Introduction
Email is a great way to connect and build relationships with potential customers, but it can be difficult to strike up a conversation and build trust. Here’s how I’ve found success in cold emailing:
Introduce yourself.
When you’re reaching out to a new contact, it’s important to introduce yourself and your company. You should use a personal email address (don’t use the generic info@domain.com), as this will help your recipient feel more comfortable responding. Include both your name and title in the greeting line, along with an explanation of why you are reaching out:
Hi [First Name],
I’m a customer service representative at [Company]. We recently noticed that some customers have experienced issues with our product/service, so we wanted to get in touch with anyone who has had trouble so we can help solve those problems for them!
Explain why you are reaching out.
Explaining why you are reaching out is important. Your reader should know that you have a genuine interest in them and their business, beyond just wanting to sell them something.
- Be clear about what you are asking for. If you want a meeting, make sure it’s clear when and where it will take place. If there’s no need for an immediate response, let the recipient know when they can expect to hear back from you (and if possible provide an estimate).
- Be clear about what you’re offering in exchange for this meeting or other action on their part (for example: “I’d like 20 minutes of your time…”). If there is no tangible benefit for your reader such as knowledge or insight into their industry or market segmentation data that might be useful to them–then don’t ask anything!
Offer value first, ask for something second.
As you build your relationship with the person you’re emailing, there are some things to keep in mind.
- Don’t ask for something until you have given value. This can be as simple as sharing an article that they might find interesting or helpful, or even just asking questions (which we will cover later). People are more likely to say yes if they feel like they’ll get something out of it themselves.
- Give away enough information so that they feel comfortable responding back, but not too much that it makes them uncomfortable sharing personal details about themselves or their business/company/organization etcetera.. People are naturally wary when asked for information over email by strangers; therefore it is important not only what we write but how we WRITE!
Use a personalized subject line and greeting.
Personalizing your greeting is an easy way to build trust. It’s also a great way to make sure your email doesn’t get lost in the shuffle, as it shows that you took the time to read their profile and understand their business goals.
Here are some examples of how to use personalization in cold emails:
- Use their name in both the greeting and subject line (e.g., “Hi Jane!” or “Hello John”).
- Use first names only if they have made themselves available for such personalization (e.g., “Dear Mr./Ms./Dr.”).
Craft an easy-to-read email body with bullet points and links to examples of past work or articles that relate to your industry.
- Use bullet points.
Bullet points are an easy way to make your email body more digestible and readable. You can also use them to separate sections, so that the reader knows where one idea ends and another begins. This helps them keep track of what’s important in your message and what isn’t, which is especially helpful if there’s a lot of information for them to process at once (like when you send an email with several links).
- Include links to examples of past work or articles that relate to your industry.
This shows that you are credible, especially since these links will take them directly back into their inboxes where they can easily find further information on the subject matter from other sources as well!
Send an answer to every request for more information from potential customers or partners, even if it’s just a single paragraph stating that you’ll get back to them soon with more information.
It’s important to be responsive when you’re dealing with cold email. People will remember you for it, and it can help build trust in your relationship. If someone reaches out to you asking for more information about your product or service, don’t make them wait for a response–even if it’s just one paragraph stating that you’ll get back to them soon with more information.
It may sound like common sense, but many companies ignore this basic rule of business etiquette and leave potential customers hanging on the line while they take their time getting back to them with an answer (or not). Don’t do this! Make sure that every request gets an immediate response from someone who works at your company; even if all they send is a quick note saying “I’ll get back with an answer shortly.”
Building trust can be difficult for cold emails, but these tips can help!
Building trust can be difficult for cold emails, but these tips can help!
- It takes time to build trust. You won’t be able to build a strong relationship with a new contact in one email or even two emails. Trust is built over time by consistently demonstrating that you’re someone who can be trusted and will do what they say they’ll do–and then following through on those promises. If you follow through on promises quickly and reliably (even if it’s just saying “yes” when someone asks), it shows that your word is good, which builds their trust in you even more!
- Building trust may take multiple interactions before the other party feels comfortable enough with your company/brand/service etc., so don’t give up after only one attempt at building rapport or establishing common ground with them; keep reaching out until they feel comfortable enough with your business model/approach/etc., which could mean several tries over several weeks (or months) until success!
Conclusion
Building trust in cold email relationships can be difficult, but it’s not impossible. You just need to be willing to put in the time and effort required for building that rapport with potential customers or partners. In this article we’ve covered some of the most important things to keep in mind when crafting your messages–including personalizing them as much as possible, keeping them short and simple while still providing value first, etcetera–but there are many more tips out there too! Just remember: if you keep these principles at heart when writing an email that feels “cold” initially (like being too formal), then make sure they’re addressed before sending out; otherwise they’ll ruin any chance at building trust with whoever reads them later on down the road.”