By Elizabeth Hilla
Using Email As An Effective Prospecting Tool
Elizabeth Hilla
Traditionally, prospecting has meant cold calling – knocking on doors of practices or facilities with which you don’t currently work, looking for the rare friendly face who might be interested in a new supplier. Cold calling still has its place, but I find email prospecting often provides a greater payoff for the time invested. Here’s an easy three-step process for effective email prospecting:
No.1: Create your list
You don’t always have to start from scratch! You may already have company prospect lists with potential email addresses. For example:
- A company record of customers who have bought from you at some point in the past
- A marketing list of practice managers who participated in a recent webinar or visited your trade show booth
- A personal list of practices or facilities you’ve visited but never managed to make a sale
Sort the names on your list into similar categories. This allows you to personalize your messages. Place physicians into a separate message category than practice managers, for example, for better customization.
Always delete bad emails from your list. Some emails can “bounce back” if an address is no longer valid. Repeatedly sending emails to these addresses can increase your chances of future emails to that company getting identified as spam. Make it your job to root out these invalid addresses and update your respective company lists accordingly.
No. 2: Craft your message
Your message should convey that you’re taking the time to reach out to your prospect personally, not with a generic sales pitch. Plain text often can be more helpful than flashy marketing graphics. Also, choose your subject line carefully. For example, a conversational question like, “Are you interested in discussing a new infection prevention approach?” works a lot better than, “Introducing our latest and greatest product.”
Keep your message brief. The shorter the message, the more likely it gets read.
Aim for a response, not a sale. Sales pitch emails are much more likely to get deleted or filed away and forgotten. By stating, “I wanted to see if you were experiencing problems with your diagnostic equipment,” for example, you at least have a better likelihood of getting a reply from a potential new customer. At that point, you can truly begin to sell.
No. 3: Send it out
For effective email prospecting, you want to minimize your time spent physically sending messages while maximizing your email’s impact. If you have a small list of recipients, go ahead and send each email separately and truly customize your message. For larger lists, try the “Mail Merge” email feature. This allows you to link your email system with a pre-populated Excel list, automatically customizing dozens or even hundreds of emails to each recipient identified.
Find a web tutorial. “Mail Merge” is incredibly efficient, but it takes a few minutes to learn the first time. Try practicing on a group of co-workers or friends before sending your prospective customers email.
Use big guns for big lists. If you have several hundred or thousands of prospects, you’ll need an email marketing software program like Constant Contact or MailChimp. These useful tools allow recipients to opt out or unsubscribe from future messages, without you having to manage that process.
Whether cold calling or emailing, your goal is to fill your sales funnel. Work through your haystack of possibilities and find those prospective needles that may be interested in your services or products. Make sure you have a process in place to capture the warm leads – ideally those who respond to your email. Follow up promptly, and start turning those prospects into customers.
This content was adapted from HIDA’s AMS Sales Training Program, an online library of more than 60 courses designed exclusively for healthcare salespeople. For more information, contact Elizabeth Hilla, 703-838-6130, hilla@hida.org.