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Email has become the de facto weapon of choice for most of us when it comes to conducting many of the business functions we are required to carry out on a day to day basis. Email transformed the way we do business and the speed at which it takes place. It does however have a down side - especially within the sales function. What I'm going to try and tackle in this post is what I think the #1 mistake is with email and how you might negate this as an issue.

Scenario

You've been to meet a prospective client and the meeting has gone superbly. The client likes the product, has indicated they want to buy it and didn't baulk at the price. You tell the prospect that you will confirm everything in a follow up email.

Jump forward a few weeks and the client hasn't responded to your email and isn't replying to your calls.

What went wrong?

Follow Up Emails

One of the most common flaws with the use of email is the idea that everyone you deal with sees them the same way you do. To some people emails are important - they're like legal documents. To others they are a trivial and less important issue.

The real issue then becomes that you left an important business matter subject to an email at all - follow up emails are a fragile business mechanism when concluding a deal or a sale.

When concluding a sale, the best approach should be to use the last five to ten minutes to book the next call or meeting. In doing so, it eliminates the need to follow up post-meeting or post-demo. I now always try to establish:

• If they're actually interested?
• If I'm talking to a decision maker?
• If they have money?
• The game plan for the sale
• What makes sense as the next step?

Trying to remove the follow-up email as a possible block on moving forward is a very good strategy to adopt, it often makes the sales cycle shorter and clearer.

Follow Up Email Tactics

So what's the scenario if you're already on the follow up email merry-go-round?  There are two variants of emails you can send for the follow up email. The choice of words in each email is different but key to getting the recipient to react in the way you would like.

Email 1 - "Unsure, can you advise?"

This email should have the subject line as "Next Step?" or "Potential Next Step?". The question mark is a must.  Clearly state in the email that this is a follow up - no point in masking it.  "I'm not sure what the nest step is?" is a line that offers the opportunity to the other person to take control and dictate back to you what the step is - like a teacher to a pupil. whilst this might be a little patronising it also means that there is a next step and the opportunity has not just ground to a halt.

Email 2 - "Update"

When the subject line of an email is "Update" people tend to act differently. Just the single word can be read in 2 ways, its either information offered or information requested but the recipient will read it almost immediately to find out which one. This email works better if there is a 3rd party referenced as part of the request. Something like "My boss just asked me what the current situation is so I wanted to speak to you". This creates urgency to reply with the recipient.

Summary

The thing I have got used to is that in reality people don't get back to you. Its a common outcome of a meeting for both parties to placate each other with the promise of follow up but for it to then not take place. If possible the end of the meeting should be about not allowing the progress to die in this way and to create an action plan that does not allow either party to hide in their inbox and not communicate.