How to Write a Sales Email: The Definitive Guide

How to Write a Sales Email: The Ultimate Guide for 2024

Sales emails are one of the most important tools in a salesperson‘s toolkit. A well-written email can be the difference between making a sale or losing a prospect forever. But writing effective sales emails is challenging. You need to capture the prospect‘s attention, deliver value, build trust, and compel them to take action – all in a concise message.

As sales continue to evolve in an increasingly digital-first world, optimizing your sales emails has never been more critical. To help you excel at sales email outreach in 2024 and beyond, we‘ve put together this ultimate guide full of best practices and examples. Let‘s dive in!

Craft Compelling Subject Lines

The subject line is the gatekeeper of your email. Its job is to convince the prospect to open and read your message. Great subject lines are:

• Short (under 50 characters is ideal)
• Specific and relevant to the prospect
• Curiosity-inducing or thought-provoking
• Actionable (use verbs like "see," "get," or "try")
• Personalized when possible (mention their name, company, industry, etc.)

Some effective subject line formulas to try:

• Quick question about [goal/challenge]
• Ideas for [thing that‘s important to them]
• Hi [First Name], [question]?
• [Mutual connection] suggested I reach out
• Thought you might find this [resource] helpful

Examples:

• Quick question about your sales enablement strategy
• Ideas for optimizing your social media ads
• Hi John, 30 mins to discuss increasing MQLs?
• Jason Smith suggested I reach out about partnership opportunities
• Thought you might find this SEO checklist helpful

Avoid using spammy tactics like writing in ALL CAPS, using excessive punctuation (!!!), or making outlandish claims. Being genuine and relevant beats resorting to gimmicks.

Nail the Opening Line

The opening line needs to hook the reader and give them a reason to keep reading. You can:

• Mention a trigger event: "Congrats on the new round of funding!"
• Reference a pain point: "Losing deals because of slow response times?"
• Name drop a mutual connection: "Jason Smith raved about your team‘s marketing."
• Say something unexpected: "I promise this isn‘t another annoying sales pitch."
• Ask an insightful question: "How much revenue are unqualified leads costing you?"

Avoid generic greetings like "I hope this email finds you well" or "How are you?" – they don‘t add any value and will likely make the prospect tune out.

Provide Value in the Body

The main body of your email is where you have a chance to provide value and earn the prospect‘s trust. Include insights, ideas, relevant content, or social proof that shows you understand their world and can help them.

Before making an ask, aim to give value in one of these ways:

• Educate: Share a piece of content, research report, or benchmark data
• Spark ideas: Highlight a best practice, case study, or referenceother successful companies
• Entertain: Share an interesting story oranecdote (keep it short)
• Gain perspective: Ask a thoughtful question about their business or role

Keep it customer-centric! Limit how much you talk about yourself or your product/service. Focus instead on them, their challenges, and their goals.

Make a Clear Call-to-Action

Every email should include a clear call-to-action (CTA) – the one thing you want the prospect to do after reading your message. CTAs should be:

• Singular: Includeonly one CTA per email
• Specific: Be clear about exactly what you‘re asking (avoid vague requests like "let me know")
• Low-commitment: Don‘t ask for too much too soon (a 15-min call is easier to say yes to than a 60-min demo)

Some examples of effective CTAs:

• Would you have 15 minutes to connect next week? I have a few ideas to share.
• Are you available for a quick call on Thursday at 10am PT?
• If you‘re interested in learning more, let me know and I‘ll send over a few times.
• Feel free to book a meeting on my calendar here: [Meetings link]

If you don‘t get a response, follow up! Most deals require multiple touchpoints. Just make sure each follow up attempt adds value – don‘t simply badger people with "just checking in" messages.

Optimize for Mobile

Over 50% of emails are now opened on mobile devices. To ensure your sales emails look great and are easily readable on smartphones:

• Use a responsive email template
• Keep the email short (aim for 125 words or less)
• Make sure your CTA link or calendar link is easy to tap on a small screen
• Avoid large image files that are slow to load

Test different mobile-friendly formats like having a short intro paragraph followed by 2-3 bullet points or takeaways. See what gets the best response rates.

Segment and Personalize

The more you can tailor your sales emails to the individual prospect, the better your results will be. No one wants to receive a generic mass email. To personalize at scale:

• Segment your prospects by persona, industry, company size, use case, sales stage, or other relevant attributes
• Use a CRM and email automation tools to easily insert personalization tokens like first name, company name, industry, etc.
• Reference a specific event like funding rounds, product launches, key hires, or organizational changes
• Mention common connections, college, hometown or interests
• Customize value propositions and case studies based on their unique situation and goals

Even a small amount of personalization can pay off in higher engagement and response rates. Put in the extra effort where it counts.

Evolve Your Emails Through the Customer Journey

Your prospects‘ needs and mindsets evolve as they move through the customer journey. Make sure your sales emails evolve too:

• Awareness stage: Focus on educating and inspiring with helpful content. Avoid being too salesy.
• Consideration stage: Nurture them with case studies, personalized demos, and detailed guides. Help them evaluate options.
• Decision stage: Create urgency with limited time offers, ROI calculators, and customer references. Make it easy to buy.

By tailoring your messaging to each stage, you‘ll build trust and increase the likelihood of winning the deal. Set up your email campaigns to automatically shift as prospects take key actions.

Master Different Types of Sales Emails

Throughout the sales process, you‘ll need to send many different types of emails, each with their own formulas for success. Some important types include:

Cold outreach emails:

• Grab attention by leading with a thought-provoking question or statement
• Mention a common connection or interest to build rapport
• Provide a relevant tip or piece of content
• Keep your ask small – a quick phone call or meeting

Post-meeting follow up:

• Thank them for their time and recap key items you discussed
• Deliver on any materials or info you promised to provide
• Suggest concrete next steps with clear owners and due dates
• Confirm your next meeting time

Scheduling emails:

• Give a specific reason for wanting to meet (avoid "touching base")
• Provide 2-3 concrete day and time options (bonus points if you include a calendar link)
• Keep it short and attach any relevant docs or agendas

Breakup emails (when a prospect goes dark):

• Keep it brief and to-the-point (no more than a few sentences)
• Reiterate your desire to help them succeed
• Give an easy out ("feel free to close your file" or "let me know if you need anything else")

Referral request emails:

• Remind them of the value you‘ve provided to them and their company
• Make it a small, targeted ask ("I‘m looking to connect with VPs of Sales in the healthcare industry")
• Offer to return the favor however you can
• Make it clear that a simple intro is all that‘s needed

For more types of sales emails with real examples, check out our complete sales email playbook.

Measure and Optimize Your Results

You can‘t improve your sales emails unless you measure your performance. The key metrics to track are:

• Open rates: What percentage of people are opening your emails? Test different subject lines.
• Response rates: How many people are actually replying? Optimize your body copy and CTAs.
• Meeting booked rates: How many leads are converting into appointments? Check that your scheduling process is frictionless.
• Deal closed rates: How many leads are turning into customers? Analyze the entire email sequence.

Use A/B testing to try out different subject lines, CTAs, intro paragraphs, lengths, and more. Identify what works best for your specific audience.

You can also look at email activity at an individual prospect level. Are they opening your emails but not responding? Are your emails bouncing? Use these insights to clean up your list and trigger new plays.

Bringing It All Together

Writing sales emails is both an art and a science. While there are time-tested formulas and best practices to follow, you also need to get creative to stand out in a crowded inbox. Continuously experiment, measure your results, and iterate your approach. Over time, you‘ll hone your ability to craft irresistible sales emails that build relationships and drive revenue.

Now get out there and happy selling!