How to Structure a Sales Email to Increase Your Response Rate

After spending thirty minutes writing a detailed prospecting email to one of your biggest prospects, you hit send… only to be left with the sound of crickets. What happened?  

It’s time to take a look at your sales email structure. In 2021, 319.6 Billion emails were sent and received. Since only 23.9% of sales emails are opened, your email has to break through the clutter. 

To increase your open rate, structure your sales email to be direct, personalized, and focused on your lead’s challenges or goals.   

The 4 components of an effective sales email structure 

Successful sales email templates are personalized for each prospect. Batched mass emails are easy to spot and can hurt your chances of engaging with your lead. Instead, create your sales emails with a focus on these four components: 

• Subject line
• Hook/opening sentence
• Value proposition
• Call-to-action (CTA)

Subject line 

Buyers can tell that when sales reps send a generic email. It communicates that you don’t know much about their business and their needs. Since the subject line is the very first thing your reader will see, it serves as your first impression. 

Start by personalizing the subject line. It can be as simple as including the name of your prospect like “Peter + 2022 outbound strategy.” 

Here are a few other options for a personalized subject line: 

• Bring  up a mutual connection: “Lead strategy with Ann at X company”
• Tie your email back to the prospect’s industry: “Outbound sales for healthcare”
• Show you did your research by referencing a news story: “Congrats on your recent funding!” 

Hook

Prospects will see the start of your opening line, or hook, as a preview in their email inbox. Just like the subject line, your hook needs to be attention grabbing. Make sure the hook is about them – they don’t care about your years of sales experience, or that your company won an industry award for the third year in a row. 

Your hook should elaborate on what you said in your subject line and show social proof or statistics that highlight your relevant expertise. 

Using the examples from above: 

• “I just launched Ann’s lead strategy at X company last quarter and we’re already seeing an improvement in their email open rates.” 
• “Our healthcare customers are getting ahead of their competitors by using LinkedIn scraping to fuel their outbound sales efforts.”
• “Your press release about your latest round of funding highlights outbound sales as one of your main priorities for this coming year.”

Value Proposition

Connect what you’ve said so far to your value proposition. Show that you understand your prospect’s challenges. It helps to use real or generalized results from existing customers when possible. 

• “I’ve attached a case study that explains how we worked with Ann and X company to improve their outbound email open rates. Their sales team saw a 40% increase in the number of new opportunities in their first quarter.” 
• “I work primarily with healthcare sales teams and they typically experience X business challenge, which gets in the way of reaching their fiscal year revenue goals.” 
• “I’ve found that poor lead quality is a big impediment. Without real-time accurate data, sales reps are working hard but not seeing results.”

Call to Action (CTA)

Let the prospect know what you want them to do next with a call to action. Make it easy for them to understand the next step in your sales process, whether that’s a phone call, a demo, or a direct response to the email. Don’t expect your prospects to figure it out on their own. 

• “Do you have similar outbound sales goals at your company?”
• “Are you available for a 20 minute call to learn more?”
• “Interested in learning more?”

Best Practices for Structuring a Sales Email 

A well structured sales email is key to increasing your outbound sales response rates. Still, here are some best practices for your outbound strategy that will help your emails reach the right people with the right messaging.   

• Start with quality leads: 

If you are emailing outdated or inaccurate leads, even a perfect email won’t be effective. One of the best ways to generate new leads is to start with LinkedIn. Up-to-date data increases the likelihood that you’ll reach your ideal prospect at the right time. 

• Follow up is key: 

Your prospect might not respon in d to your first email. Or your second, or even your third. On average, sales reps who make at least twelve attempts perform 20% better than sales reps who make eight attempts. Reply to your original email with your follow up emails to connect all the content you’re sharing. (Make sure to pick up the phone, too.)

• Don’t write a novel: 

The final stages of the sales funnel is where you provide detailed information about your product, value propositions, and more. When you’re outbound emailing to a new prospect, you’re still in the first stage of the funnel so keep your content short and direct. Otherwise your message will be lost in a wall of text.

• Continue to personalize your follow up emails: 

Your follow up emails should include relevant information that supports your initial messaging. If you started the conversation with a reference to case studies, talk about how your features directly supported that company’s success. When a prospect’s company is in the news, read the articles and share your thoughts with the prospect.       

Power your outbound sales with high quality leads

Outbound sales emails are your first impression with a prospect—so focus on their long term sales success and how your product can make that happen. Keep your emails easy to read, direct, and actionable. 
But sales email structure isn’t the only thing to consider. If you don’t have an up to date list of leads, your email strategy won’t be effective. Your reps will reach the wrong person or their emails will bounce entirely. LinkedIn scraping is the fastest way to consolidate thousands of leads – and can be done through an easy to install chrome extension.