Ever wonder if you’re sending too many prospecting emails? Or worse, not enough? Here are some ways to tell, and our suggestions for how to keep your outreach balanced.
Watch Your Unsubscribe Rates
It’s normal to see a few people unsubscribe from any email campaign. But when those rates jump, it could be an indication you’re emailing too frequently. There isn’t much cause for concern until yours start to veer north of 0.5% (or 0.48%, if you ask HubSpot). Then it’s time to send less and reassess.
To understand what’s going on, put yourself in the recipient’s shoes. If someone has been emailing you so many times that you look at them as an inbox nuisance instead of a resource, wouldn’t you tell them to stop?
Space Out Your Follow-Up Emails
If you send an email to a coworker or a client asking them to do something, how soon would you expect them to respond? Would you wait more than a day to follow up with them if you don’t hear back?
Now think about your answers in comparison to your prospecting emails. Do you send those more or less than the ones to your coworkers and clients?
We ask because, generally speaking, it’s better to follow up with someone by email after at least 24 hours have passed. Any sooner and it begs the question: why not simply call? So, when you do decide to follow up with your leads, make sure it’s at least one business day after your last email — preferably two. That gives them time to review what you’ve sent, if they’re able and have interest.
Address Your Email Anxiety
On the flip side, you might not be sending enough prospecting emails — i.e., less than once a week. This often happens when teams get bogged down in approving content, or when sales reps get cold feet about clicking send.
If you’re in the same boat, don’t feel bad. Plenty of people second guess themselves about these emails because they’re worried about having their names attached to something that might have typos or result in angry responses. Here are a few suggestions on how to work around that.
First, accept that typos happen. We’re talking wrong words, funky characters, weird fonts, pieces of code, and broken links. We’re not saying you should throw caution to the wind completely, as consistent typos can give off a negative impression of your brand. What we are saying is that even the best laid plans have the occasional mistake or two that you’ll notice after the fact, but which your leads probably won’t notice. Remember, there will always be another email.
Second, an occasional angry response is normal. Some people simply get offended by email, just as others get offended by unsolicited phone calls. Be polite, apologize as needed, and move on to the next lead. If you see a lot of angry responses, you may need to pull back on your email frequency or reassess the content of your messages based on what those leads tell you.
Third, if your name is attached to the prospecting emails your company is sending, make sure that you either have an active role in developing that content, or you’re allowed to approve it before it goes out. That can give you confidence in the language that’s used, the focus of those emails, and how to address any potential negative feedback you may receive.
Don’t Send More Than You Can Manage
Prospecting emails can be time-consuming to develop and approve. So is managing all of the automatic or direct responses they can elicit. If you’re in charge of both, it’s vital that you budget your time wisely and only send out as much as you can handle coming back in. In other words, avoid too much busy work that could keep you from closing your best new leads.
Outsource Your Prospecting
Still have concerns about how your prospecting emails are performing? Don’t have the time to weed through all of those responses? Still feeling anxious about upsetting a lead?
Outsource your prospecting and we’ll manage each of these areas on your behalf.
Click the link below to request a free consultation.
