How to improve the odds of reaching prospects by email

The owner of a technology firm asked me how to improve the odds of reaching prospects by email. He’d tried in the past without much luck. We talked about the issue and came up with four simple rules for future outreach.

Rule 1. Do your homework.
It sounds obvious, but make sure you’re landing in the right person's inbox, with the right message. Invest time researching your prospect and their organisation. Look at their LinkedIn profile. Do you have a mutual connection? Check the news. Are there any recent trigger events? What’s happened that's newsworthy?

Action: Look for creative and unique ways to connect.

Rule 2. Put yourself in the client’s shoes.
Decision makers get hundreds of requests to connect. Hundreds. Now, think about the way they process email. Chances are they’ll scan their inbox on a smart phone. Swiping left to archive email that isn’t immediately relevant. Stopping briefly to read anything that looks helpful to their immediate agenda. You need to get the client's attention first. Is your email a swipe (trash), or press (read)?

Action: Choose your email subject line and first 25 words mindfully.

Rule 3. Shorter is better.
Hurrah! They're interested. They stopped and are reading your email. So, make sure it gets to the point quickly. Limit yourself to five sentences. Say just enough to explain why they need to connect with you. Answer this question, "What’s in it for them?"

If you writing more than two paragraphs they will probably stop scanning and file your email to read later. (Which means they’ll never get around to reading it again, right?)

Action: Edit your email tightly and make sure the value is clear.

Rule 4. Make action easy.
Imagine you’ve kindled the client's interest. Now you’re obliged to show them the path of least resistance for moving forward. Let them know exactly what they need to do next, how to do it, and when.

Action: Spell it out. Keep it simple. One request only.

My technology firm owner is trying these rules. You might want to join him. Experiment and see how they work for you. Let me know how it goes.

As always thanks for reading and sharing.