When y'all've been in sales a while, it'southward easy to develop bad habits. You pick them up from other reps or take a shortcut during an specially busy week and, all of the sudden, you lot've added some skills to your repertoire that aren't helping you run across your quota. If you're not regularly examining your behavior and results, these habits can crusade mistakes that terminate in deals falling apart, annoyed prospects, or missed numbers. Create a new, on-brand email signature in just a few clicks. Get started here. (It's free.)

And I'yard non simply talking about waiting as well long to update a contact's data in your CRM. Seemingly innocuous phrases like, "Sorry to carp you," sneak into our regular sales emails and phone calls and toxicant our relationships without us fifty-fifty realizing it. Here's how to stop information technology.

Why You Should Never Say, "I Am Sad for Bothering Y'all"

Ideally, sales reps would never have to write a follow up electronic mail because they would avert the number-one follow-upwards mistake: Failing to set a next step before ending the phone call.

All it takes is 1 cringeworthy phrase to kill a sales follow-up email. One of my least favorite moves is asking for a prospect to respond "ASAP." But apologizing for contacting your prospect is nothing short of poisonous to deals, and should exist cut from the vocabulary of every sales rep. It usually looks like this:

And so, why should you lot avoid saying "Sorry to bother you once more?"

  1. It implies you've become annoying to your prospect. It also reminds the prospect they've reached out several times before ("again") to no success. Even if the sales rep hasn't annoyed the prospect nevertheless, this is the phrase that might practise information technology.
  2. It implies you've washed something wrong. In addition, people utilize the word "lamentable" after doing something they deem wrong. When nosotros make a fault that negatively impacts someone, the first phrase that ofttimes comes out of our mouths is "I'm sorry." This phrase ways we've acknowledged wrongdoing and know we need to set it.
  3. Information technology signals desperation. Reps send "sorry to bother y'all again" emails in hopes of starting a conversation later not hearing dorsum. The message is a last-ditch effort to pique the potential heir-apparent'southward involvement -- on the rep'south timeline.
  4. It communicates your fourth dimension and energy is not as valuable as the prospect's -- which simply isn't true. Maintain authority and equal footing with your prospect by never apologizing for being in their inbox or voice mailbox.

If yous find yourself using this phrase in an electronic mail -- terminate writing. Instead, regroup and focus on providing value to the prospect and grabbing their attention instead of "bothering" them once more.

In that location are a multitude of ways to provide value in a sales follow-up email. Here are a few I suggest.

Alternatives to Maxim, "Distressing for Bugging You"

one. Send a customer review

A customer review provides value because modernistic-day buyers trust their fellow buyers to give honest feedback about a production they've used. Recollect they might not trust a written review coming directly from you lot?

Connect them with current and past buyers who can provide honest feedback on why working with yous is nifty likewise every bit some of the drawbacks. For instance, y'all might open an email with, "Instead of sending you a pitch, I'll let a previous customer do the heavy lifting with their unvarnished (really) testimonial."

2. Include a case study

Case studies permit prospects to discover how a concern in a similar position to theirs solved its bug. Sstop your latest and most relevant study with a annotation proverb, " This instance report made me recall of your concern. I know your time is valuable, and I think this is worth the few minutes it will take to read. "

Yous've best-selling their time is a priority for you, without discounting your own schedule and what you're offering.

3. Link to a blog post

A blog post is a way to build credibility with prospects and provide them new data about the production and company every bit they beginning to make a determination.

If you're trying to grab a prospect'due south attention, try sending one with an especially snappy championship. Y'all might even piece of work with a marketer to arts and crafts a post just for them. Later on all, who isn't going to click the link to a mail titled, "nine Reasons Julie Needs ABC Staffing Solutions Today."

4. Reference a mutual connectedness

Surfacing a mutual connection allows the prospect to ask their acquaintance about the sales rep and gather more than data. Information technology also signifies that if a friend works with this sales rep, the prospect might also savor working with the aforementioned sales rep.

And it gives you lot something in mutual to bail over. For example, "I run across we take a mutual connexion: Sansa Stark. Her family bought several dire wolves from me a few years ago." You've given your conversation and relationship something to build upon -- and that can be a huge assistance when conducting outreach.

5. Provide a suggestion

A small strategy tip can help sales reps build brownie and showcase the value of their insight to buyers.

When a salesperson'south name appears in a prospect's inbox, the reaction shouldn't be, "No, not this rep once again!" or "Who?" but "I wonder what they're sending me -- I ameliorate bank check it out."

Ship them a new industry benchmark report or a mention a recent move their company made, and offer unique insight into how your product/service could assist.

For example, "I idea you lot might be interested in the latest criterion written report from [insert trusted industry source]. Their findings on the 25% increment in mobile app usage might be particularly interesting to you lot and relevant to your work."

6. Drib shop-talk altogether

Want to really get their attention? Don't talk business concern at all. Instead, send them a casual email saying, "I watched a documentary on Colorado ski country this weekend and idea of you immediately. Accept yous hit the slopes yet this year?"

While your prospect might not exist ready to discuss business concern -- well-nigh people like talking about their hobbies and out-of-office interests. Once you have them engaged again, utilise your best judgement to steer them dorsum to the topic at paw: your offer.

7. Offer to walk away

If you've reached out multiple times over the grade of several weeks or months and your prospect notwithstanding hasn't responded, practise yourself a favor and walk away.

You should be spending time on deals that actually take a take a chance of endmost, and pleading with an unmotivated prospect to respond to your emails isn't doing either of you whatever adept.

Simply say, "Tony, I've tried to reach you unsuccessfully a few times now. Usually when this happens, it means my offering isn't a priority for y'all right now. Is that safe for me to presume here? If then, you won't hear from me again."

If your prospect is still interested, this should grab their attention. If non, it gives them an like shooting fish in a barrel way out. You can always go out the door open up for a telephone call or email vi months down the line to see if things have inverse.

8. Compliment them

If your prospect recently published a new blog post or the company unveiled a shiny, new product, let them know you're paying attention.

Chances are, they put a lot of time and effort into their recent projection, and would dear for someone to observe. Ship a simple note saying, "I saw your recent feature in Forbes and wanted to tell you what a bang-up write-up it was. I particularly liked your ascertainment that AI will brainstorm to take a stronger hold in sales." It'southward curt, specific, and complimentary.

Great emails build rapport and credibility. Past looking for this deadly phrase before sending your emails, yous can meliorate your odds of a response, and eventually, a relationship.

Want other ways to improve your sales emails? Check out these killer opening email lines or explore alternatives to proverb, "Promise you're doing well" -- guaranteed to put your prospect to sleep before they've fifty-fifty read sentence two.

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Originally published Jun 10, 2019 2:17:00 PM, updated June 10 2021