Over the past few months, we’ve been exploring the ins and outs of effective sales emails. Your fellow software vendors have posed some excellent questions lately, including this one:
“Is the (21)-day follow-up email worthwhile, or is it annoying?”
The simple and most likely answer for most vendors is, ‘it’s annoying’. In most cases the prospect is attempting to break up with you without actually having to say it– like back in high school (if I ignore you for long enough you’ll actually break up with me).
But for a rare few, the follow-up email is highly effective, absolutely worthwhile, and has these 3 essential parts:
1. It is fundamentally correct. We (should) all know the concepts and characteristics that will make your follow-up “fundamentally correct.” Review your follow-up process and check if your emails (or phone calls) are…
- Timely – is your follow-up schedule appropriately based on how your customers progress through the sales pipeline? Don’t just pick 1 day, 7 days, 21 days, 3 months, etc. Take the time to understand the mindset of the prospect and set your intervals to engage with them when they are most receptive and in need.
- Relevant – this goes along with timely. As you are defining when the prospect needs and wants to hear from you, define what they want to hear as well. The idea is to send the right kind of help at the right time.
- Focused on them – rather than going on about how great your product is (talking about you), focus on what the prospect cares about (ask about them). As the old saying goes, “No one cares how much you know until they know how much you care.” Asking about them shows you care and leads to conversation.
2. It is engaging. Ensuring that your outreach is “fundamentally correct”, is actually the first big step in making sure it’s engaging. We’re all more likely to read and engage with something that is timely, relevant, and focused on us. Build on this by making your follow-up interesting. Borrow a page from successful bloggers and incorporate their tactics for writing strong openings (I’m a fan of Copyblogger…they have some great stuff on headlines, openings, and calls to action). There are a handful of simple things you can do to make your outreach more engaging: share original data and get feedback, pose thought-provoking questions, or take a stand on a position. The idea here is to continue the conversation with the buyer. Think about what engages your customers…or better yet, ask them.
3. It is insightful. Not too long ago, this would have said, ‘It is helpful’, but we’ve evolved some. Helpful is good. Insightful is better. Insightful goes beyond helpful. It includes a deeper understanding of the situation and challenges the prospect. We’ve become believers in the ‘Challenger’ mindset introduced in an Harvard Business Review article last year entitled, ‘Selling Is Not About Relationships.’ (If you’re in Sales, I highly recommend reading the whole series.) To us, being insightful means being a “Challenger”.
In a nutshell, Challengers are like great personal trainers. They have a deep understanding of what to do and are committed to helping you…even though it hurts you. They personalize the workout to your needs, teach you how to do the work, and push you to do your best. They are assertive and in control, but they are ultimately helping you.
The study found that 40% of star sales reps are Challenger reps. Channel your inner Challenger when putting together your follow-up emails and phone scripts. Use your deep understanding of the industry and help the prospect by pushing them to succeed.
If you want your follow-up process to dominate, make sure your follow-up is correct, engaging, and especially, insightful.
P.S. Let us know if you’d like your follow-up grade…are you annoying or dominating?