Today, I’m watching a business channel and a commercial for Grammarly Business appears. In it, employees are being sucked into their computers, overwhelmed by emails they need to reply to. Of course, the AI tools available in the software are supposed to make things more efficient. I look at this problem from a different angle.

Too Much of an Email Thing

We are overwhelmed by volume, most of which doesn’t need responses. Email inboxes for managers and owners in business are overflowing with way more than necessary notes. We are inundated with CRM generated marketing. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for CRM as a form of marketing and customer care, but please, spare me the constant flow of irrelevant sales pitches.

Yesterday I got one that said this:

“I have reached out to you in the past, but I understand that nobody likes being ambushed with random emails. The truth is, I really believe you’d be interested in what we bring to the table. In the interest of efficiency, I’ve removed every unnecessary detail from my previous emails”

At first glance it looks good, considerate, and tailored to something I might need or want. However, the next part is a sales pitch for software development for tech stacks. This is not relevant for my business.

I understand that everyone is trying to build a business and automation is handy. It’s not a perfect science. The problem is, this is the third or fourth email I’ve received. Enough already!

Good Email Etiquette

I run an agency and we need clients too, but, having been in some form of sales for many years, there are some etiquette rules my team follows:

1. Pitch by email once, follow up once, and call once (if you can find a number). If you do not have anything new to offer, like a new deal or new information that could help your prospect, do not send more emails.
2. Be courteous. Emails that start with “I am still waiting for a reply” and “I would appreciate a response” are not okay to send to prospects.
3. Curate a list of leads that you have checked out in advance. Know what their businesses are so you do not waste their time.
4. If you get a positive response, answer within 24 hours. I have responded to a couple of the hundreds of emails I get every day, and neither one yielded an answer. Is there even a human behind the automated platform?

Earning the Sale is the Goal

Mindlessly pitching people makes us inattentive. We stop reading emails. Instead, we spend the first part of every day deleting and marking things as SPAM, and those automatically generated electrical impulses hit the e-landfill in cyberspace.

So trying to be a bit more mindful of who you are reaching out to; how your offering fits their needs; and the number of times you ping the same email address can help all of us. The goal is to connect and build a relationship with a new client. It would be great to start that bond on the right foot.