BY Rachel Cagle
Cold emails aren’t an ideal introduction to new prospective clients. Most sales reps would rather send out warm emails to their prospects based on previous research and interactions. But not every sales rep has the time to make every email a warm one or the luxury of having many prospects approach their company first. So, cold emails are inevitable. According to Jay Fuchs, writing for HubSpot, there are a few strategies you can use to make your cold outreach attempts deliver better results.
4 Tips to Get Results from Your Cold Emails
Work on the Subject Line
You know from experience that you won’t interact with an email at all if the subject line doesn’t catch your attention or pique your interest. Cold emails that announce themselves as obvious sales attempts get sent directly to the trash more often than not. “Potential customers are looking for solutions that directly suit their personal needs,” says Fuchs, “so the subject lines you use in your cold emails need to reflect that — meaning they have to be direct and personalized.”
Fuchs recommends keeping your subject lines to between five and seven words. You should also incorporate keywords relevant to the prospect’s business, and the prospect’s name, if possible. According to a previous SalesFuel blog, citing SalesHacker data, some of the most effective cold email subject lines include:
- Questions
- References to Mutual Connections
Also, everyone loves a good deal. If your company is offering one, highlight the potential savings in your subject line.
Personalize Your Outreach
It’s true, you’ve never met the prospect you’re sending your cold emails to, but you chose to reach out to them for a reason. Feature that reason in your message. “Highlight what drew you to them,” says Fuchs. “Show them how you understand their value. Let them know you understand why they're important.” Incorporating personalized aspects like those will make you seem like less of an unknown sales rep desperate to make any sale you can.
Use Social Proof
People don’t trust sales reps. That’s the sad truth that we all know. Sales reps have a reputation for being pushy and untrustworthy. So, your cold emails need to show that the prospects don’t have to take your word for it. Add some of your current clients’ reviews into your email. Additionally, “Providing some hard figures in your email that point to your product or service's effectiveness can be a big-time asset as well,” says Fuchs. Prospects will always trust data and the words of their peers more than what salespeople tell them. So, use that to your advantage when sending cold emails.
Keep the Email Short
Nothing scares off a potential client who doesn’t know who you are quite like a solid and lengthy wall of text. If they don’t know you, they won’t care about what you have to say at first. So, a lengthy email will scare them off. Keeping your email short will help encourage the prospect to read through the email until they reach your call to action. Adding bullet points can also help break up an email, making it seem easier to read while drawing the reader’s attention to your main takeaways.