Articol de Robert Blaga, Brainiup
N.B. Rules for emails in the context of the Sales Hackathon described in full here, with relevant data taken from Backlinko and their study. Of course, the rules are relevant for any sales process.
Subject lines
A. What data suggests: Subject lines between 36-50 characters get the best response rate.
Rules for the Hackathon: Write a more explicit subject line, with 36-50 characters:
Example: “We have a business simulation that’s perfect for Ascendis” or: “Is Ascendis a good fit for our business simulation?“
B. What data suggests: Personalized subject lines boosts the response rate by 30.5%
Rules for the Hackathon: Each subject line MUST contain a reference that is familiar to the reader (like the company name, an event, a picture that he posed etc)
Ex: “Question about Ascendis’s business simulation” The more specific the better.
Follow-up emails
C. What data suggests: A single additional follow-up message can lead to 65.8% more replies.
Rules for the Hackathon: We will follow-up after 3 days any email that was opened, but not answered.
We will follow-up after one week any presentation that was opened, but not answered. We will follow-up after 3 days any email that was not opened.
D. What data suggest: Two follow-up messages works best
Rules for the Hackathon: We will follow-up after 10 days of the original follow-up, if we don’t get a reply.
E. What data suggest: Each new follow-up up email needs to bring more info / context / resources, not just a “kind reminder”
Rules for the Hackathon: The first follow-up (for people who read or not read the first email, also for people who have read the presentation but did not reply) will send the Before Mars report.
The second follow-up for people who din’t write back at all – we send the the presentation anyway.
Contact person
F. What data suggests: Reaching out to multiple contacts of the same organization (up to 5) can boost response rate by 93%
Rules for the Hackathon: We try to send to at least 3 and at most 5 people the emails.
Email body
G. What data suggests: Personalized messages receive 32.7% more replies.
Rules for the Hackathon: Each email body must be fully personalized. You can write about something you saw on their website or social media.
Social media
H. What data suggests: Mails with personal social media links (Linkedin, Instagram & Twitter) get 9.8% more replies.
Rules for the Hackathon: It’s clear, each of us will have the social media links in their signatures.
Follow-up + Multiple contacts
I. What data suggests: Sending a sequence of 3 emails to several different people in the organization boost a 160% higher response rate.
Rules for the Hackathon: Clear: we follow-up to everybody.