You’ve done the research. You know what your prospect needs, and you know that your solution is helpful to them.

So, you construct your email, with a great subject line, and press send at just the right time.

Well, guess what…

After all of that, there is still no guarantee that a prospect is going to read through the entire email.

It’s one job to get your prospects eyes initially on your email, but it’s another job to get their eyes to stay there and ensure that you’re not burying the lead.

Along the way, I’ve learned that it’s extremely important to consider both of these objectives when constructing your sales emails.

I’ve also learned that doing the research and constructing the perfect email are not easy tasks. So, with that, I’ve compiled a few tips that’ll keep your prospects reading.

Here are 3 tips to make sure you’re not burying the lead:

1. Know your objective.

Make sure to start with the one objective you want a prospect to get from your email.

Too often I find development reps start with, “Hi, how are you doing?” or a quick introduction about their company. This information usually doesn’t move your prospect along to the next line in your email, let alone the next objective.

So, then, what should you do?

Don’t have a “next” objective… Simply have a, one, single objective.

If you have one thing that you want your prospect to get out of your email, then there’s no reason to give them more than that. Get to the point. Get to the part that’s most useful to them, as soon as possible.

2. Skip the pleasantries.

You really don’t know the prospect well enough to know how they’re doing, or if they’re having a good day…

However, you do know, that as a business professional and a student of their business, you can add value. And that is what your prospect cares most about.

So, skip the pleasantries.

Make sure you start the first sentence by letting your prospect know how you are going to help them improve their business.

3. Make it easy to look at.

For starters, avoid making your emails too lengthy.

If your prospect opens your email and sees multiple paragraphs, the chances that they continue are very slim.

In general, formatting is very important for building effective sales emails.

Simply put, great formatting makes your email easy to look at. If your email is easy to look at, then the information will read much more easily.

It’s about making the information concise and digestible. If you’re able to, highlight the most important parts of your email and include bullet points.

One thing you should always do is make your email actionable. Using bullet points is one of the best ways to deliver multiple calls-to-action.

Here are a few example calls-to-action, in an example of our suggested formatting (bullets):

• “I will follow up with you [this day], at [this time] for direction on how to best proceed.”
• “I will follow up with you [this day], [this time], to schedule an appointment.”
• “Please confirm your availability to meet at [this time] and [this day].”

Letting your prospect know exactly how you can benefit their business is essential. So, make sure that you start with the end in mind, and do everything you can to avoid burying the lead.

Let us know if these tips are helpful!

For more sales tips, industry insights and information, subscribe to our blog, and visit our newsroom!