Imagine attending a networking event full of excellent people to cooperate with. You are well dressed and ready to interact with others, offering them your services and building good relationships.
You have dozens of scenarios about how to begin the convo, and they all sound compelling and apt in your head. But once you approach people, you are stuck.
The uttered Hi, I am Michael, and I work for doesn’t sound as good as it did in your head. And even worse yet – your line just pushed people away. Not that they begin to hide from you, but the first impression is already ruined.
Relatable? It’s even worse with emails. While you can get an extra chance to reapproach people and start over again, an unconvincing email is less merciful.
But how do you identify what spoils the email’s content?
The following are typical mistakes you want to omit at all costs when reaching out to potential partners via electronic mail.
Including Hope
Adding something like “I hope you and your company are doing great” isn’t that bad, but the problem is that many include this phrase right at the beginning. Although practicing decorum is widely appreciated in business, the mentioned phrases are too bland.
We mean, okay, you hope, but are your sentiments so essential that you place them in the opening? After all, many companies run into such “hooks” regularly, and the chances are they will stop reading further once they see this sentence.
It is not to say that you have to barge into communication brutally, but being bold is way more effective. For instance, many brands agree that openers indicating that an addresser has rudimentary knowledge about the recipient make them more inclined to read the entire email.
Saving the receiver time and strongly kick-starting is the thing you need to focus on first. “Hey there, I am sorry to see that your brand lacks an all-encompassing marketing strategy” will surely draw the addressee’s attention.
Starting With I Work For
Ever wondered what an over-promotional text looks like? Look no further because it’s emails that start with “I work for.”
Of course, it doesn’t mean such an opening sentence is disastrous by default. Working in a giant and reputable corporation, such as McKinsey or Gartner, and mentioning it will give you a head start over other emails and grab the recipient’s curiosity about the content.
But if you run a small business, adding that will do you no good. Yes, including your company is still critical, and there are many ways to do that coherently.
For instance, here is just one way how to represent your brand organically in an email:
Hey Adam,
Melissa Wright suggested reaching out to you. I work with her on VistaCreate’s new design for flyers. She mentioned your prowess in creating practical design solutions and showed our creative team your portfolio. Feel free to check Vista templates for flyers and see what we’ve done so far. We think you might be a perfect fit for our crew of enthusiasts. Would you be interested in short- or long-term cooperation? Drop me a line when you are ready to talk details.
Best,
Scott
Asking Basic Questions
Asking clients whether they found what they were looking for is common for brand owners. The reason companies use this question is that it’s general and timely. But the problem with it is that it’s too broad.
With people’s decreasing attention span, it’s vital to be as specific as possible, especially in text-based content. Ensure to narrow the focus of the question. For instance, asking whether a person is ready to use the tool you offer after watching a brief tutorial will yield more accurate answers.
The more in-depth and related your questions, the better and more informative feedback you’ll get.
Thinking Wrongly
Unlike academia, where personal pronouns are usually a no-go, you need to speak from your perspective in emails.
With that said, using the proper emphasis is vitally important. Otherwise, you will sound excessively biased. Although your partners and colleagues value your opinion, people you are reaching out to don’t, mainly because they aren’t aware of who you are.
By writing, “I’ve been thinking about your …,” you put yourself above the addressee. It should be the other way around. “Your takeover got me thinking…” is a more efficient way to start an email.
Misusing Congratulations
Sending congratulations on an event is typical, but many people mistreat the purpose of this line and make it look too basic to evoke positive emotions.
Instead of writing a generic phrase like, “Congratulations on expanding your presence on the market,” prove you’re conscious of more in-depth info.
For example, you could write, “Just went through your success story and learned that you’d expanded your area of operation to the European market.
That’s inspiring; congratulations on that!” This way, you will manage to open strongly and transition to the next topic smoothly.
Conclusion
Emails are now one of the most effective ways to reach prospects but don’t take them for granted. There are numerous things to keep in mind when composing emails to make them convincing and precise. Provided are common mistakes brands make when striving to expand. Ensure to exclude them from your writing, and your response rate will skyrocket.
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