5 examples of how to write an email sales pitch (the right way)

In other words, we’re all bombarded with emails.

With so many emails circulating around the globe, how are reps supposed to get theirs opened, let alone responded to?

This post is all about the art of writing the perfect email sales pitch. In this post, we'll explain:

• How technology prevents your emails from reaching your recipient's inbox,
• Using placeholders in an email pitch
• How to follow up on an initial pitch
  • with someone who opened your email
  • with someone who didn't open your email, and
  • with someone who clicked something in your email (they're really engaged!)

The first thing we need to clarify is how technologies affect the way our emails are received (as 21% of email goes to spam incorrectly).

So, let’s take a look at the way technology influences whether or not an email is sent to spam and how you can prevent your pitch from hitting spam boxes.

• Merge tags and placeholders: Merge tags and placeholders are the same thing. They’re the words with brackets or characters around them that look like this *|EXAMPLE|* or this {{Example}}. Using these tags decreases the likelihood that your email will deliver to a spam box.
• Attachments: Because of all the phishing scams out there, email servers are finicky about attachments. It’s best not to have any attachments in your sales pitch email—this includes any images or logos you might have in your signature.
• Images and content: Similar to attachments, some email providers may flag emails that contain images or other content (like if you sent a template with header images and your company logo). It’s best to send plain-text pitches.
• IP Address: An IP (Internet Protocol) address is a number, kind of like a unique name, for your computer. If your IP address is flagged for sending spam in a previous campaign or email, then any future emails coming from your IP address are more likely to deliver to spam boxes. To avoid having your IP address flagged, make sure you’re following the rest of the advice listed above.
  

Placeholders correspond with columns in a spreadsheet or CRM list.

If you use a placeholder for {{First Name}} in the intro of your email, you’re less likely to be sent to your recipient's spam box as the email is more personal.

If you’re running a campaign with a mail merge tool (a tool that sends more than one email at a time), a CRM, or email marketing tool, you can use placeholders to customize each message based on a recipient's specific details.

Mail merge software will pull data from a spreadsheet and CRM/email marketing tools will pull data from the customer’s info saved within the platform.

For a spreadsheet using {{First Name}} placeholder, data would populate that field from the spreadsheet column titled “First Name.”

Example:

In the image below, "Hi {{Name}}" would show up in the email as "Hi Michael Scott."

Other placeholders you can use to warm up your email are {{Location}} or {{Where we met}}. Check out this template example:

Hi {{First Name}},

It’s {{Your Name}}, we met at {{Where we met}} and discussed {{Prospect’s pain point}}.

I’m wondering if you have 10 minutes this week to talk more about your company’s needs?

Now that you’re familiar with the technical lingo and how your IP address and placeholders affect the deliverability of your campaigns, it’s time to start writing your email sales pitch.

Get the subject line right.

Some argue that shorter subject lines are best, around 3-4 words. But word count aside, we can be sure that a subject line that piques interest is always best.

Here are some ways to write subject lines that win a prospect’s interest:

• Ask a question. This encourages prospects to open for the answer to the question.
• Use an emoji. According to Constant Contact, using emojis increases open rates.
• Use a brand name to target prospects. For example, if your prospect is in the banking industry, you might mention Capital One in the subject line. Like this: Did you see that Capital One increased profits by 20%? You might follow this subject line up with a case study in the body copy, showing how your company was responsible for that increase in profit.

Warm things up.

How can you make an email pitch less cold—when you barely know someone? Or maybe, you’ve only been introduced once at a conference?

• Remind the recipient of when you met
  • Noting the time or place you met the person helps warm things up as it reminds your prospect that you aren’t emailing them out of the blue. And if you were introduced by a colleague through LinkedIn, email, or some other internet introduction—that's a great reference point too.

• Point out a commonality
  • If you haven’t met your prospect in person (or been introduced via web) before, then point out something you’ve got in common. One of my favorites is “we’re in the same LinkedIn group ________ and I noticed you shared this interesting article _________.”

• Be friendly, not stuffy
  • Use a prospect’s first name and be sure you don’t use too much industry jargon. Make sure your note sounds professional, but not stuffy. There’s nothing colder than a drawn-out email, full of jargon, that starts with "Dear Ms. Lewis."

Keep it short and sweet and to the point.

You have eight seconds to grab your prospect’s attention. Sales emails that are long-winded hurt your chances of getting a response. The best way to grab attention is to talk benefits in the first sentence or two.

Amateur sales reps often don’t realize that benefits are best expressed as results—not product features or services. For example...

Product feature/service (bad): "Our CRM solution can integrate with thousands of products."

Results (good): "Sales reps save an average of three hours per day because they don’t have to do as much data entry."

Ask for something.

You won’t get what you don’t ask for—and the most important part of your pitch is your ask. This ask is also known as a call to action (CTA). This CTA, which can be expressed as a question, gives your recipient a reason to respond.

Here are a few tips on writing an effective CTA:

• Ask for something specific—like a phone call, meeting, or email response.

• Make sure your CTA is its own paragraph and is only one line or two. This will draw your prospect’s eye to the CTA. And even if it follows a couple of paragraphs, it’ll stand out.

• Note a specific time if you plan to ask for a phone call. This lets your prospect know that you’re being considerate of their time, and also that your call won’t eat up too much of their busy schedule.

Here’s an email sales pitch template based on all of the pieces we’ve suggested:

Hi {{First Name}},

I’m glad we met at {{where you met}} as I think {{your company}} can help you in your efforts to {{prospect’s goal}}.

Our software will save your reps over 3 hours per week in data-entry.

Do you have 10 minutes this week to talk about what these benefits would mean for your company?

If the CTA is the most important part of your pitch, the follow-up might be the next most important piece.

Did you know that following up within the hour increases your likelihood of a meaningful convo with a decision-maker by about seven times? This means that there are different types of follow-up messages that you’ll need. Let’s go over the three most common follow-up types:

Yes responders

First, there’s following up for people that respond positively to your pitch. This type of follow-up is your top priority as these leads are interested and likely qualified compared to non-responders.

No responders

These contacts aren't interested in your product or service. It’s probably your best bet to remove them from your pipeline and focus your efforts on qualified leads.

Non-responders

There are multiple types of non-responders, depending on what all you’re measuring with your email tool or CRM. We recommend tracking opens (who opens the email) and clicks (people who click a specific link in your email—like to a webpage).

Here are a few templates to get a reply out of these non-responders:

For people who opened

These prospects were interested in your subject line. So it’s worth a follow-up attempt to learn more about their interest. Try this template:

Hi {{First Name}},

I noticed that you got my message, I’m wondering if there’s any more information I can provide?

Here’s a link to a case study about {{benefits in your pitch email}}. Check it out here: yourcompany.com/case-study-1

{{Signature}}

For people who didn’t open

I always follow up with the same exact email pitch I originally sent. I just add the following line to my introductory sentence:

Hi {{First Name}},

I’m following-up to my last email as I wanted to make sure you’re aware of {{benefits your company can provide}}.

{{Text from original pitch}}

For people who clicked

For folks who click on a link, you should follow up with something relevant to the link they clicked. For example, if a prospect clicks on the link in our email pitch above, we might follow up with something like this:

Hi {{First Name}},

I noticed you checked out our case study, {{case study title}}. Was there something in particular about the case study that you’d like to discuss?

I think that we could help your company save 50% on CRM costs in the same way that we helped Company XYZ in the case study above.

Do you have 5 minutes to discuss in the next day or so?

Now, you have five templates that will help you crush your sales goals. Remember that benefits sell things, not product features or services. And it’s always best to follow up within the hour if possible.

P.S. Don’t let non-responders dampen your motivation—keep following up with them. Not everyone converts on first contact!