How to write effective sales emails

Blog · Partner: POLISH YELLOW PAGES® · since 1991

A post from the POLISH YELLOW PAGES® blog (formerly DATABOT.PL), originally published on 13.11.2022. Some information (tools, prices, regulations) may have changed since then.

How to write winning sales emails that will delight your B2B prospects

As a sales professional you know that emailing B2B prospects is a key part of your sales strategy. You use email every day to reach out to prospects, respond to them and follow up. Although email is an effective way to communicate, it comes with several challenges.

Note: because cold mailing or mass mailing is prohibited in the DACH countries, we refer only to emails you use at a later stage of the sales process. 

For example, do you constantly struggle to get replies from prospects when you follow up after a cold call by email? Not sure how to write compelling newsletters, product announcements or event invitations by email? 

Or do you struggle to be clever and persuasive in sales emails? 

All is not lost! There are still plenty of reasons to keep using email as a sales strategy. Here are some email statistics you should know as a sales professional:  

Emails can determine your close rate. How and when you choose to email prospects can help you close a deal with a prospect. Alternatively, it can put a prospect off if you don’t send them the right information at the right time.

It can affect your customers’ experience. Starting the customer relationship the right way – including through follow-up emails – is crucial to how they will perceive their whole experience with your company. In addition, if all goes well, it can lay the groundwork for a long, profitable relationship.  

Email marketing and sales activities are not going away any time soon. But the good news is that there are several ways to make emails more attractive. 

Your bulletproof sales email template 

Of course, we also want to share a template you can use in your upcoming sales emails. We’ll show you what matters and how you can write.

Download now
I have read the privacy policy and consent to the processing of my data.
How do you get B2B prospects to open your sales email?

First, you need to make sure prospects OPEN your sales email. Your email may be pure gold, but it will have no effect if your target audience moves it straight to the bin — or even thinks it’s spam.

1. Grab attention with your subject line (and first sentence) 

The subject line (and the first sentence of the email) is usually the first thing a prospect or customer sees when they receive an email from you. 

Our number one tip is short, enticing subject lines. The aim of your subject line is to spark interest and curiosity, so the prospect feels compelled to open your email to learn more. Avoid overselling, because that is the fastest way to make a prospect click “delete”. Try to be individual! Address very specific matters, so you build trust with the prospect from the very beginning. 

Here are some examples of subject lines that work:  

A question about [insert the prospect’s goal or problem] 
[Mutual connection] recommended we connect 
XX tips/ideas to solve [insert pain point] 
Can I make your life 25 percent easier? 

About 33 percent of email recipients open emails based on the subject line alone. The subject line is probably one of the most important elements of sales and marketing emails. If you want to reduce the risk of being flagged as spam or simply deleted, make sure your subject lines are relevant and relate to the content of the email.

Source: www.copper.com

2. Make sure your email address is reliable, secure and branded with your company’s domain name

This advice may go without saying, but make sure the email address you send your B2B salesemails from is professional and branded with your company’s domain name. Making sure your email address seems professional and trustworthy will increase the chances that your prospect opens, and even replies to, your email.

Your prospects need to trust you as the senderin order to open, read and even reply to your sales emails. Here are some tips to make your email address look trustworthy and secure: 

Avoid using free webmail addresses. For example, these could be a Gmail, Outlook, Yahooaddress etc. Instead, use an email address registered with your company’s domain name. This will not only make you look more credible but will also help with brand recognition. 

Avoid using “no-reply” addresses. As the name suggests, this can be confusing for a prospect when they receive an email, and they may quickly hit “delete”. The main goal of B2B sales emails is to get a reply and open the door to a conversation with the prospect.

Match the “From” name to your email address. Ideally, make sure your sender name and email address match. When the two are different, it can confuse your email recipients, because they may not be sure who they are really talking to. By taking this important step, you will be able to make a real connection by showing that there is a real person on the other side of the email. 

3. Follow-up emails should have a “Did you get my email from two days ago?” touch

If you notice you are sending lots of emails to your prospects and getting very few replies or none at all, you may want to think about how to structure your follow-up email so you finally get a reply from the prospect.  

Follow-up emails are an essential part of your strategy, and if you are not including them in your daily routine, you may want to reconsider. Follow-up emails have a higher reply rate, with the first follow-up email producing a 40% increase in reply rate compared with the first email.  

Here are some tips for creating the perfect follow-up email that will get you that well-deserved reply: 

Always start with a new email. It may be tempting to simply “reply all” to the last message to show the message thread, but that is not a great strategy. You will want to treat each follow-up as a blank slate with the prospect. It is the ideal time to test new subject lines, message format, call to action, or maybe jokes or memes.

Don’t follow up too soon. Persistence is one of the greatest traits of good salespeople, but sales follow-ups will require a little patience. Your prospect is busy with their daily workload and probably particularly busy managing the problem you are trying to solve. Best practice for email follow-ups is to wait three days after the last send.

The follow-up email is an important step in the process, but it requires patience and strategy. Although not hearing back can be frustrating, stay patient and keep adapting your email, and you may be surprised that by the third or fourth follow-up the prospect is ready to buy your solution. 

Source: www.activecampaign.com

The 5 most important elements of a great sales email for B2B prospects (that they will want to reply to) 

We know it can be frustrating when you spend your valuable time creating and sending what you think are perfect sales emails, and you never get a reply from the prospect. We have put together a list of the five most important elements of great B2B sales emails that will increase your reply rate.

1. Keep the email short and sweet 

Have you ever opened an email only to realise it’s too long, so you just click “delete”? (That’s fine, we won’t tell your boss you don’t read their long emails.) Your prospect doesn’t want to read long emails either. The body of the email should be short, sweet and to the point.

Your body copy should convey the value of your company, product or solution that will help solve the prospect’s problems or challenges. Avoid simply copying and pasting the company’s value proposition and statements into the message. Instead, try asking questions or presenting interesting facts that will interest the prospect. 

Here are some examples of how you can start an email to keep the prospect engaged:  

Is there anythingyou would like to do to improve your company’s strategy? 
Is [a benefit your company can provide the prospect] a priority for you at the moment? 
Congratulations on [the new role, promotion, sales win, etc.]
I noticed that [insert prospect’s problem] and I know how I can help. 

Emailing a prospect is not the time to copy and paste a generic elevator pitch that may feel inauthentic to your voice. Instead, it is an opportunity to connect quickly and provide immediate value to a potential new customer. After all, personalised emails can result in 14 percent more clicks. So it is worth spending a few extra minutes personalising your email. 

No idea how to personalise your email? With DataBot you will receive relevant news and trigger events about a company or contact directly in your email inbox! Find out how it works here.

2. Include a call to action (or a natural next step)

You can write the best subject line and body copy, but if you neglect the close and forget the call to action, your hard work will be wasted.  

Closing an email is important and can turn out to be one of the hardest parts of drafting it. If you feel you don’t know how to end your sales emails, think about the context of the email and what you really want the prospect to do after reading it.  

Here are some examples to get you started: 

Should I put some time in our calendars to discuss [the problem, solution, need, etc.] further? 
Let me knowwhat makes sense for you and what the next steps are. 
Do you have any other questions I can clarify? 
Let me know whether [business goal] is a priority for you now, or whether it’s a future goal you would like to discuss at a later date. 

Once you have given the prospect the next step, don’t forget to include a signature. Your signature should not distract or divert attention from the real purpose of the email. The best signature formula is your name, job title, company name, phone number, email address and links to your company’s social media channels and website. Avoid images and quotes, because they can distract and look spammy.

3. Personalisation is KEY!

Don’t underestimate the power of personalisation. When people receive personalised content, they feel special, as if you had taken the time to personalise their message. There are statistics confirming the power of personalisation: 

Personalised emails improve email click-through rates by 14 percent and conversion rates by 10 percent.
Personalised email campaigns generate 20 percent more sales opportunities than non-personalised emails.
Personalised calls to action deliver a 42% higher conversion rate than generic calls to action. 
31 percent of consumers are more likely to buy if the content is personalised.

Personalised emails are one of the most effective ways to increase your chances of getting a reply. If you don’t know where to start with personalisation, try these simple tweaks to get started: 

Use the name of the prospect in the email or even in the subject line. 
Personalise based on the buyer persona, which means tailoring your content to their problems and the benefits the prospect will gain from buying the product or solution — this is where trigger events come in handy. If you use a sales intelligence tool, it will point out important events (e.g. expansion, a change in management, a new office) on which you can build your email 

Personaliseby adding a compliment to the email. For example, you can say you are impressed by the prospect’s marketing activities or that you recently read a press release about a strategic new hire or acquisition. 

Personalise based on what you know about their existing tech stack, staff, current topics and more — look at the prospect’s website to find out more! 

Once you have practised personalisation in your emails, it will get easier every time, and you will enjoy more replies from interested prospects.

4. Drop the formality

Your sales emails are not the time for formal formalities. You will want to catch prospects’ attention with your personalisation and the ability to get straight to the point. Your prospect will not be impressed by your formal structure and writing; instead they will remember that witty comment or the mention of their favourite restaurant.

A formally written email is more likely to be deleted. Conversational, casual writing is the latest trend in prospecting emails. These conversational, low-key emails are more likely to put your prospect at ease and help you as you begin to build that important relationship. 

Tip: if you know the person or company you are writing to also likes things a little more casual, you can also try including a funny GIF or meme in the email.

5. Use social proof

Social proof is a secret weapon in B2B sales and marketing. If you already have a group of satisfied customers who love your product, there is no better way to get prospects to believe you than reading your customers’ success stories. 

Success stories or quotes make your offer not only more persuasive but also more serious and relevant – and less spammy. Try to include social proof in your sales emails in the email signature. If you don’t want to “show off” companies that are already praising your solution, you can also design the signature with a link to your Capterra or G2 page — it is always a good sign to lead people to such platforms; it means you have nothing to hide. 

If you also have a customer success stories page, that is worth trying too.

Avoid these common B2B prospecting email mistakes

Without even realising it, you may be making mistakes in your sales emails that result in low click-through rates and next to no replies. Or, if you have had decent success with your email strategy, it is always good to brush up on some of these common mistakes to make sure your emails are top-notch and turn prospects and potential B2B customers into real customers.

Source: www.superoffice.com

Read and then re-read your email before you click send

One of the biggest mistakes is sending an email before proofreading it. In addition, if you spend a lot of time writing a personalised email, you want to be sure you are sending it to the right contact. Here are some things to look out for when checking your sales emails:

Make sureeverything is spelled correctly.
Follow good grammar rules. 
Make sure you have correctly typed the prospect’s name. 
Double-check the company name of the prospect and what you are offering. 
Check whom you are about to send the email to and make sure it is the right email address. 

By taking an extra minute to re-read your email before clicking send, you can avoid sending error-filled emails that could make the prospect simply click “delete”.

Burying (or simply not including) your request

Your emails to B2B prospects should serve a purpose. Whether you want the prospect to book a meeting or click through to your website to make a purchase, the email should have a clear goal. It is important to keep email communication with a prospect as clear as possible so your message doesn’t confuse them.

There is, however, a fine line you don’t want to cross. If you give too many calls to action, or conflicting calls to action, it can mislead or overwhelm the prospect. Give the prospect one natural call to action that fits the context of the email.

Avoid copying and pasting (or remember to reformat) 

Have you ever received an email that was clearly cobbled together from copied and pasted information? If you’re not sure what we mean, one of the most common signs is that the font, size or colour of one paragraph may differ slightly (or obviously) from the other copy in the email. 

This common mistake occurswhen information is copied and pasted into an email without removing the formatting. This mistake can be very distracting for prospects. If this sounds like a mistake you have made before, consider clearing the formatting.

Make sure you catch this common mistake when proofreading, and remove or update the formatting! Failing to format the message for easy readability

When calling prospects, it is easy to get your point across with non-verbal communication cues such as tone of voice, voice modulation and even hand gestures. Email is a different story, and you can easily make your point or emphasise its importance using formatting features in the body of the email. 

If your email is longer than a paragraph, consider using the following formatting options to help get your point across: 

Bold or italicise informationthe prospect must read. 
Use bullet pointsto break up a paragraph (make sure the bullet points contain important information that matters to the prospect). 

Note that you can overdo the formatting, and the email can actually become more distracting than persuasive. Remember to use formatting strategically to convey important points.

Including broken or irrelevant links

It is natural to include links in emails to your website, scheduling links or relevant content that may interest the prospect. One of the fatal mistakes you can make in your emails is including broken links that either lead the prospect to irrelevant content or to 404 error pages. This is not only annoying for a reader who is ready to take action, but can also put them off and distract them from your sales emails. It can result in a slow reply or none at all.  

Our tip: carefully check all your links when re-reading and correcting the content. Test your emails with other sales colleagues or friends before sending.

Email tools that can help your sales team create emails your prospects will love

If you want people to reply to your emails and ultimately turn their companies into loyal customers, email tools can be helpful. 

However, creating perfect B2B sales and marketing emails can take up a huge part of your time. In fact, research suggests salespeople spend 21 percent of their day writing emails. When you spend so much time simply writing your emails, it distracts you from actual selling. Although email is a great sales tool, spending too much time finding email addresses, scheduling meetings and creating emails can be wasteful.  

Here is a list of some of our favourite solutions for creating, sending and managing B2B sales emails:

DataBot

DataBot is a great tool that collects up-to-date data on more than 24 million companies in the European market, from trade registers to company websites, news services, social media and more.

Company profile in DataBot

Using DataBot in sales and marketing activities

As a sales rep you need up-to-date information about your targets, including relevant contact details, job titles, company information and more. DataBot makes all this information available on an easy-to-use platform. Here are some of the main benefits sales reps can achieve when implementing Echobot: 

Significant time savings: access all the relevant company information to help make data-driven decisions about which companies are most likely to need your solution. 

Access to exclusive data: unlock access to key information about prospects, such as missing email addresses, financial statements, deadlines, news and more. This information will not only let you personalise your offer but also help you identify up-selling and cross-selling opportunities. 

Stay up to date: access up-to-date information such as email addresses and phone numbers, so you don’t waste valuable time on old contacts or people who don’t make decisions. 

Compliance with GDPR data protection rules: get peace of mind knowing that all your data comes from secure, compliant sources.  

Never miss an opportunity thanks to trigger events: receive information about company news, alerts, contacts and more directly to your email address. 

The most important part of DataBot is that your sales teams will gain access to valuable additional information about your prospects, enabling highly personalised emails. This additional data will turn your sales emails from generic into strategic.

Calendly

Calendly is an automated calendar scheduling solution that removes manual meeting scheduling from your crowded to-do list. Let prospects book a meeting with one click of a button.

Using Calendly for sales emails

One of the biggest goals of sales emails is a phone call or booking a meeting with the prospect. But if you spend a lot of time coordinating schedules, going back and forth by email and setting up email invitations manually, it’s time to change your approach. It is not only time-consuming for you but can also affect your prospect’s experience. Here is how Calendly can simplify the scheduling process: 

Create simple rules:  in Calendly you can set up your meeting preferences and availability. 

Share your link:  simply include a link to Calendly in emails to prospects so they can book time with you without the hassle of going back and forth. 

Book:  when the prospect chooses a time, the meeting is automatically added to your calendar. 

Efficiency and eliminating the hassle of scheduling meetings with prospects will let you focus more on closing that important deal.

Crystal

Crystal lets you integrate information about DISC personality into your sales emails. If you are not familiar with DISC, it is an established, trusted behavioural framework that organisations use to understand personality types. This knowledge helps with effective communication, building effective teams, efficient training, and developing and retaining top talent.

Using Crystal in sales emails

When sales teams use Crystal in their emails with prospects, they are able to implement personality insights in their messages. Here is how Crystal can help with your email strategy for B2B sales: 

Predict someone’s personality with the Crystal Chrome extension. 
Enrich your understanding of the account beyond general prospect insights and data points. You can find out how to motivate your customers and prospects based on personality data. 

Talking to prospects in a way they connect and resonate with can increase your chances of closing a deal.

Source: www.snov.io 

Vidyard

Vidyard  is an online video platform that lets you increase leads, speed up publishing and delight customers.

Using Vidyard for sales emails

Make your emails more interesting and engaging by adding videos in the body. With Vidyard you can record and send videos in a few clicks. This tool is ideal for busy salespeople trying to personalise an email and connect with prospects.

Mailchimp

Mailchimp is one of the best-known email automation tools! In general, email tracking tools are useful in B2B salesto track open rates, in other words – the success of, for example, sales emails.

Using Mailchimp for sales emails

Wondering why you would use an email marketing tool for sales emails? Mailchimp offers much more than usual: the benefit of email tracking, email analytics and A/Btesting.

Start sending B2B sales emails that delight and convert your prospects

B2B sales emails can help close that big deal. With the right strategy and approach, you can effectively create personalised, engaging and accurate emails that are sure to delight your B2B prospects and help you close that important deal.

Your bulletproof sales email template 

Of course, we also want to share a template you can use in your upcoming sales emails. We’ll show you what matters and how you can write.

Download now
I have read the privacy policy and consent to the processing of my data.

Tags: B2B, Lead acquisition, B2B outreach, B2B prospecting, B2B sales messages, B2B Sales Intelligence, B2B sales pitch, Sales strategies, Sales

Mariusz Biniak – creator of the POLISH YELLOW PAGES® brand (formerly DATABOT.PL) and author of a blog on B2B sales. Disclosure: the author is connected with the publisher of THE BUSINESS TIME.

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• POLISH YELLOW PAGES® (databot.pl) – original blog post

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