FAIL: “I, Me, My” Emails

March 2, 2011

There’s no doubt about it… if you are in inside sales, you are going to be sending a lot of emails (intros, follow ups, thank yous, scheduling, etc). Perhaps more than you think, your emails are going to be very critical in your sales process at your expanion stage business. Good news is: your emails should never, ever be longer than a couple paragraphs if you are trying to reach out to someone for the first time. I am going to repeat: NEVER.

All too often, as a Sales Analyst at OpenView Venture Partners, I have seen sales reps send emails to prospects that are novels. People don’t have the time to read through all of your gobbledygook. Sales reps need to put themselves in the prospect’s shoes, and triple the amount of emails that you get a day — that’s the inbox of the decision maker that you are trying to get in touch with. The recipient needs to be able to connect, absorb and make a decision on how they will respond within 10 seconds. Your email needs to be brief, succinct and your intentions crystal clear…oh, and the kicker: NOT ALL ABOUT YOU. An “I, Me, My” email will get you nowhere.

So what exactly is an “I, Me, My” email?

“I am reaching out to you today to….”
“I am hoping to get a couple minutes of your time…”
“Let me know your thoughts…”
“My company offers a….”

Look familiar?
Dig into your sent items in Outlook and observe some of the most recent emails that you have written to prospects. How many times have you used the words, “I, Me, My”?

A good rule of thumb: For an email that is about two paragraphs long — try to use only 2-3 “I, Me, My”s max. Focus more on your customer – their pain, their needs, their schedule, and they will be more likely to focus on your email and perhaps even… respond.