{"id":2621,"date":"2018-01-11T05:00:46","date_gmt":"2018-01-11T13:00:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/salesfolk.com\/blog\/?p=2621"},"modified":"2018-02-21T07:37:45","modified_gmt":"2018-02-21T15:37:45","slug":"glassdoors-latest-emails-show-how-careless-writing-can-ruin-sales-conversations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/salesfolk.com\/blog\/glassdoors-latest-emails-show-how-careless-writing-can-ruin-sales-conversations\/","title":{"rendered":"Glassdoor\u2019s Latest Emails Show How Careless Writing Can Ruin Sales Conversations"},"content":{"rendered":"

I recently got several cold emails from the folks at Glassdoor, and the quality of those messages floored me.<\/span><\/p>\n

Here\u2019s an impressive company that urges applicants to put their best foot forward when it comes to business communications. And yet not one but <\/span>all<\/span><\/i> of the messages I received were carelessly written and completely lacking in terms of specific benefits\u2014cornerstones of a good cold email.<\/span><\/p>\n

As salespeople (or even as marketers), we\u2019re often tempted to <\/span>overgeneralize emails<\/span><\/a> in the hopes of appealing to a wider audience. And sure, laboring over every single word for every single buyer type is not a good use of time. But neither is copy\/pasting the same text into 1,000-plus emails without ever changing a letter.<\/span><\/p>\n

Glassdoor, unfortunately, doesn\u2019t seem to understand this. Let\u2019s go through one of the emails I received to find out where they missed the mark and how they could improve their next campaign.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Sales<\/p>\n

1. The copy is messy.<\/b><\/h3>\n

Remember the days when your email text might reach the recipient in multiple fonts or font sizes because mail programs were less standardized? These are not those days. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The different-sized fonts here make it clear the sender\u00a0did a copy\/paste job and didn\u2019t check for text uniformity later. That just looks weird and sloppy, and signals to the recipient that this message wasn\u2019t worth much care. It\u2019s is also written like a marketing ad (\u201cextend an exclusive opportunity\u201d) and has its fair share of grammatical errors. (Why is there a hyphen between \u201c30\u201d and \u201cdays\u201d?) <\/span><\/p>\n

Cold email is often the first impression you make with a prospect, which means meticulous proofreading is a must before you hit \u201csend.\u201d No blaming the computer, either; those days are long gone.<\/span><\/p>\n

2. There\u2019s zero personalization. <\/b><\/h3>\n

The least this email could have done was include a real first name instead of a generic \u201chey there.\u201d We have programs now that automate the first-name field.<\/span><\/p>\n

Nor does the message tell me why Glassdoor\u2019s \u201cEnhanced Profile\u201d is a good fit for my company. Maybe the sender assumed I would be into it, which makes me think they didn\u2019t consider me at all\u2014as an individual or as a buyer type. \u201cSmaller companies\u201d is the only phrase that suggests any research was done, and there are as many types of small companies out there as there are font choices in a Google doc.<\/span><\/p>\n

Bottom line: if you don\u2019t consider the person on the other end of the email when writing, they won\u2019t consider you when reading.<\/span><\/p>\n

3. The benefits aren\u2019t clear.<\/b><\/h3>\n

Again, nothing in this email tells me what Glassdoor\u2019s Enhanced Profile is how it will help my company. How will its features improve my business? (For that matter, what are its features?) Will signing up for a trial help me get ahead of competitors? I could guess at those answers, but the whole purpose of a cold email is to take the guesswork out of a product or service for the other person. <\/span><\/p>\n

A lack of benefits is the most surefire way to get a sales email ignored. If you include nothing else, make sure those\u00a0wind up in the text.<\/span><\/p>\n

4. There\u2019s no call to action.<\/b><\/h3>\n

Telling someone to click a link is not a call to action. In the case of both links in this email, the sender is basically telling me to do the work if I want a meeting instead of asking when that meeting might work with my schedule.<\/span><\/p>\n

People expect to go onto a calendar and book an appointment when it involves a teeth cleaning. In business-to-business sales, it\u2019s usually only the most direct questions that get responses. Something as simple as, <\/span>\u201cI\u2019d love to\u00a0explain more about\u00a0(solution or benefit,) Do you have time this week to connect?\u201d<\/span><\/i> can be very enticing to a busy person. It clearly states what the conversation will be about and that the recipient\u2019s calendar is the top priority here. <\/span><\/p>\n

Bottom line is, if Glassdoor wants to keep their sales efforts on par with their brand\u2019s reputation, a revamped cold email strategy is badly needed. <\/span><\/p>\n

P<\/span>lease feel free to ask questions about this email or\u00a0the post’s\u00a0advice in the comments below. <\/span>Likewise, you can always share your own nominations for the SalesFolk Hall of Shame by forwarding them to shame (at) salesfolk (dot) com. If you do, please consider nominating the email for an award and writing a sentence or two about your reaction and feelings toward that email. Since\u00a0we receive many submissions, this will increase your odds of us sharing your submission sooner. (Don\u2019t worry, we will always anonymize your information to protect your identity in our post.)<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

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