How to Write Emails That Get Meetings with Buyers of Printing

Do you wonder what it takes to get a buyer to respond to an email? It starts with setting up the conditions that prompt a response, so let's dig into how you make that happen.

Buyers have problems. When an email hits their inbox, they will scan the subject line and the first paragraph. If you use these two sections to let the buyer know you can solve their problem, congratulations! You won the first skirmish in the battle for buyer response.

If your email is short — 100 to 150 words — the buyer will probably skim your email from start to finish to get the gist. When the email contains links allowing the buyer to investigate further or visit your website, and they click, it's another win.

If the links take the buyer to information that helps them further understand who you are and how you can help solve their problem, you have set up the required conditions to convince a buyer to respond.

But will the buyer respond? It depends. Does the buyer feel any urgency to solve their problem? If there is no urgency, do they have time to take on something new, even if it can lead to a situation where they are better off?

If the need is urgent and you checked all the boxes, the buyer will reach out. If the need is NOT urgent, busy buyers are engaged but may not be ready to act. How do you determine if a buyer is engaged? They opened the email and clicked on links.

Now that you know the basic conditions required to get a buyer to respond to an email, here are four tips to take your email outreach program to the next level.

1. Salespeople are often good at selling but not good at writing. If this is the case at your company, hiring someone to write well-crafted emails with 100 to 150 persuasive words can close the gap.
2. Success stories make compelling emails. Make it your mission to collect 20 success stories illustrating your company’s value for clients in the next 30 days. Set a deadline and GO!
3. If you don't have an email platform that allows you to send emails and then see who opened and clicked links, your sales team is wearing blinders and lacking the intelligence to identify engaged leads. In today's sales climate, this is a problem. Fix it, and you will be in a better position.
4. Two, three, four, or even five emails sent sporadically to leads won't generate many (or possibly any) meetings. Plan to send between 12 to 20 well-written emails to potential buyers requesting a meeting. If they opened some emails but have neither responded nor unsubscribed after reaching the end of your extended email flow, move those leads into a nurturing track. Stay in contact and continue to communicate your value proposition and service offerings.

And one last tip: Print buying leads get 100 to 200 emails in a day. They get 3 to 10 pieces of mail in a week. That means it is easier for a piece of print to stand out and grab the buyer's attention. Print works this way for your clients, so why not use the same strategy for you to sell more?