7 Proven Ways To Write Emails That Get Replies, Backed By Science

March 14, 2014 by Bernie Reeder in Work Smart

Effective email writing boils down to one thing: Mind reading. 
Really.
Sure, we’re all different, but in many instances our brains are prone to react to psychological triggers in a similar manner. Understanding these subtleties can help you hone in on creative ways to persuade others to take a desired course of action, like reply to more of your meticulously written emails.
Here are seven powerful psychological principles that can help you get busy people to respond to your emails, backed by template reply-rate data and examples from Yesware’s own sales team. 

1. Social Proof

Peer pressure is one of the oldest tricks in the book, and still one of the smartest. It accounts for why emails have higher open rates when sent to multiple people, and higher response rates when mentioning other stakeholders at the company. Because when it comes to making decisions –like whether or not to reply to someone’s email– we take cues from other people. 

 

What it means: If your prospect sees proof that his colleagues are receptive to your ideas, he’ll be more likely to jump on the bandwagon and give you the time of day. It’s one of the reasons this prospecting template from Yesware’s Paul Hlatky has been so effective at garnering replies:

 

2. Provide A Reason (Because I Said So)

A study performed by Harvard social psychologist Ellen Langer found that people were more willing to comply with a request (in this instance, cut in line) when people used the word “because.” Even when the reason was seemingly nonsensical (i.e. “Can I use the copy machine first because I need to make a copy?”), nearly all (93%) people complied. 

 

What it means: When you ask someone to do you a favor, you’ll be more successful if you provide a reason. Because (see what I did there?) yes, in today’s world of 24-7-365 communication and mile long to-do lists, answering an email from someone you don’t know is a favor. 

3. Throw In The Frog

You’ve been going back and forth with someone for weeks now, and then suddenly, they’re MIA. No reply. Won’t return your phone calls. Nothing. What’s your next move?
You throw in the frog.
In an experiment by O’Quinn and Aronoff, participants were assigned to “buyer” and “seller” roles and asked to negotiate the price of a painting. Half of the sellers received instructions to use the line “my final offer is $_, …and I’ll throw in a pet frog.” This led to relaxation, smiles, and increased compliance, with buyers agreeing to pay significantly more money than when the frog joke was not used.
What it means: When you make someone smile, they relax. Humor can help break down objections and win over an otherwise unreceptive audience. Here’s an example of how breaking the ice can earn you replies:

4. Choose Your Numbers Wisely

Let’s look at three quick tips that can increase your chances of getting your email opened and keeping their attention long enough to get a reply, all backed by science.

1. Include digits in the subject line. Numbers written out as numerals (i.e. 33 as opposed to thirty-three) have been shown to stop wandering eyes of online readers, making it more likely that your email will get noticed in an overcrowded inbox.
2. Use statistics and data. It makes you appear more credible.
3. Remember: Three is the magic number. Numerous studies have proven that the brain likes to be presented with three choices, whereas four choices may trigger skepticism and anything higher than that can lead to confusion. Try breaking your email into three (short) paragraphs, offer three options for meeting times, or describe your product using three adjectives.  

5. Keep It Short & Simple

Brevity is the soul of wit. So it should come as no surprise that it’s the soul of effective emails, too. Drawing from data culled from five years of emails in an executive recruiting firm, researchers found that shorter emails result in quicker response time, leading to higher overall productivity.
What it means: Don’t waste their time. Be considerate of your audience and use spacing, numbers, bulleted lists etc., to visually break up your message so that it’s easy to digest and take action on. MIT’s Marshall Van Alstyne argues that Twitter length  - roughly 140 characters – is ideal. Here’s what that looks like:

6. Use Their Name More Than Once

Remember that a person’s name is, to that person, the sweetest and most important sound in any language. -Dale Carnegie

Dale wasn’t kidding. “Few things light us up quite like seeing our own names in print or on the screen,” explain the folks at Copyblogger, citing recent research on brain activation. “Our names are intrinsically tied to our self-perception and make up a massive part of our identity. No surprise then, that we become more engaged and even more trusting of a message in which our name appears.”

What it means: Personalization is key. Try catching their eye by placing their name in the subject line — i.e. “Hi Jim, it’s Bernie from Yesware.” Asking for a reply that requires more than a simple yes/no? Throw in a simple “Thanks for your time, Jim” to close out your email. 

7. Be Specific 

Being vague isn’t going to help you clinch that important meeting. According to research by psychologist Robert Sutton, people are more responsive and willing to help if they’ve been given clear directions on how to contribute. Research coming out of Carnegie Mellon also found that people are more likely to respond to email requests that are easy to answer, as opposed to complex messages that require more time and mental energy to address.

What it means: Ending your emails with open ended statements — i.e. “Let me know what works best for you” or “how is your schedule this week?” — does more harm than good. Rather than take the time and energy to make the decision for both of you, they instead opt for “no decision” and you get no reply to your email.

You should end every email with a pointed call to action. Buy or not buy? Meet or not meet? Interested or hold off? Here’s an example that’s worked particularly well for our team:

4 Email Templates to Keep in Touch

March 9, 2011 by Matthew Bellows in Sales, Work Smart

Some time ago I wrote about Four Winning Approaches to Writing a Cold Email. Hopefully that article helped you break through the hundreds of emails your prospect gets every day. It’s one of the most popular posts on the site, so it’s helping someone out there. But now you’ve got to keep in touch and build trust with this person. Here are three examples of “Keeping in Touch” emails, plus a “Getting Back in Touch” template. As a reminder, the four approaches are:

• Congratulations
• Praise
• Adding Value
• Off-Topic

In all cases, your email should be as specific, detailed and genuine as possible. “Specific” means you could get through the prospect’s personal spam filter. “Detailed” means that you are actually providing something useful – you’ve spent the time to think about the prospect’s situation and can propose actionable solutions. And “Genuine” means just that. No bullshit. Don’t try to be anyone’s best buddy. Just be yourself, be honest, and be clear.

The basic approach with these Keeping in Touch emails is to switch tactics. If you were Congratulating a prospect, switch to Adding Value or Off-Topic. If you started with Off-Topic, go to Adding Value. Mix up your approach to demonstrate your depth as a resource and a person.

Here’s a Congratulations email to follow an Adding Value opening:

Dear Ted,
Last week I sent you an article from The Economist on [changing industry dynamic] because it seemed to speak to your situation. This morning I find out your team has announced a whole new product line! Congratulations to you and your team on the launch. I know how hard it is to build something from scratch. In looking over the materials you posted, I had two questions:
1. [A genuine non-self-serving question about how it works]
2. [A question about how it could intersect with your company's product]
The reason I’m asking is that my company makes [XXX] and [YYY]. I’m always trying to find new applications and to learn new approaches for our work here.
Interested to hear your thoughts,
Freddy
Three quick notes on this template:

1. I  always use “you” and “yours” when talking about the prospect’s company. Personal pronouns personalize the email. When talking about the other company employees, I _always_ say “your team” because a) they are all on the same team and b) from the reader’s point of view, it’s a bit flattering to hear that someone outside the company might think that these unrelated departments are all part of “my team.”
2. This approach is easily adopted for press coverage, new customer announcements, new exec hires, etc. Keep the format, completely change the content in those situations. [contextly_sidebar id="1a3dc5b48e5e261ad55a374a271fc89b"]
3. It might be tempting to end with “Let’s schedule a call to discuss” or somesuch. Don’t do it. Let the person get back to you via email if they want. If they do, you are building communication. If they don’t, there are more templates below or highlighted in the sidebar here.

Here’s an Adding Value template to follow a Congratulations opening:

Hi Sarah,
Your news last week made an impression on me – I’ve found myself thinking about your company a fair amount since then. Here’s a Business Week article that thoughtfully describes some of the same opportunities that your announcement addressed [link]. Am I reading this right? [Question about how the article impacts Sarah's company]?
Hope you find it interesting!
Fred
Notes on this template:

1. Yes! It’s short! Congratulations emails run the risk of fawning/ass-kissing. The goal here is to Add Value, ask a question in case the prospect wants to engage, and then get out of the way.
2. Keep it relevant. The only way this approach will work is if you can connect the dots. If you are working too hard to cram the Congrats and the Value together – stop and find something else to say.

Here’s an Adding Value template to follow an Off-Topic opening:

Note: Remember that the Off-Topic approach is the riskiest one. It’s inspired by something timely and personal that the prospect puts out in a public forum. Now you have to pull back to prove your professional value while dispelling once and for all the fear that you are a stalker.
Hi William,
Hope those restaurant recommendations for Houston served you well. I’d love to hear if any of them worked out. I’ve been doing some thinking about your company, and I was wondering if you know [high-value contact of yours]. She’s the SVP at [potentially interesting customer/prospect for William]. I’d guess that with their [new office in China, interest in injection molding, etc.] and your accomplishments in the same, you guys might enjoy talking.
Want me to make an introduction?
Harry
Note: Salespeople don’t do enough trading of introductions. It’s an incredibly effective way to add value to a prospect’s professional life. It costs nothing. And, if you do it properly, it can be beneficial to both parties. There are very few people who won’t respond, at least with a “no thanks”, to this kind of email.

Finally, here’s a Getting Back in Touch template in case it’s been a while:

Dear Sam,
I hope this note finds you well. You guys have been busy since we last talked! I saw your announcement of [X] and [Y]. Congratulations! Things have been going well over here too – we released [new feature of relevant product] and have been getting great feedback from our customers.
Are you going to be [at industry event or in city of Sam's HQ] in two weeks? I’m heading out, and I’d love to ask you about [your announcement Y]. I have a thought about how it might dovetail with some of the R&D work we’re doing here. Let me know if you’ll be in town.
All the best,
Terry
Note: Compared to the templates above, this one goes right for the meeting. I’m imagining that you’ve been out of touch because the prospect isn’t hot, or the fit isn’t great. Oftentimes it’s better to just find out interest level for sure by asking about a meeting opportunity.
Recovering from a negative response to this email is easy. After the trip/conference, its “Sorry we missed each other. I had a great steak at Abe’s! Maybe next time.” and you are back in touch. And if your dangling of R&D previews works, you’ve got another meeting for your trip.

4 Winning Approaches for Writing a Cold Email.

4 Winning Approaches for Writing a Cold Email

October 6, 2010 by Matthew Bellows in Email, Productivity, Sales Tips

Breaking through with a cold email for a hot prospect is tough… you’ve deleted enough of them to know. It would be much better to get an introduction from someone who knows your prospect already. But if that’s not possible, your cold sales email has two jobs:

1. Get through the prospect’s personal spam filters
2. Make enough of an impression to get to “The Crux” and “The Ask”

Getting through the personal spam filters is all about being specific in your subject line, immediately adding value, and not being too sales-y. For this purpose, I suggest a tight and directed subject line. These usually work for me:

• Congratulations subject lines – “Congrats on the product release/great quarter/NYT coverage/financing/new customer” (the more specific the better). If you are writing to the head of product development, product or feature messages are best. Want to meet with the VP of Sales? They all  like congratulations on a great quarter.
• Praise subject lines – “I’ve heard about your skills and wanted to get in touch” or “I’ve been following your efforts/blog/tweets/sales success for quite a while and wanted to reach out”. The key here is to be genuine, impressed, but not fawning. If you have no backbone, no one wants to hear your praise. On the other hand, if you are haughty, why are you writing?

The key here is to be genuine, impressed, but not fawning. If you have no backbone, no one wants to hear your praise.

• Adding value subject lines -  “Hi Ted! I found an article on [your industry/competition/field] and thought of you” I start out with using the prospect’s name so they know it’s not spam, and then immediately let them know that the message is relevant to their work life. Using the person’s name like that can work well in the other types of sale emails as well.
• Off topic but relevant subject lines – These are dangerous. You don’t want to sound like you are stalking. These also take a bit longer until you can get to business. However, if the person you want to talk with just posted a question about their upcoming ski vacation, and you are genuinely inspired, spend some time putting together your best recommendations (with links) and email it to them. Subject lines for that approach: “Recommendations for your ski trip: I’d say Utah” or “Saw your post about skiing – here are my suggestions.” If it’s relevant, timely and not too personal, this could work well.

Once you have an approach and a tight subject line, you’ve got to make an impression. Making enough of an impression is mostly about the value you can provide to the recipient in the first one-to-three lines of the email. For each of the approaches above, here’s a sample email opening:

• Congratulations – “Dear Ted, You and your team have really accomplished something. The feature/product/press mention yesterday is making a big impression among the people I talk to.  I wanted to reach out and say congratulations.” Don’t start these with the word “I”. This is a note about your prospect.
• Praise – “Dear Ted, We haven’t met in person but I’ve been impressed with your work/blog/leadership in [specific example] for some time. This isn’t a particularly easy environment to excel in. Amazing work.”
• Adding value – “The article appears in The Economist this week. I thought it did a good job of capturing the dynamics of [the situation]. Here’s the link:…” By citing the source at the top, it helps establish credibility for you and the email. Don’t bother with this approach if your source isn’t bulletproof. Bonus points: “Although the author misses [some specific aspect that only an industry vet like you would know] I thought this article was pretty insightful.”

Bonus points: “Although the author misses [some specific aspect that only an industry vet like you would know] I thought this article was pretty insightful.”

• Off-topic – With this approach, you need to spend some time thinking through this. Where have you been? You want to be sensitive about the places that you think the prospect would like. Do they have kids? No one wants to spend a lot of money, so put all your suggestions in terms of “value” even if they are five star.  Again, getting too personal is dangerous. It’s better not to, unless you can be subtle or it’s common knowledge. Here’s an opening that I’d use: “Dear Ted, I’ve been skiing since I was six, and I lived in Colorado for four years, but for a vacation like you posted about, I’d suggest Utah. Here are my three favorite resorts and hotels.” Notice that I’m using “I” here. Since these recommendations are coming from you personally, it’s better to take this approach than the grammatical gymnastics required to avoid it.

And now, “The Crux”. You have to leverage the good will you’ve created to get something in return. Here are a couple of approaches I like. They aren’t strictly related to the openings, so feel free to mix and match.

• Congratulations – “My company has been doing pretty well also. We recently announced [customer/competitor] as a client for our [product]. Maybe something like this could help you continue your impressive momentum?” I always say “my company” even if I don’t own the company, because it communicates my responsibility for the situation. I’m going to act like the owner. At the very least, I’m in charge of this relationship. That one little word “My” goes a very long way.

I always say “my company” even if I don’t own the company, because it communicates my responsibility for the situation.

• Praise – “I was wondering if I could ask you a couple of questions. My company is having some success with [product/service] but your insights on/experience with could really help us accelerate.”
• Adding value – “I’ve been thinking about this because my company is struggling with the same issue. Although we just launched [feature/product] and recently signed [customer/competitor], we’ve been working on [XXX] like the company profiled.” I like admitting that we’re struggling, that we’re working on something, that all is not awesome. It’s honest and it’s a state that everyone can relate to.
• Off topic – Get right to the point: “I hope you find this helpful, and you have a great vacation.” I wouldn’t follow this approach up with “The Asks” below. Close out the email while the prospect has a small amount of goodwill towards you. Then write back not sooner than ten business days with a “Hi Ted, I wrote you that note about Utah skiing a while ago. I thought of you again when talking with my product manager about [new feature/new product]…”

And finally, “The Ask”. If you haven’t sucked up too much, or been too stalkery, there’s no problem here. Just be specific. I say something like:

• “I’d like to follow up about this with a quick phone call. We can cover the important issues in 20 minutes. Can I call you next Tuesday at 8am EST?”

I always ask for a phone call. You don’t need (or want) permission to send more product information. You want to take the next step in building a relationship, which is a spoken conversation. I always give a specific time and day.
It takes away the excuse of “now I have to suggest a time, etc. for this guy” Most people who are at all interested will check their calendar for that day. I try to suggest a time three to five days in advance, and at the beginning of the day – a time when they are in the car or out of a meeting. I strongly discourage any suggestion that you and your prospect spend time together beyond that call. You might both like skiing or baseball, but don’t go there until you are sure you won’t get turned down.
I n real life, you’d clear your calendar for an hour with person, but you can’t ever appear that desperate. The value of each of your prospects determines how much time you can spend on writing these emails, but for most B2B salespeople, it’s hard to spend too much time getting these openings right. No spelling mistakes. No grammatical errors. I read my messages out loud before I send them. I often ask a colleague to read them before I send.

And then – follow up… The best egg salesman in the USA says ‘I get 85% of my new business after four contacts.’

And then – follow up. Not soon. Remember, you are busy. But think of the person, and try to send them something that would help them in the next 12 to 15 days. The best egg salesman in the USA says “I get 85% of my new business after four contacts.”
Jack Daly says that on average “it takes nine touches to get someone’s attention.” So keep at it over the next couple of months. I’ll cover suggestions for those emails coming up next.