How to Write an Email to a Potential Customer

 1. Spend some time on the subject line.

According to research, 35% of email recipients open an email based on the subject line alone. The rest consider other factors in addition to the subject line. All of this is to say that your audience will not read your email content unless they first click the subject line.

It should grab them. And compel them to click and read further.

Here's what you should be doing if you want to write good email subject lines:

Use personalization.

Pose a compelling question.

Use concise and action-oriented language.

Leverage scarcity and exclusivity.

2. Introduce yourself.

You'll be more likely to gain traction if they already know, like, and trust you. But everyone has to start somewhere, right?

If they've never received communication from you, tell them a bit about yourself in a way that's warm and authentic. In essence, you should be conveying who you are and why they should listen to you. At the same time, it’s important to make it about them. For example, your email sales introduction could go something like this:

"My name is [Name], and I'm reaching out because..."

The following sentence could easily be a question to open a loop or a short elevator pitch to establish trust and authority.

3. Consider where they're at in the buyer's journey.

There's no point in selling yourself as a provider if they haven't decided on a type of solution yet. This is where your CRM and their behavior on your website can be valuable tools.

If they've opted into consideration or decision stage content, you can ask them more pointed questions to drive them to a purchasing decision. However, suppose they've only opted into awareness stage content. In that case, it might help to take a more informational and educational approach because their behavior indicates they're not ready to make a decision yet.

4. Hone in on their pains and provide value.

No one wants to read a sales email. Instead, they want help with their challenges. With this in mind, you should establish empathy and rapport with them while providing value.

For example:

"I see you host several campus events per year. I know it can be tough to get the students attentive and interested. I work with companies like Facebook and Google to help promote their college recruitment events."

5. Push your value proposition.

If no one else in the space does it like you, say so and provide social proof to back it up. This can be in the form of a testimonial, case study, or exciting statistic. This tactic is even more effective if they can "see themselves" in the example, so curate your social proof to include the customers you've served that are similar to them. This helps them see your customer's success story and think, "If they could do it for them, they can do it for me."