Write Right! – Sales and Marketing Training
7 Tips To Crafting Emails That Grab Attention
R U Amazed at the affect email and texting has had on the way we use grammer and how we spell in our electronic communication. OMG, it ain’t right that you and me have been slackin’ off with our spellin’ and such in emails.
In fact, sentences with spelling and grammar errors like the one you just read are littering emails that we send everyday. For many, the speed of an email has become more important than the content and the grammatical correctness. So what’s the big deal with a few misspelled words and an occasional misuse of the English language, you ask?
Truth is, your prospects and peers will judge your ability to serve them by the words you use. Which means every email you send that looks like the neighbor’s first grade kid wrote it tells the recipient that accuracy is not important to you. It also says that you DON’T pay attention to detail. Now let me ask you something. Are accuracy and attention to detail important qualities in a salesperson, an operations manager, or a sales leader? Of course they are! So understand that every email you send is like a brochure that represents your ability to perform.
So step one is to write in a professional yet human way. Step two is to write in a way that makes others WANT to read what you have written. Here are some email tips that will help you show others that you are PRECISE:
- Use Spell Check with every email
- It takes 20 seconds and will save you from looking unprofessional.
- Read your email back to yourself before pressing the send button.
- More than half the time you will make a correction.
- Make your point once, and be DONE with it.
- Use as few words as possible to convey your message. Not only will this minimize your chances of making a grammatical error, but will also help your message “stick.” (works with voicemail as well)
- Take 15 seconds to think about the OBJECTIVE of the email before you write it.
- Email should be a tool for ACTION. After the recipient reads your email, what do you want them to do? If the email isn’t getting them to do something, perhaps it isn’t necessary to send it.
- Be yourself
- Your email should read as if the person feels like you are there in the room. So write the email in the same tone you would project verbally.
- Avoid corporate jargon
- “Dear recipient, our company’s value proposition is one that is guaranteed to produce optimal outcomes.” PUKE! Who talks like that? Use “plain speak” instead. Your message will resonate more because they will know that you aren’t a corporate stiff.
- Have fun (when it’s appropriate)
- Consider going to Google Images and finding an image that would create an emotional reaction from the reader. For example, let’s say your reader had a recent birthday. Go to Google Images, type in Birthday Cake, and watch how many fun images come up. Insert that image into your email and you will help take your reader out of their workday for just a minute…by making a human connection. Cheesy? Maybe? But if your emails look, read, feel and smell like everybody else’s; it will be tough to get their full attention while they read.
So this week, let’s get back to English (and Action) class. And while it might not be necessary to start diagramming sentences, it could be time to be more PRECISE with one of our greatest sales and service weapons…our written word.
As president of PRECISE Selling, Brian Sullivan helps improve sales, customer service, negotiations, leadership, and presentation skills through seminars and internet training programs. He is also the author of the book, 20 Days to the Top-How the PRECISE Selling Formula Will Make You Your Company’s Top Sales Performer in 20 Days or Less. To learn more, go to www.preciseselling.com.

This morning as my wife and I rushed around the kitchen to get our kids ready for school my wife asked my seven year old if she had brushed her teeth yet. My daughter, after pausing for less than half a second, confidently said, “Yes, I did it up stairs.” Her lie was delivered with smoothness and believability. We asked again, and although the words were the same, her delivery was one that showed she knew she was “in for it.” One more chance…”You’re lying. Now tell the truth, say you’re sorry and promise you won’t do it again.” Maggie followed with, “Okay, I’m sorry,” then tried to justify why she lied. After short lessons on how lying will almost ALWAYS get her in trouble, she said she understood and will do better next time. (We’ll see!)
“I owe what?!” were the words I uttered this week when my CPA brother in-law told me what I owed “The Man” this year in taxes. Certainly there had to be an error! But sure enough, Uncle Eldon had done his math correctly. “You probably shouldn’t have claimed everybody on your PRECISE Selling mailing list as a dependent?” As my dream of a new lawnmower died with every zero I added to my Commerce Bank check, I was reminded of the old saying …there are two things you can count on…Death and Taxes.
Recently during one of my seminars I had a rookie salesperson tell me that he was told by his manager and some of his company’s tenured employees that it was going to take him a while before he “truly understands the business.” But what those seasoned folks don’t understand is that because he was told it was going to take a while, guess what…it IS going to take a while. That well-intentioned advice, in fact, only encouraged him to take his time getting to the TOP. But here was my advice to him. Respectfully smile, listen and learn from as many seasoned business professionals as possible, but don’t EVER let them dictate how long it takes you to reach your potential. Only YOU have control over that decision.
“When written in Chinese, the word “crisis” is composed of two characters-one represents danger, and the other represents opportunity.”-John F Kennedy




