Now more than 50 years old, email is quite simply how business gets done. And email sequences are an excellent way of demonstrating the value you can deliver for prospects.
With a multi-step email prospecting motion, you can craft messaging that appeals to specific customer pain points, showcase several different use cases of your products or services, and invite engagement in multiple ways.
More touchpoints means more ways to get your pitch right — and, potentially, more ways to be wrong. The good news? Once you know how to write compelling, one-off emails to entice prospecting customers, you can easily do the same across a short sequence of emails.
Our proven, high-converting email sequences make several appeals to our prospective audience. First, we introduce ourselves and our solution, establishing a connection with the prospect. Next, we highlight how much they have to gain — and how little they have to lose — by using our product or service, before showcasing how a company just like our prospect’s used our solution to grow their business. Finally, we ask prospects to refer others to us, expanding our reach.
The governing idea is keeping things tight, mixing it up, and always maintaining focus on the prospect, their pain points, and their needs. Let’s get started.
Top Tips for Emails That Convert
Writing a great sales email sequence means adhering to some basic principles. Mainly, you want to make sure you’re brief — don’t waste the prospect’s time with filler words, lengthy asides, and favorite phrases.
Get to the point. Focus on the customer. Keep the conversation moving. Here are some time-tested tips that ZoomInfo uses to train its own top-flight sales team on the art of writing great cold emails:
1. Short and sweet wins
People are busy and inboxes are jammed. Make your point, don’t use a lot of extra words that you think are adding flair, and don’t repeat yourself. Good advice for any kind of communication, really.
- Get straight to the point. Avoid formalities and preamble
- Remove the fluff — adverbs and adjectives are easy cuts
- Limit your email to three to four lines with one idea per section
2. Aim for both focus and scale
You’re one person having an ongoing conversation. Make each email in your sequence similar in tone, voice, and approach even when the facts of the message change. Then read them back — does this scale out to a broader audience?
- Consider writing a full email campaign in one sitting
- Let each email focus on a different “pain hypothesis”
- Scale that message to a persona or industry
3. Mix it up
We find that it can take around 10 touchpoints across a variety of channels to win a deal. Use email sequences — but don’t forget to call behind. Vary the content offers you provide. Try different timeslots and CTAs.
Tested Templates to Make Your Own
Ready to put those tips into action? Steal our framework. This four-step sequence is based on a cadence built by ZoomInfo’s GTM Plays team.
They have open rates of 97-99% — yes, you read that right — because we’re able to blend a killer, proven email cadence with ZoomInfo’s world-class data and prospect insights, including firmographics, technographics, and buyer intent data.
Our pro tip? Call behind opened emails if you’re sure the prospect is well-qualified. It can take 8-11 touchpoints to convert a lead, so make sure you’re making the most of your time.
Step 1: Intro
SL: (Offer) for (Name)
(Name), is (Prospect Company) seeking (Solution To Pain Point)?
At (My Company), we’ve launched (your product/offer/pitch). Leading companies such as (Customer Proof Examples) are already leveraging this (Product/Service) to (Solve Problem), and I’m confident your team can too.
If you’re looking to (Solve Pain Point), let’s connect. How about (Day/Week)?
Best,
(Name)
Step 2: Content
SL: Why not (Solve Pain Point)?
(Name), with (Product/Service), you can (Take Specific Action) and (Solve Specific Problem). Here’s a great example – our latest (Content Offer):
(INSERT CONTENT: Video, blog, ebook, or other collateral)
This is why (My Company) is the leader in (My Market).
Are you free (Day/Week) to connect?
Let me know,
(Name)
Step 3: Customer Proof
SL: More (Benefit), Less (Pain Point)
(Name), achieving (Benefit) with (Less Pain) is a challenging task.
However, (Reference Customer Solved Pain Point – link to online case study) with (My Product/Service).
(Prospect Company) can get those same results by (Key Benefit of My Product/Service).
Any chance you’re free (Day/Week) to connect?
Best,
(Name)
Step 4: Referral
SL: (Name), Can You Help With This?
Hey (Name),
I want to ensure your teams get the best (My Category – Link to My Website) to truly thrive this year.
If this isn’t something that is on your radar, who’s the best colleague to reach out to?
Best,
(Name)
ZoomInfo: Modernizing GTM for All
Email remains one of the single most effective marketing channels for businesses of any size. However, with so much email being sent every day, it’s vital you get to the point quickly and make it abundantly clear how your solution can help.
By following these simple tips and using our proven templates, you can launch effective, engaging email sequences that entice prospective customers and demonstrate your solution’s value.
Best of all, doing so will allow you to broaden your reach with significantly less effort, giving you more time to do what you do best — taking care of your customers.