Email marketing provides a potential 4,400% return on investment, with over 102.6 trillion emails sent each year.
Additionally, email open rates across all industries stand at 22.86%, while social media engagement is only 0.58% for Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
With such alluring statistics, marketers are investing more and more in their sales email campaigns and copywriters are using scientific methods of persuasion to boost response rates.
Here are a few strategies that will help create a sales email campaign people will want to respond to.
Customise Your Subject Lines
Before you can think about getting your prospect to respond, you’ve first got to sell them on opening your email. Email subjects form a first impression.
When skimming their inbox, your subject line will influence whether your recipient will open your email and read your content.
Personalising your email creates a powerful first impression.
Sales and negotiation training should prime you to use your knowledge of the customer to create personalised content.
Here are six ways you can generate interest by personalising your email subject:
- Use your prospect’s first name: Using first names shows familiarity and makes your reader feel valued.
- Add interests: Mention the reader’s interests to let them know the email contains something relevant to them.
- Use special dates: Birthdays and anniversaries are great ways to personalise content.
- Mention past interactions: Use a prospect’s previous purchase to promote a related product or a new offer.
- Create urgency: Urgency and scarcity can touch on people’s FOMO (fear of missing out). For instance, “Dinah, 4 Spots Left on our Online Sales Negotiation Training Course.”
- Localise: Send your prospect an email about events and offers relevant to their region.
There are also some general rules you can apply to increase your open rates. For example, avoid using all caps and excessive punctuation.
Use the BAB Formula
Successful content marketers often draw in their email audience using stories. The Before-After-Bridge (BAB) formula works by first describing the customer’s world as it is.
The “Before” section of the email will address the customer’s current environment, emphasising the problem.
The “After” section of the email creates an image of a world where the customer’s problems cease to exist. The segment describes how much easier, more profitable, or beneficial life would be once the “Before” issues are gone.
In the “Bridge” section of the email, the marketer describes the effective solutions for the “Before.” The “Bridge” provides a compelling case for how your products lead to an ideal “After.”
The Before-After-Bridge technique focuses on benefits and compels your recipient to take the necessary action.
For an email script example:
Hi [First Name],
As a busy sales rep, I know it’s tough to find time to update your sales lead’s contact data.
Imagine a customer relationship management system that requires no data entry yet automatically updates itself. The system is simple to use and requires no extra online training. Imagine all the free time you would have to close more sales.
SalesCRM (fictional product) is your perfect sales companion. Our powerful tool automates data entry, making sales negotiation professionals more efficient. If you give me 20 minutes, I can show you how 80 sales professionals increased their sales by up to 45% using SalesCRM.
PAS Strategy
Problem-Agitate-Solve (PAS) is an email copywriting technique very like the BAB technique. The difference is in the “Agitate” part when compared against the “After” part of BAB.
In PAS, sales negotiators use the “Problem” part to define the customer’s pain point.
Place yourself in the prospect’s shoes and be aware of the problems they would like to solve. Knowing the customer’s problem reflects your empathy and communicates your expertise.
As opposed to “After” in BAB, “Agitate” in PAS works to describe life if the problem persists.
Agitation turns up the heat and creates awareness of how much worse the problem could become if left unsolved. A few ways to use “Agitate” include:
- Describe how the problem could make things worse.
- Dramatise the problem using an anecdote.
- Appeal to the customer’s emotions.
- Provide real-world examples of how the problem has adversely affected others.
The “Solve” part of PAS is like the “Bridge” of BAB. You provide the solution that frees your prospect from the problem.
At this point, you create urgency and show benefits. Some actions you can take to lead up to sales negotiations are:
- Provide a compelling call to action.
- Describe your solution to the prospect’s problem.
- Talk of the benefits of your solution.
- Build credibility by sharing reviews and testimonials.
An email script example:
Hi [First Name],
Knowing how busy sales negotiation can get, I know it can be difficult finding time to enter your leads’ contact data and keep your database up to date.
As the number of your sales leads increases, you will need even more time for data entry. Imagine how much time and effort you will have to schedule for administrative tasks. Data entry, updating your registries, and correcting errors can stagnate your sales negotiation efforts.
SalesCRM is your perfect sales companion. Our powerful tool automates data entry, making sales professionals more efficient. Schedule 20 minutes this week, and I will show you how 80 sales professionals increased their sales by up to 45% using SalesCRM.
Tackle the Five Basic Objections
The key to getting a positive response is to provide value.
Your reader may hesitate if they feel you have not addressed their problem.
For optimal results, design your sales email copy to solve your reader’s possible objections.
If you can solve one objection, that’s great. If you can solve more, your chances for a positive response significantly increase.
The top five sales negotiations objections to address in your sales copy are:
- I don’t have the money: Focus on your unique value and the return on investment.
- This product/service won’t work for me: Show past examples that have led to positive results.
- I don’t believe you: Be honest and consistent. Be open with information. Share testimonials, reviews, and case studies.
- I don’t need this product/service: Motivate action by showing your prospect how their competition has improved since making changes.
- I don’t have enough time/training/expertise: Prove ease of use and speed of adoption.
Close Strong
Don’t let your email peter out to an anticlimax. Use the tips you have shared and the urgency you have built to drive towards eliciting a positive response.
Understand what may hold your reader back and remind them of the benefit of implementing your advice.
Briefly circle back to the points you used in your BAB or PAS techniques and remind the reader of how their actions can pay off.
End your email with a simple question that needs a response.
Some powerful questions to provoke a reaction are:
- Can you create time in your schedule so we can discuss further?
- Can your team benefit from a brief online training session on the possibilities of using our product/service?
- Do you have any more thoughts on my proposal?
- Do you have 15 minutes so we can catch up tomorrow?
- Would you like to learn more about [product name]?
- Can my sales negotiation team show how you could benefit from [product name]?
- Let me know if increasing your sales team’s effectiveness (or other business goals) is a priority.
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