4 Tips On Writing Emails That Get Responses

As someone who spent 5 years in phone sales followed by creating a digital marketing startup, I've been rejected A LOT. However, what I have learned time and time again is that if you hear back from people, you're on the right track.

No one likes to be rejected, especially if it comes in the form of an email, but what's worse than that? Not getting a reply at all.

If you're not hearing anything back from anyone, you have nowhere to go. You feel invisible. It's tough stuff. ​

Sure, it might be the shirt you're wearing, or that you have no value as a human in general, but what's more likely is that you just have to make a few small changes.
 
Here are 4 tips on how to increase the chances that someone will respond to your emails --

1. Say Thank You!

According to a recent study by Boomerang (a stellar email scheduler that you should definitely check out if you’re not already familiar with it), emails that end with some form of “Thanks” had a response rate of 63%!

One word makes all the difference.
 
By saying “Thanks” or “Thank you” when you sign off, you’re showing the person reading that you already value them.
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In addition, you’re making your interaction more conversational inviting the person to interact with you in a more friendly manner. Saying things like “Sincerely” or “Regards” puts up walls and simply dropping your initials down like you’re too important to stop and be polite is even worse.

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2. Use Verdana Font

Chances are, you’ve gotten in the habit of using Arial font. It’s a bit of a standard and it certainly isn’t unprofessional to use it, but it’s not the best choice.

The nature of the Verdana font is more open, so when people are viewing it, they’re more likely to be more open to respond to you. It’s also just easier for all of us to read in general.  

Here’s what’s cool — you’ll stand out among the crowd because despite the cries of many people in the know, many people do not follow this best practice.

​It’s like dressing up your email with an ironed button up in a sea of old wrinkled college t-shirts.

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3. Keep It Short

In the age of oversharing, it’s easy to go on a long tangent and frontload information in the spirit of saving time.
 
However, in the long run, by being long winded, you’re overwhelming people and you’re losing them.
 
You’re also probably drowning the information they’re looking for from you with a bunch of information that they don’t want.
 
The goal of sending any email is to build rapport, so craft your email with that in mind above all else. You want people to engage with you long term, so don’t assume you have to cram everything in that one email.
 
You’re just getting trying to get some initial attention, not sign a million dollar contract based off of one message you send out.
 
The word count, in theory, may depend on what you’re looking to accomplish, but the rule of thumb for a sales email is around 50-125 words. That’s it.
 
Go check your inbox and see how many words you used in your last email. It was probably more. It’s ok. We’ve all done it.
 
Again, it’s not so much about hitting a specific word count as much as retraining yourself to keep your emails shorter. It starts to come naturally after a while.

4. ​Tell Them They’re Pretty

Don’t get creepy about it, but you should always include a compliment when you’re reaching out to anyone, especially if it’s your first time contacting them.

Everyone likes to hear something nice about themselves! The key is to be sincere and specific.

Here Are A Few Ways To Do It --

• When Contacting Journalists - Find an article that they’ve written that you like and tell them how much you liked it and why. These people work hard and probably don’t get as much positive feedback as you would think.

• When Applying For Work - You can tell them you like their job posting, their website, or their overall company mission. Let them know that you’re paying attention and you want to be part of their team.

• When Contacting Vendors and Employees - It may seem like being tough is the way to go here, but you can be assertive without being aggressive. You’ll be more likely to get what you want when you want it if people aren’t annoyed by you every time you contact them.​​

Think about it. Are you more likely to respond faster to your nice aunt who invites you to their beach house every year or your grouchy aunt who passive aggressively slides in that they never see you every time they reach out?
 
Be the nice aunt and people will be more likely to open up. No matter how frustrated you are, sandwich in a few nice things with all the bad things. It works.

I may not be the aunt with the beach house, but let me say in advance that you’re pretty and I wouldn’t mind speaking with you more about your professional goals. Email me and I promise to email you back.
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​Thank you for reading this post!