We discuss a lot about engagement and most people focus on the face to face and voice engagement, so what about the written word, what about emails which have become so pervasive in how we communicate with our customers and prospects.

We know from our study of human beings that completing task provides a dopamine hit, a feel good chemical release. So when we send an email we feel good that we have accomplish something. The challenge is we are thinking about ourselves at that moment in time. Once the email is received it is now how the recipient reads and what they read into the email.

Just imagine how many emails the recipient is receiving and the time and energy that they are thinking about what email to open or not. Please remember that once an email is opened some decision or action needs to be taken and sometimes if they are not ready or not capable in doing this, they would prefer to ignore the email.

Below is some feedback from a survey in 2014 which people shared their thoughts about emails they received from external people to their organisation. Too many, not relevant, too small, too hard to read on mobile and so on.

Would it be worthwhile investing even more time thinking about how we structure the email, what we write and the person receiving the email how they would prefer to see the content.

The Structure and Flow:

Let’s start with whom will be reading it.  As we all have a personality we all have a preference of how we like to receive information differently. For some it’s brief information whilst others its in story and some - point form. Knowing your reader will assist in the way you structure and language you use in the email.

Importantly, most emails are first read on a mobile therefore let’s consider how we structure the flow of the email and how easy it will be for people to read them. Do we want people to strain their eyes when reading a small font size or do they need to expand the email to see something. For example if the demographics we are engaging with are more mature age then perhaps a larger font would be better.

Subject Line:

Next is the subject line – get this right and there is a high probability it will be opened. In fact, 35% of email recipients open the email based on the subject line alone.

Opening Line:

The next most important aspect for the email is the opening line, this will set the tone.  Get this right and the content will be read or skimmed at least.  Skip the stuffy formal introduction; instead, try mentioning a mutual connection, or something noteworthy and relevant that you saw on LinkedIn or social media.  Keep in mind that your opening line will most likely be visible on mobile, so make it count.

Body of Email:

Now the body of the email, keep it brief. Provide a perspective that will resonate with them. Maybe mention someone or some company they can relate. Maybe mention some improvement of ROI someone received.

CTA:

At last of all the Call to Action, the CTA. Afterall the email was crafted to get a responses, yes? So make the CTA something they can do and does not take a lot of effort. Asking them to ring you – yeah probably not going to happy. Have them reply email – easier and yet why would they? The CTA needs to be easy and worthwhile.

The ability to structure a sales email to prospect and clients effectively is a key skill set in modern day selling. Understanding how cut through 1000 of emails people recieve enables us to differeniate ourselves and our solutions. If you would like to understand more about how to communicate effectively with others contact us, we would love to have a conversation.