So, your lead has declined to take your call. Again. Let’s face it, you’re not getting past the gatekeeper. It’s time to go to plan B. Email. But how are you going to grab their attention when they’ve got twenty other sales reps – just like you – who are emailing them too? You’re going to master the perfect cold call email opening line, that’s what.

Make it personal

Too many times we see salespeople copy and paste some generic email that marketing created in the hopes that it will get through to their prospect. But you, as the salesperson, have more knowledge on your prospect. Tailor your email template to focus on the things you know your lead is interested in. From what they’ve looked at on your website to the content they’ve downloaded. Find the topic they are interested in and write them an email around that topic. THAT’S more likely to get their attention than a generic, “Hi, I’m so and so from some company you don’t want to talk to.”

Examples include:

  • “You and I both have an invested interest in [TOPIC].”
  • “I’d like to work with you on [TOPIC].”
  • “Could I spare some of your time to talk about your [TOPIC]?”

Keep your cold call email short and sweet

Since when has an opening sentence that has gone on for three lines and talked all about you and your company kept anyone awake? Never. If you want to entice your prospect with your email, you need to keep it short and sweet. The higher-up they are in the company, the less time they will spend on your email. As a general rule: Directors respond best to one-line conversation starters.

Examples:

  • “Lee, we need to talk about your [TOPIC] strategy.”
  • “Kev, I’d like to book a meeting with you about [TOPIC]. When would suit you?”
  • “Aaron, there’s more software around [TOPIC] I’d like to share with you. Are you interested?”

Intrigue them to get back in touch with you

Don’t explain everything in your email introduction. You want a reason for them to get back in touch with you, after all. Obviously, outline the basic reasons you would like to speak to them. You don’t want to be too vague and annoy them by making them try and interpret your email. But once you’ve got to the point, don’t continue rambling on in your email just to fill white space. Filling white space = making white noise.

As long as you keep your opening email line as brief and as personal as possible, you’ll grab their attention. If they then decide that you are worth their attention, they’ll consider the rest of your email or get back in contact with you.

Now while we’ve given you these tips, phone calls do convert more leads than emails, so you still need to work on getting past the gatekeeper. Or you can work on perfecting your perfect cold call voicemail. Whichever way you do it, you need to get past the first hurdle in the pipeline if you want to become a successful sales team.

Looking for other ways to get in contact with your prospects, why not send them an email? Make sure to avoid spam filters though!