Fixing Template Emails to Get Results

I remember as a child my mother sitting us kids down after a holiday or birthday to write handwritten thank you notes for any gifts we had been given. It was a chore that as a child I found little value and a whole lot of grief in participating. As an adult, I have learned that it is the little things in life that make an experience memorable.

We all have mailboxes full of canned template mass emails sent to us as an attempt to endear and reach out from some place in the great abyss of corporate enterprise. You may even have a CRM full of template emails you can select to send to your prospective and existing clients as a form of communication. Each one of these emails is intended to motivate the recipient into action, but misses the mark because they are impersonal. Time management and corporate policies may mandate that you utilize template emails, but you can create a memorable experience out of a library of mass emails with a few little tweaks.

A little editing of these templates can make a dramatic difference. Spear head the project for your organization to "fix" the email templates for your team to use. Visit How to Write an Effective Sales Letter for tips on getting started with editing your Sales Letter. The same instruction for Sales Letters can apply to your other template emails. The key is to bring a personalize voice to an email that is meant for the masses. Your organization and team mates will thank you as their response rates could double.

Now that you have a library of edited “personalize” mass emails, you can make the experience even more memorable. When choosing a template email, before you hit send, take the time to do a little more "fixing". Looking for additional ways you can personalize this email for just this one instance. For example, if you recently ran into this client at the grocery store, include a PS about the buy one get one free chicken you picked up and what a great deal it was. Provide motivation quotes if they have shared a struggle with you. Wish them happy birthday or anniversary. It only takes a few minutes of your time to provide that little extra touch before you hit send that makes your emails memorable.

There is no write it, click it and forget it when it comes to email templates. At least annually review all of your email templates. Analyze statistics to see which emails are making an impact and which emails need a tweak. Email templates are dynamic and never should be seen as static. Otherwise, static is all your audience will "hear" from your emails.

5 members like this

Comment

You need to be a member of DealerELITE.net to add comments!

Join DealerELITE.net

Comment by Stephanie Young on July 18, 2011 at 2:19pm: Stan, you got the bug!!! That is exactly the way email templates should be handled. There is no write it, click it and forget it when it comes to email templates. Annually, I review all of our email templates. In the interim, I spot check our email templates weekly. I watch stats and see which ones are working and which ones need a tweak. Like you Stan, I catch the creative bug and change a template because I thought of a better way to express a message. Email templates are dynamic and never should be seen as static. Otherwise, static is all your audience will "hear" from your emails.

Comment by Stan Sher on July 18, 2011 at 2:11pm: Good post...I can't tell you how many times I have fixed email templates just simply because I would come up with other creative ways to say something. Sometimes an email template seems perfect but when an idea hits, the new idea suddenly takes over what was initially typed in there.

Comment by Stephanie Young on July 12, 2011 at 11:48am: Nope....I like to authenticate too...lol. I also only write in blue ink and not black. I like people to know it is not a copy.

Comment by Marsh Buice on July 12, 2011 at 11:34am: Taste the signature!!! (Taste tha soup!) I thought I was the only one..lol

Comment by Stephanie Young on July 12, 2011 at 11:33am: Thanks, Rick. So glad that I have a forum to share some of the tricks of the trade that I have learned along the way.

Comment by Stephanie Young on July 12, 2011 at 11:32am: Marsh, it is tedious when your day is busy but you are so right.....that added touch does help to build rapport. I love having formed relationships without face value and then meet the person face to face for the first time, just to discover that the relationship is more akin to two old friends than strangers. I also find that those personal touches increase the likely hood that they will "touch" me back with a return call or email. Like you, I doubled my response rate by making my emails personalized. BTW, the idea of you licking and smudging signatures makes me smile....I do it too!!!

Comment by Marsh Buice on July 12, 2011 at 11:26am: Amen to that Stephanie! I took your advice and tweaked my emails I was sending to customers. I am like everyone else, when I get a manager thank you note in the mail, I smudge the signature to see if it is real-it means alot to me when someone took the time to hand sign something. The same is true for email. When we tweak the emails I send-and yes it is tedious- I get alot better response. People show up and meet me as if they already know me through the correspondence we have had. It makes it so much easier when they come in because I have joked with them and established rapport. Great reminder, I hope people take this blog to heart because it does work!

Comment by Rick Williams on July 12, 2011 at 11:17am: Great tips!!! This is why you are a VP of Biz Dev!!!!