How to Write a High Converting Sales Email
What you'll learn
What you'll need
You regularly send out your newsletters, but your subscriber count is idling.
A quick look at your email metrics and you realize that quite a few of your prospects aren’t opening your emails.
Your mailing list is growing each day, and yet your sales numbers are flat.
It’s time to leverage the full power of the sales emails and watch your click-through rates and conversions go through the roof.
Why Are Emails Powerful Sales Tools?
A humble email is one of the most affordable and scalable marketing tools today. This makes emails a highly valuable outreach asset for small business owners with a limited budget.
Let’s just look at the numbers:
- Email marketing has an ROI of $42 for every $1 spent.
- 59% of marketers see the most ROI from email.
- Email marketing produces an average of 174% more conversions than social media.
Yet, not all sales emails are capable of making such an impact. Emailing a cold lead who never signed you up for your email list is the quickest way to the spam basket.
But I don’t want you to fail.
For starters, keep in mind that 51% of consumers report email spam because they didn’t subscribe in the first place.
I know, you’re just starting out. You don't have a sales rep to sit on the phone from 9 to 5, making outbound calls and prospecting for leads.
That is why you should start building your email list right away. When you bring in leads through a newsletter opt-in form or lead magnet, it’s a whole different story. The prospect expects to hear from you.
Once the potential customer comes in touch with your product and service, your job is to make them realize that your offer is the best for them.
This is where sales emails enter the stage.
So, how to write a high-converting sales email?
5 Key Steps to Conversion — Do Them Right!
Subject Line
Your email copy might be world-class, but it doesn’t matter if your subscribers don’t open your emails.
Subject lines are a vital part of your conversion efforts. Just beware — subject lines can go both ways:
- 47% of email recipients click on emails based on the subject line alone
- 69% of email recipients report email as spam simply by not liking the subject line.
Now just consider that over 300 billion emails are sent every day.
You need to make your sales email stand out in a crowded inbox — Like a limo driver holding your name high above the crowd at the arrivals terminal.
Here are some tips:
Write like a real person
Like you’d write an email for an acquaintance. Not too familiar, but not too businessy either. Include the recipient’s name and the click rate increases by up to 22.2%.
No catchy slogans
Many people think a sales email should have a headline like “GraphCMS is the Best New Innovation in the CRM Industry”. My reaction would be — delete! Your email should sound like a PR pitch. You need to know your audience and talk to them as if you’re starting a conversation.
Shoot for 6 -10 words
Subject lines with this word count have a 21% open rate. Also, to avoid looking like a marketing broadcast that went to every mailbox in the Tri-state area, capitalize only the first word and use lowercase for the rest.
Ask a question
This is a nice tactic to engage the recipient with the content inside. People feel flattered when someone asks for their opinion or shows interest in their business.
Opening Line
Before you type the opening line of your sales email, ask yourself how you want to address your recipient.
Would a first name be appropriate? Are your prospects more traditional to appreciate a Mrs. or Mr. opening line? Perhaps Hi, Hello, or Hey would make more impact?
You should know the answers to these questions before you sit down to write sales emails. If you’re struggling with this part, go back to your ideal customer profile.
If needed, consult with others on your team to make sure you’re doing the right thing.
The second important role of the opening line is to connect the beginning of your sales email to the subject line.
It should quickly establish a context for why you’re reaching out and offer a natural transition into your sales pitch.
To this effect, just one or two short sentences can do this while remaining relevant to the subject line.
Example #1
Hello [prospect name],
I wanted to reach you out because I saw that your team is publishing a ton of great content these days. I’ve been working with several similar companies like [brand names] and helped them generate much more leads with our content management tool.
Now you have the open road to continue with your pitch because you made it relevant to the context of the opening line.
On the other hand, you may suppose that your prospects are busy. In that case, you want to cut to the chase and get straight to the point.
Example #2
Subject: Joining your team
Hey [prospect name],
I’m [your name] and I came across your website. I love your approach to content. Everything is laid out simply and on purpose. Seems like you’ve struck some serious success. I’ve been looking to start a side hustle doing content marketing to supplement the cash from my full-time gig.
Do you have a need for an able-bodied writer to help out on a freelance basis? If so, I’ll send you my portfolio. If not, you just keep kicking it! I’m following your stuff and taking notes. Keep them coming!
Cheers,
[your full name]
Did you see what passed here?
- The subject line gave a clear purpose to this email.
- From there, they immediately moved into establishing a relevant context for reaching out.
- Gave a quick compliment that shows they invested time to do research.
- Jumped straight to the purpose of the email & delivered the pitch.
For someone who receives dozens of sales emails from writers every day, this is a fantastic example that stands out from the crowd. It’s hearty and straight to the point!
Main Body (Pitch)
Every marketer will tell you that the email’s main body needs to be persuasive. The thing is that persuasive doesn’t have to mean pushy and salesy.
Avoid your sales emails sounding like a sales pitch by making sure that each email in the cadence has a specific purpose.
Take a look at this string:
Email #1: Introduce yourself in the opening line. Use this email to motivate your subscribers to start thinking about the problem you’re going to solve for them.
Email #2: When you and your prospect are on the same page, share some insights to help them, and take the first steps toward the solution.
Email #3: Outline what your solution offers and why it would work great in their case.
Email #4: Your pitch is out but the potential client has some reservations. Send a follow-up email to answer some of the crucial questions they might still have.
Email #5: Deliver one final pitch. Show them why they should act now and encourage them to reach out to you with any questions.
The pitch in your first email should achieve three things.
- Fully explain who you are
If you don’t establish enough credibility or details about your business in your opening lines, start filling in the gaps at the beginning of your pitch. Here you should reference the names of other relevant companies that use your product or service. This effectively lends their credibility to you.
- Clarify the problem you are solving
And you best do it in a single sentence. Think about your most relevant one-sentence pitch for that prospect. If you don’t have a quick elevator pitch that brings together your offerings and benefits in one sentence, it’s time you create one.
- Give no-nonsense benefits your prospect can relate to
The quick elevator pitch is the ice breaker, but it can’t handle the prospect alone. Now follow it up with a few quick bullet points that do a much better job of highlighting the benefits of your offering.
Closing Statement and CTA
Before I say anything, let’s get this straight: If your sales email doesn't end with a simple and direct call-to-action (CTA) that makes it clear what your prospect should do right there and then, you’ve failed.
The whole purpose of reaching out and establishing a connection with your prospect is to see whether they are a good customer or not.
As a sales rep (or the only person in your startup), your job is to guide the conversion process from the entrance of the sales funnel to signing them up.
If you’ve done everything right so far, the CTA you end your email with will determine whether you’ll hear from the prospect ever again.
Here are three CTA tactics that convert:
Provide specific dates and times
If you need your prospects to schedule a call or a demo, the logical way would be to leave it up to them to pick a time that works for them.
But remember what your dating coach told you. “Let me know when you’re free” creates too much friction and eventuality. It does not inspire action. It’s you who is wooing them over so it’s you who is leading the dance.
So instead, offer them clear and specific options to choose from:
“Does next Wednesday at 10 am or Thursday and 1 pm work for a 15-minute call?”
This way they only need to say yes or no, allowing you to offer a few more terms if needed.
Keep the request simple
If you are asking the prospect to do something that requires a bit of effort, like signing up for a trial and testing our product, your CTA needs to be strongly compelling.
This means going the extra mile to personalize the link you send them and make the action as simple as possible.
The prospects don't have time for 5-step procedures. Make it simple as:
“Just click this link and in less than a minute you’ll be able to test out the product and see the results I’ve been telling you about.”
Use the 1, 2, and 3 hack
Say, you’ve been following up with a prospect, and haven’t got a response. Next time make your CTA response so simple that it takes more effort not to answer it. The technique I’m talking about is called 1, 2, 3 email hack.
Here you present the reader with three clear options and say:
“Just hit reply and type 1, 2, or 3.”
And that’s it. There’s hardly a simpler CTA in the world. Any response you get this way will tell you how to proceed with this prospect.
Professional Signature
Your email signature is there to showcase your company’s attention to detail. There’s nothing wrong with using the simple signature by using Gmail default settings. However, add some design, and your sales email will automatically stand out from the crowd.
A signature photo shows that you’re a human-centered company and also gives extra credibility. Include the website address, a couple of social links, and contact information. This will allow leads to get in touch with you through the channel they prefer most.
Wrapping Up
Preparing sales emails takes time. The perfect copy starts at the very beginning, with an engaging subject line and segues into the main body via clear and sincere opening lines. Finally, as with every good short story, it should have a powerful punchline at the end — your call-to-action.
Want to learn more? Check out our articles on:
How to write a discount offer email
How to write magnetic headlines
Or our tools:
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