Those oh so sad B2B new business emails
It’s time to address your sad, sad B2B new business emails.
Although I hope they’re not literally your emails, because if you’re sending out messages like the ones I lay out below, it’s time to recalibrate.
We all get ineffective emails from salespeople, but I got one this week that really got under my skin.
Mark,
I’m in back to back meetings all day, but I wanted to take the time to send over a quick intro.
Boy, this guy must really be important, right? I feel so honored that he’s carved out time from his busy day to email me!
I’m not impressed and I don’t care. Stop wasting my time.
The sales tactic here seems to be lots of people want to meet with me and you should too!
Bow! BOW BEFORE ME!”
OK, I’m being a bit dramatic, but really…let’s not use this tactic. Feels so condescending.
Here’s another one. Wasn’t bugged by this one, I just think it’s ineffective.
This is the last line of this guy’s sales email:
Can you set aside 15 minutes from your busy schedule for an intro call next week?
Why point out the obvious about my schedule? Yes, it’s busy, but so is everyone else. Personally, I just find this a bit condescending.
More importantly, this person is essentially doing the opposite of the previous email: rather than coming across as an arrogant you know what, this salesperson is ending the email in a position of weakness.
Don’t ruin a good email by trying to make your prospect feel sorry for you.
It was actually a really good sales email up to that point, but then at the very end, I got a whiff of Dobby the Elf desperation.
And finally, a final example from the sad, sad emails files, here’s one from an aesthetic standpoint:
Don’t highlight what you feel are important points throughout your email in different colors.
Like this (and I took out real names):
This is just a hot mess. Don’t do it.
I’ve touched on this topic and in pointing out all of the above, I’m definitely not trying to put myself out there as the master of emails, far from it, but it’s always good to take a step back and look at what you’re sending and how it might be coming across.
