In case you missed it.
Nope, I deleted you…
Did you check out our offer last week?
I have ZERO recollection of even seeing
it let alone checking it out.
I know your inbox is probably full so I’m resending…
It wasn’t important the first time
I’m deleting you again (I guess).
Just wanted to check that my last email came through?
WHAT?
STOP JUST STOP
I do NOT owe you an answer. It is not my responsibility to respond to your email. I’m guessing your message wasn’t about:
- me
- something I care about
- interesting
- a priority
- etc…
Make them feel like they KNOW you.
Let’s assume you’ve been prospecting. Your follow-up messages should not feel like what Art Sobczak called “the postal inspector follow-up” in a training class I attended of his years ago!
The goal is to create a conversation – it doesn’t matter if you catch your prospect on the phone OR are sending another email OR leaving a voicemail message.
All of the above examples are not creating or extending the conversation – they’re looking back to, well I don’t really know what they’re trying to do.
Before you write your next follow up email, take some “how to start a conversation” advice from Indeed.com
- ask for information
- pay a compliment
- comment on something pleasant
- introduce yourself
- offer help
- ask for help
- mention a shared experience
- ask for an opinion
- praise the person
- show genuine interest
- ask about them
- make an observation
- comment on the weather
NO – all those options aren’t created equal from a sales perspective (although if you sell generators, commenting on the fact that hurricane season is around the corner is an applicable use of #13).
YES – that is a very simplistic list, what I love about that is you could take it any way you want depending on what the people you’re trying to start that conversation with do for a living.
Still deleting more emails than I’m reading,
Lynn
For the record: none of the people who sent emails with the example lines have ever called me.