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Customer Success: How To Write Emails That Convert
Read time: 3 mins
If you missed my talk on how to use AI to boost your productivity, hosted by Matik last week, August 24th, don't worry! The replay is now available.
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How To Write Emails That Convert
All right. You’ve sent an important email to your customer but after waiting for a while, you’ve got nothing in return!
So, how come?
This is your customer and you’re in charge of building strong relationships.
You crafted your message, spent time on it, and thought they would respond for sure.
But silence… it was like sending your message into the void.
You’re now upset and you’ve started questioning your abilities.
Some of you even had the imposter syndrome asking if you were in the right position with the required authority and credibility to contact the customer.
But whatever you tried to do, you couldn’t get passed this initial step.
Then you wanted to find excuses and justify to yourself why your customer was wrong in not responding to your email.
And according to you, they’ve missed out on a big opportunity for sure.
Sounds familiar?
Unfortunately, this is a common scenario where the customer goes silent.
It’s time to shift your attention from yourself and your company and start focusing on your customer instead.
And in today’s edition, I wanted to cover 3 simple but powerful techniques you can use to craft a message that will make your customer take action right on the spot.
So here we go:
1. AIDA
The formula stands for Attention, Interest, Desire, and Action.
It’s a proven framework for almost a century used to persuade others to take action.
You can use it for any outreach you are making to prospects or customers.
Here’s how it works:
Attention
Your primary goal is to get your customer’s attention so they start reading your message.
This is why your subject line must hook them first and make them click on your email to open it up.
Interest
Next, you must show your customer that you reached out for a very interesting topic for them and that you’re not wasting their time.
Desire
Now is the time to introduce the context for reaching out and how it would benefit them.
This is where you can say for example how valuable your proposal is, how great it fits into their environment, etc.
Action
The final step is telling your customers the exact steps you want them to make with a call-to-action (CTA).
It must be perfectly clear and should not require any particular effort from their side.
All you need to do is to make sure it’s super easy to respond.
Examples: click here, visit our website, save your seat, call me at…
2. KISS: Keep It Simple Stupid
I love how simple this technique is.
You could also memorize it like “keep it short and simple” or “keep it short and sweet”.
The term comes from the design world where the simpler your design, the more successful it will be.
As the name speaks for itself, it’s all about:
using simple text,
a limited number of graphics in the body of your email,
and showing a clear call to action at the end.
Basically, your message should:
Have a clear purpose
One main goal only.
Having too many could end up confusing your customers.
Note that you can insert links. But ensure they are all about the main topic of your email.
Make it mobile-friendly
No need to complicate the layout of your email which otherwise couldn’t be read properly on a mobile device.
This mostly happens when for example you or the marketing teams send out invitations to events with formatted images, banners, etc.
Before hitting the send button, ensure you tested it on different devices for ease of reading.
Have your offer on top
Sometimes you want to tell many things before concluding and placing your call-to-action.
However, delaying it too far in the body of your email can prevent your customer from reading it at all.
So, ensure the call-to-action is close to the top of your email.
Have a simple design
Don’t overcomplicate the design of your email. Again, keep it simple.
Have the least images possible
Most images are blocked by the messaging software anyway.
So the customer ends up having an email with lots of empty boxes before even reading the first line of text.
It’s a sure way to make customers stop reading.
Or worse, they’ll delete your email right on the spot.
So ensure you get the least amount of pictures in your email body.
Again, KISS - keep it simple stupid!
3. WIIFM: What's In It For Me
And finally, ensure you write your email by answering this question after every sentence: “So what?”
This is what your customers have in mind when they receive an email from you.
Why should they open it up and read?
What are the benefits for them to take the time and go through your email?
Therefore, your top objective should be to outline how beneficial your proposal or call-to-action is for them and explain how it would solve their problems or address their needs.
Talk about the benefits, not the features.
Include more of “You” instead of “I” or “We”: shift your focus to your customer. Remember: they are the hero, not you.
Customize and personalize your messaging: This is where the relationship you’ve built comes into play. Use it to your advantage to hook your customer’s interest.
Showcase other stories of customers who succeeded with your proposal.
And that’s it!
These are 3 simple and easy techniques you can apply to earn your customer’s attention and get them to respond to your emails faster:
AIDA
KISS
WIIFM
But wait, there are many more!
I explore them with over 100 real-life examples in my newest book “Cold Email Mastery”.
It’s time to stop sending messages that have no impact.
Instead - start writing emails that convert today!