helping you make a strong first impression. These tips will help your sales team get more leads and save your emails from being banished to the dreaded spam folder. 1. Catchy Subject Line A Marketo study estimates that readers stop engaging with your email after seven words. This observation means one thing: your subject line is arguably the most important part of your sales email. Because it sits in your prospects’ inboxes, competing for their attention with hundreds of other sales emails, the subject line needs to be catchy and worth opening. A good subject line can pose a question to the client. It could also include a direct offer, such as "Save $xx - click to learn more”. If you are contacting them thanks to a referral, including the name of the person who referred them in the subject line will build rapport with the recipient. If it is a follow-up email, work a reminder into the subject line: "Here’s some more information that will help you solve XYZ”. Source: Shortstack Take a look at the subject line above. It directly addresses reader needs and offers a solution for a specific problem. It is direct, it gives directions, and it spells out exactly what benefit the reader will derive from the content. 2. Opening Line that Makes an Impact Out of all the sales emails that are sent every day, only around 24% get opened. After the initial hurdle of the subject line, your email’s opening line can either be a bridge or a barrier. An impactful opening line should leave a powerful impression on the reader and give them a reason to keep reading. Successful email marketers veer away from talking about themselves and the company and focus instead on the reader’s interests. Opening lines like "Do you want to achieve XYZ..." or " Are you struggling with XYZ?" are more likely to get read than ones that just focus on the company. Telling the reader how you can be useful to them right away will convince them to read the rest of your email. Always keep this in mind: your reader wants to know what’s in it for them. 3. Informative Email Copy After building up your chances with a catchy subject line and an opening sentence that captures your readers’ attention, it is time to follow through. The sales email copy should be packed with information and tell the reader how your business can help them. Generic promises and meaningless buzzwords don’t work in an email marketing context. Instead, you need to make your prospect’s business the star of the show and show how your solutions and tools will make it shine even brighter. Your email copy should ask the hard questions and give substantial answers. While your email copy needs to be informative, keep it brief and to-the-point. You don’t want to drown your reader in a sea of text! Instead, you can insert links to blog posts and other resources, such as free demos and explainer videos, to increase reader engagement and signpost them towards additional information. 4. Strong Call to Action After laying out your case for why your product or service is the best solution to your readers’ needs, you should end your sales email on a strong note with a call to action (CTA). This is where you tell them what you want them to do. Whether you’re offering to set up an initial meeting or a follow-up call with your sales rep, your CTA should be strong without being pushy. Be as specific as possible, and use one CTA only. Examples might be “Give me a call on this number to set up a meeting”, or “click here to download your free trial!”. The CTA is also the first step in building rapport with your reader. Pro tip: if your CTA involves arranging a meeting, including a calendar invite at the end of the mail will increase your click-through rate. 5. Professional Signature I’ve received too many emails that end with something like "Regards, sales team". While this sign-off is simple, it’s impersonal and doesn’t give your readers much to work with. A professional email signature will convey certain important elements such as your name, your contact details, your position and company, and a link to your profile on a professional networking platform like LinkedIn. Keep the signature simple and straightforward, avoiding quotes or unnecessary links to company resources. The text should be in line with the company's branding. In some cases, you can also include your company logo if it can be easily integrated with the email signature. Here’s a good example: Source: Jenay Sellers Other elements you can add to your professional emails are a headshot photo and any special accreditations or awards that you (or your company) have received. The example from SmartAcre, above, proudly announces that it’s one of the fastest-growing companies as recognized by Inc. Magazine. The five elements we’ve just discussed form the framework of any successful sales email. They encourage conversions at every stage, from the subject line to the email signature. They will help you give the buyer reasons to choose your business over your competition. In the next section, we will look at how you can improve each element to get the best response rate and get more qualified leads. 7 Sales Email Best Practices You Can Use in 2021 and Beyond Once you’ve built a solid foundation for your sales email strategy, you need to personalize your sales emails and send your clients the right message. Instead of copying from sales email templates, focus on writing emails that emphasize the value your business can provide to your prospects. This section will look at seven ways to elevate your sales email from being a mere product pitch to a solid value proposition that increases your response rate. 1. Keep your Email Short According to a study conducted by Litmus Software, people spend an average of just 13.4 seconds reading an email. If your sales email is too long, your recipients are likely to close it even before they get to your main points. Keeping the email body short and concise and including links to relevant resources will keep your readers engaged and help build your credibility. The effectiveness of your email will also depend on convincing the reader that your proposed solution will solve their problem. You have to strike a balance between including all the necessary details and keeping things brief. 2. Avoid Spam Triggers Even before you can make your case, your sales email has to face the biggest struggle of all - the spam folder. Most email platforms are designed to catch emails that contain specific words and redirect them to the spam folder automatically. Source: Prospect.io Here is an exhaustive list that includes 455 words and phrases that are most likely to send your email to the spam folder. Some of them include discount information, such as “50% off”. The list above contains just a few common trigger words that could mean your email never reaches the recipient. Some phrases that feature on the list, such as “Hello XYZ”, are also essential. Most spam filters do not just pick out words but also look at their context. Doing your homework and running tests on your sales emails will help you write emails that don’t get sent to spam. Aside from trigger words, sending your sales emails to non-existent email addresses will increase your email bounce rate and alert email servers that your email address might not be legitimate. Using an email address finder will help you reach out to the right people and keep your emails from bouncing back. 3. Personalize your Email Content You probably have a lot of sales emails to send in one day and feel that you don’t have time to personalize each email, but going the extra mile will help you land a client. Using automation technology to include your recipients’ names and business details will help your emails stand out. You can also set up your email platform to track trigger events like product launches, earnings expectations, and birthdays, and use them to send the right email content at the right time. Aside from using trigger events, you can also refer to a recently published article or video on your channels. Referring to recent, relevant content will help convince the potential client that you share their interests and establish your company as one that listens to its customers. 4. Establish your Credibility with Social Proof Your potential customers want to read about your current users’ experience with your products or services. Online reviews are a good way of showcasing how your products work in a real-life setting. Source: Campaign Monitor Social proof is a way to use testimonials from current customers to provide evidence that your company can deliver on its promises. The email example above from FreshBooks includes a review that makes its reader want to know more about the product. Featuring online reviews and testimonials prominently in your sales emails will help you build trust in your brand. Your readers can easily verify anything that you include in your email, so ensure that you feature real reviews and that you get permission from your existing customers to share their experience. 6. Use Images and Videos A great way to make your email more informative is by adding multimedia elements like product images and videos. A study conducted by Hubspot discovered that sales emails with videos had triple the response rate of emails without them. Videos also increased the number of sales meetings booked by 500%. Source: Mailerlite Including visual elements helps your brand stand out. Most people also respond better to visual communication than written text alone. Images and videos give your readers the chance to take a look at your product and visualize themselves using it. 7. Ensure that Your Email Gets Sent to the Right Recipients There are two things to consider when we talk about the right recipient. First, the person you send the sales email to should be in a position to make purchase decisions. Second, the email address you send your sales email to should be correct, so your efforts don’t go to waste. One way to find the right person is to use a professional networking platform like LinkedIn. Keep a database of all your potential clients, and cross-reference your list once in a while to ensure the information is still correct. Online tools can help you find the right person’s email address if it is not publicly available. Remember - sending your email to the wrong address will increase your chances of getting your emails marked as spam! Bottom line A sales email sets the tone for your interactions with a potential customer. Because your prospects receive hundreds of emails every week, your sales email must stand out. A strong, customer-centric focus will serve as a solid foundation when you craft the subject line and your email body. By putting your reader first, you can offer content that recognizes and addresses their pain points. Aside from acknowledging their needs, take your sales emails a step further, and personalize the content according to your recipient. Make sure you focus on how your product can benefit them, then end with a strong call to action. The steps and best practices in this guide will help you create convincing sales emails and bring in more clients. How do you plan to make your sales emails unique and actionable? Let us know in the comments!

Source: Shortstack

 

Take a look at the subject line above. It directly addresses reader needs and offers a solution for a specific problem. It is direct, it gives directions, and it spells out exactly what benefit the reader will derive from the content. 

2. Opening Line that Makes an Impact

Out of all the sales emails that are sent every day, only around 24% get opened. After the initial hurdle of the subject line, your email’s opening line can either be a bridge or a barrier. An impactful opening line should leave a powerful impression on the reader and give them a reason to keep reading. 

 

Successful email marketers veer away from talking about themselves and the company and focus instead on the reader’s interests. Opening lines like “Do you want to achieve XYZ…” or ” Are you struggling with XYZ?” are more likely to get read than ones that just focus on the company. Telling the reader how you can be useful to them right away will convince them to read the rest of your email.

Always keep this in mind: your reader wants to know what’s in it for them. 

3. Informative Email Copy

After building up your chances with a catchy subject line and an opening sentence that captures your readers’ attention, it is time to follow through. The sales email copy should be packed with information and tell the reader how your business can help them. 

 

Generic promises and meaningless buzzwords don’t work in an email marketing context. Instead, you need to make your prospect’s business the star of the show and show how your solutions and tools will make it shine even brighter. Your email copy should ask the hard questions and give substantial answers.

While your email copy needs to be informative, keep it brief and to-the-point. You don’t want to drown your reader in a sea of text! Instead, you can insert links to blog posts and other resources, such as free demos and explainer videos, to increase reader engagement and signpost them towards additional information.

4. Strong Call to Action

After laying out your case for why your product or service is the best solution to your readers’ needs, you should end your sales email on a strong note with a call to action (CTA). This is where you tell them what you want them to do. Whether you’re offering to set up an initial meeting or a follow-up call with your sales rep, your CTA should be strong without being pushy. 

 

Be as specific as possible, and use one CTA only. Examples might be “Give me a call on this number to set up a meeting”, or “click here to download your free trial!”. The CTA is also the first step in building rapport with your reader. 

Pro tip: if your CTA involves arranging a meeting, including a calendar invite at the end of the mail will increase your click-through rate.

5. Professional Signature

I’ve received too many emails that end with something like “Regards, sales team”. While this sign-off is simple, it’s impersonal and doesn’t give your readers much to work with. A professional email signature will convey certain important elements such as your name, your contact details, your position and company, and a link to your profile on a professional networking platform like LinkedIn. 

 

Keep the signature simple and straightforward, avoiding quotes or unnecessary links to company resources. The text should be in line with the company’s branding. In some cases, you can also include your company logo if it can be easily integrated with the email signature. Here’s a good example: 

Source: Jenay Sellers

 

Other elements you can add to your professional emails are a headshot photo and any special accreditations or awards that you (or your company) have received. The example from SmartAcre, above, proudly announces that it’s one of the fastest-growing companies as recognized by Inc. Magazine.

 

The five elements we’ve just discussed form the framework of any successful sales email. They encourage conversions at every stage, from the subject line to the email signature. They will help you give the buyer reasons to choose your business over your competition. 

 

In the next section, we will look at how you can improve each element to get the best response rate and get more qualified leads.

7 Sales Email Best Practices You Can Use in 2021 and Beyond

Once you’ve built a solid foundation for your sales email strategy, you need to personalize your sales emails and send your clients the right message. Instead of copying from sales email templates, focus on writing emails that emphasize the value your business can provide to your prospects. 

 

This section will look at seven ways to elevate your sales email from being a mere product pitch to a solid value proposition that increases your response rate.

1. Keep your Email Short

According to a study conducted by Litmus Software, people spend an average of just 13.4 seconds reading an email. If your sales email is too long, your recipients are likely to close it even before they get to your main points. 

Keeping the email body short and concise and including links to relevant resources will keep your readers engaged and help build your credibility. 

 

The effectiveness of your email will also depend on convincing the reader that your proposed solution will solve their problem. You have to strike a balance between including all the necessary details and keeping things brief.

2. Avoid Spam Triggers

Even before you can make your case, your sales email has to face the biggest struggle of all – the spam folder. Most email platforms are designed to catch emails that contain specific words and redirect them to the spam folder automatically. 

Source: Prospect.io

 

Here is an exhaustive list that includes 455 words and phrases that are most likely to send your email to the spam folder. Some of them include discount information, such as “50% off”. The list above contains just a few common trigger words that could mean your email never reaches the recipient.

 

Some phrases that feature on the list, such as “Hello XYZ”, are also essential. Most spam filters do not just pick out words but also look at their context. Doing your homework and running tests on your sales emails will help you write emails that don’t get sent to spam. 

 

Aside from trigger words, sending your sales emails to non-existent email addresses will increase your email bounce rate and alert email servers that your email address might not be legitimate. Using an email address finder will help you reach out to the right people and keep your emails from bouncing back. 

3. Personalize your Email Content

You probably have a lot of sales emails to send in one day and feel that you don’t have time to personalize each email, but going the extra mile will help you land a client. 

 

Using automation technology to include your recipients’ names and business details will help your emails stand out. You can also set up your email platform to track trigger events like product launches, earnings expectations, and birthdays, and use them to send the right email content at the right time. 

 

Aside from using trigger events, you can also refer to a recently published article or video on your channels. Referring to recent, relevant content will help convince potential clients that you share their interests and establish your company as one that listens to its customers.

 

4. Establish your Credibility with Social Proof

Your potential customers want to read about your current users’ experience with your products or services. Online reviews are a good way of showcasing how your products work in a real-life setting.

Source: Campaign Monitor

 

Social proof is a way to use testimonials from current customers to provide evidence that your company can deliver on its promises. The email example above from FreshBooks includes a review that makes its reader want to know more about the product. 

 

Featuring online reviews and testimonials prominently in your sales emails will help you build trust in your brand. Your readers can easily verify anything that you include in your email, so ensure that you feature real reviews and that you get permission from your existing customers to share their experience.

6. Use Images and Videos

A great way to make your email more informative is by adding multimedia elements like product images and videos. A study conducted by Hubspot discovered that sales emails with videos had triple the response rate of emails without them. Videos also increased the number of sales meetings booked by 500%. 

Source: Mailerlite

 

Including visual elements helps your brand stand out. Most people also respond better to visual communication than written text alone. Images and videos give your readers the chance to take a look at your product and visualize themselves using it.

7. Ensure that Your Email Gets Sent to the Right Recipients

There are two things to consider when we talk about the right recipient. First, the person you send the sales email to should be in a position to make purchase decisions. Second, the email address you send your sales email to should be correct, so your efforts don’t go to waste. 

 

One way to find the right person is to use a professional networking platform like LinkedIn. Keep a database of all your potential clients, and cross-reference your list once in a while to ensure the information is still correct. 

Online tools can help you find the right person’s email address if it is not publicly available. Remember – sending your email to the wrong address will increase your chances of getting your emails marked as spam!

Bottom line

A sales email sets the tone for your interactions with a potential customer. Because your prospects receive hundreds of emails every week, your sales email must stand out. A strong, customer-centric focus will serve as a solid foundation when you craft the subject line and your email body. By putting your reader first, you can offer content that recognizes and addresses their pain points.

 

Aside from acknowledging their needs, take your sales emails a step further, and personalize the content according to your recipient. Make sure you focus on how your product can benefit them, then end with a strong call to action. The steps and best practices in this guide will help you create convincing sales emails and bring in more clients. 

 

How do you plan to make your sales emails unique and actionable? Let us know in the comments!