Five Tips for Email Success

There are a few things that I have found are best practices when it comes to email and prospecting, especially for all you fellow sales warriors out there! Here are some of my favorites:

·     Ensure your email address on LinkedIn is up to date: is it truly the best way to reach you? It is always wise to have your personal email linked to the LinkedIn account for backup purposes, but if you use LinkedIn for work then you should consider listing only your work email on the profile page so that you don’t miss opportunities going to the wrong inbox.

·     Update your email signature on every device you use for email. This goes for your phone, tablet, and most importantly: make sure your replies even on your regular computer still have some form of an abbreviated signature (not just on emails you initiate yourself). Just because you’ve emailed someone your contact info before, doesn’t mean they’ve saved it or that it is available on the device they are using at that moment.

·     Add your email to the signature. If your note gets forwarded sometimes the email address gets lots in translation and only a text name shows up in the email chain, and you’ve missed a business opportunity!

·     Name your attachments. This one was a huge takeaway from several breakouts sessions at MPIWEC this year, but if you’re sending an attachment be sure it includes your company name and a description of what the file is. Consider how many other attachments are getting to someone’s inbox, and make it easily searchable by the right keywords.

·     Use filters and tags. Most email products whether software or web-based have a way to sort and filter your email. I have internal emails flagged in different colors than the emails I get from customers or from my boss to help me prioritize quickly when I have a full inbox.

What are your best tips for success?