September 6, 2023 – Repertoire Magazine recently sat down with Sue Hershkowitz-Coore to discuss the importance and utility of email in today’s sales environment. As a sales trainer with more than 25 years of experience, Hershkowitz-Coore understands what it takes for sales reps to survive and thrive in today’s market.
The days of pushy sales tactics are long gone, replaced by a much more personalized and consultative sales approach. For Hershkowitz-Coore, that’s where the power of email comes in. “Email is the most effective sales tool. Now, it’s enhanced with Slack, Teams, texting, LinkedIn, and all sorts of social media. But the reality is that, without the ability to be strategic and smart with the written word, you are not going to get anywhere.”
Email is a great equalizer, ensuring that everyone is communicating through the same medium. Every company and every employee out there have an email address, even if they don’t have a LinkedIn. While it might seem like email is an outdated form of communication, Hershkowitz-Coore says that it’s here to stay.
“Nothing really happens without email. Let’s say I make a LinkedIn connection. We might start there, but we eventually get to an email because I have to send you a Zoom link. Everything happens around email and it’s not going anywhere.”
Everyone in a business environment knows how to send emails, but are the emails you send effective? Is your tone professional or casual? Are any relevant links included to provide more information? Is it informative or a waste of time? These are all the things that your sales team needs to consider while crafting their emails.
Hershkowitz-Coore said, “Companies get their campaigns correct when they are personalized, relevant, easy and authentic. The next step needs to be frictionless.” Sales reps are most effective when they are slowing down and adding value to the conversation, moving away from transactional relationships.
Any organization that is busy throwing stuff against the wall to see if it will stick will not be effective in their email communications. Transactional, inauthentic tactics just won’t cut it in this new sales environment. She said, “There are still many sales trainers out there who harken back to the day where they are trying to create urgency or trying to pretend they have a personal relationship with their customers, instead of building business relationships.”