At some point you’re going to send a sales email. Whether it’s a last-ditch effort when cold calling has fallen flat or a follow-up after an initial conversation, your prospect is going to see your name in their inbox. That’s why it’s critical you know how to write an effective sales email.

Know Your Purpose

You want to make a sale but – assuming you’re selling something more complicated than knock-off viagra – that’s a lofty goal for a single email. Figure out exactly what you want your prospect to do after they’ve read your email and write it with that in mind. Some common objectives include:

– Directing them to your website.
– Getting in contact. (Call, email, etc.)
– Reading/downloading a document. (Whitepaper, company overview, etc.)
– Providing information. (Feedback, referrals, etc.)
– Signing up for something. (Mailing list, webinar, etc.)

An introduction is a valid reason to send an email but it’s not an objective. If there’s no call to action you’ll be left with a prospect that knows a little bit about you but doesn’t know what you want them to do.

Get To The Point

You have an objective in mind, so start trimming away everything that doesn’t immediately help you accomplish it. A good sales email has four components:

– Who you are.
– What you want.
– How they can do it.
– What’s in it for them.

This shouldn’t take more than three sentences. If you’re struggling to keep it tight you’re either getting too deep into your pitch or haven’t properly defined an objective. Remember, you have resources (website, collateral, etc.) designed to pitch your product, so point them in the right direction rather than covering the same ground, only worse.

Track Your Progress

No matter how good your sales email is it’s going to end up in a lot of trash bins and spam folders. That’s why you need to know as much as possible about the people that open it. Here are a few tools/tips for tracking your sales emails:

– Embed links rather than using attachments.
– Shorten your links (and track total clicks) with Google URL Shortner.
– Bananatag (and other tools like it) track emails and notify you they’re opened.

These tools are all low-cost (or free) and give you valuable information about who’s reading your content and what’s working. You’ll find yourself making more warm calls and continuously improving your sales email.