How to Write a Killer Email Sequence That Converts – In Just 7 Minutes with Shawn Finder

MP3: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Email

• Discover how to convert your email list to loyal and engaged customers by constructing a killer email sequence
• Learn how to make an email sequence that would bring in sales and customers to your business
• Find out the do’s and don’ts of proper emailing in order to attract more customers into your business

Resources/Links:

• Check out Shawn’s Website: https://autoklose.com/

Summary

Are you sure you’re writing the right email for your customers? Are they really reading your emails or are they just stuck in their spam folders not wanting to be opened?

Shawn Finder, at the age of 24, entered the entrepreneurial world after competing as one of Canada’s top-ranked tennis players. He founded ExchangeLeads in 2013 which helps B2B companies build quality lists for outreaching new prospects. This was followed by his new venture Autoklose in 2017 that combines both sales engagement and list building all-in-one platform.

In this episode, Shawn shares his insights on how to make sure your email is getting the attention it needs by making sure it is concise, precise, and with a little bit of spice! He also shares how to construct the right email in order to avoid your customer’s spam folder (where your email will never be seen by your customer).

Check out these episode highlights:

• 01:43 – Shawn’s ideal client: “So our ideal client would be small business owners or sales management who have a sales team. So, they would be our ideal clients, and obviously, sometimes we have national sales managers who would also sign up for the platform.”
• 02:00 – Problem Shawn helps solve: “Well, I mean, I would say we save salespeople hours a week in prospecting, by automating a lot of the tedious tasks they do on a daily basis. And we all know that one thing that people in salespeople hate doing is follow up so we automate that process for them.”
• 02:42 – Typical symptoms that clients do before reaching out to Shawn: “Yeah, so I would say when a sales manager looks at their sales team and realizes there’s a lack of follow up, so they’re not following up their leads, they’re sending one email, and they’re thinking, “Okay, that person’s not a concern.” instead of sending 4,5,6 emails.”
• 04:00 – Common mistakes that people make before they find Shawn’s solution: “I mean, I think when some of the common mistakes I think is, you know, the emails people write are way too ‘salesy’. You got to really focus on trying to drive that pain point or that challenge of that prospect in that email. And one of the biggest common mistakes is, is it doing- being way too ‘salesy’?”
• 04:57 – Shawn’s Valuable Free Action (VFA): “So the one thing I would say is in your email, your subject line, try and keep it to two to three words. And the reason why you want to do that is most people are reading up subject line on their mobile device, and they’re only seeing three words. So, if you’re writing eight words subject lines, they’re not going to be able to see it.”
• 06:13 – Shawn’s Valuable Free Resource (VFR): Check out Shawn’s Website: https://autoklose.com/
• 07:24 – Q: You have a sales engagement tool but what happens if people don’t have data to put into the tool? How would that work? A: So, we actually allow you to upload your own data from what you have, and if you don’t have your own data, but you still love the software, and you want to automate your outreach, we can actually provide you data all over the world.

Tweetable Takeaways from this Episode:

Transcript
(Note, this was transcribed using a transcription software and may not reflect the exact words used in the podcast)

Tom Poland 00:10
Hello, everyone, and a very warm welcome to another edition of Marketing The Invisible. It’s my pleasure to be joining us today with Shawn Finder. Shawn, good day! So where are you hanging out?

Shawn Finder 00:19
I’m actually in Toronto, Canada right now as we speak, and the weather is definitely getting cold.

Tom Poland 00:23
Yeah, it’s warming up down under here in Australia. Folks, it’s a pleasure to be with you but it’s also a real privilege to have Shawn on this interview because he is frickin’ awesome at what he does! And this, you know, I don’t get affiliate commissions for anything like this, I’m just saying he’s awesome because what he’s developed is just amazing, and you’re going to find out all about it but enough already! The bio, Shawn at age 24, which was like three years ago, Shawn, entered the entrepreneurial world after competing as one of Canada’s top-ranked tennis players. Wow! I’m a big tennis tragic so that’s why I’m going “Wow!” He founded ExchangeLeads in 2013, which helps business to business companies build quality lists, the most valuable asset in any business, quality lists for outreaching new prospects. This was followed by his new venture, Autoklose with a K, Autoklose, very clever, in 2017, combines both the sales engagement and list building all in one frickin’ awesome platform! I can’t wait to see it. The title is “How to Write a Killer Email Sequence That Converts from a Suspect to a Client” and Shawn’s going to show us how to do that in seven exciting minutes. Shawn, our time starts now. Question number one is who is your ideal client?

Shawn Finder 01:43
So, our ideal client would be small business owners or sales management who have a sales team. So, they would be our ideal clients, and obviously, sometimes we have national sales managers who would also sign up for the platform.

Tom Poland 01:54
Cool. Thank you. Question two, six and a half minutes left, what’s the problem you solve?

Shawn Finder 02:00
Well, I mean, I would say we save salespeople hours a week in prospecting, by automating a lot of the tedious tasks they do on a daily basis. And we all know that one thing that people in salespeople hate doing is follow up so we automate that process for them.

Tom Poland 02:14
This is like the holy grail of prospecting and selling. This is like, you know, automating closing clients, tingling with excitement! Question number three, and because six minutes left, so you’re doing well, what are the typical symptoms that someone who needs auto close would be experiencing? Kind of like that looking at the business going, “My god. I need something like auto close.” What’s going on in the business that makes them- gives them the heads up to this is what they need?

Shawn Finder 02:42
Yeah, so I would say when a sales manager looks at their sales team and realizes there’s a lack of follow up, so they’re not following up their leads, they’re sending one email, and they’re thinking, “Okay, that person’s not a concern.” instead of sending 4,5,6 emails. I would say, you know, a company that doesn’t have enough leads at the top of the funnel, we’re not going to make the sale for you but we’re going to get those leads up there to get you those booked meetings to discuss your product or service. And I would say the last thing is not enough time in your week to prospect so in your current role, you don’t have the time to prospect because you’re too worried about your current clients that you don’t have enough time in the week and we automate that task for you.

Tom Poland 03:21
I mean, I know from our own emailing, that well if we send a three-email sequence out, we get the biggest response on- as big on the third one as the first one. And the comment that comes back as often, “I’m so sorry, I didn’t get back to you earlier.” I got very- so that lack of follow up is costing people a lot of money. So, question number four, we’ve got five minutes left, we’ve got this sales team leader or this business owner, and they know that there are cracks. They know they’re leaving money on the table and not squeezing the juice out of the lemon completely. They’re going to try stuff because they’re smart. So, question four is what are some of the common mistakes that people tell you they’ve made before they find your solution?

Shawn Finder 04:00
I mean, I think when some of the common mistakes I think is, you know, the emails people write are way too “salesy”. You got to really focus on trying to drive that pain point or that challenge of that prospect in that email. And one of the biggest common mistakes is, is it doing- being way too “salesy”? Another thing I would say is, you know, too many calls to action. Make it easy for your prospect. So, don’t, you know, provide your phone number or your email, your LinkedIn and all that, give them one call to action so they can really focus on, is it phone or email? And then you know, I would say, you know, like, people expect an email reply after email one where, you know, it takes four to five emails really to start driving people through the funnel.

Tom Poland 04:41
Right. Wow. But non “salesy”. Okay, thank you. Just under four minutes left, let’s go to question number five, which is, let’s give folks one valuable free action they could take that it’s certainly not going to solve the whole problem, but it might take them a step in the right direction.

Shawn Finder 04:57
Perfect. So, the one thing I would say is in your email, your subject line, try and keep it to two to three words. And the reason why you want to do that is most people are reading up subject line on their mobile device, and they’re only seeing three words. So, if you’re writing eight words subject lines, they’re not going to be able to see it. Your first initial email, keep it between 75 to 125 words, non-salesy, but not too long. And your follow up emails should only be 50 to 75 words, meaning, if you’re writing long follow up emails, you’re going to bore your prospect. They’re not going to read it. They’re only reading that first line of your email, make it the most significant line in your prospecting.

Tom Poland 05:39
That’s absolute pure gold! You’ve articulated that so well. These are ideas that a lot of us have, but we haven’t defined the solution as well as you just did. So, folks, rewind that, get your pen and pull the car over, whatever you’re doing, stop jogging, and make a note of it because that’s frickin gold! If you’re wondering why your emails aren’t getting opened, and then you’ve just got some heads up as to why that might be the case. Two and a half minutes left. Question number six, what is one valuable free resource we could direct people to that’s going to help them even more?

Shawn Finder 06:13
Well, I would say, so on our website at the bottom, we have tons of resources, but one that really helps is we recently created a free template analyser. So, what that’s going to do is we all know that if you have spam words in your content, you’re going to go into the promotions or marketing folders of your prospects. We provide you a free template analyser where you can write out your email, and we will highlight any words that will be triggered by spam. Meaning if you have the word “free discount offer”- exactly! Inside your template, we will highlight them so you can change it. And what that will do is will help your deliverability which will help you fill that top sales funnel with qualified prospects that are actually going to be interested in your product or service.

Tom Poland 06:55
Frickin’ awesome. So, folks go to Autoklose, auto as an automobile, but Auto K-L-O-S-E.com. Go to the bottom and have a look at the powerful email spam checker but there are so many resources there. There are blogs, there are webinars, there are books as guides, the sales tools directory, it’s a goldmine. Autoklose with a K .com. Okay, so we’ve got, let’s say, 75 seconds left. One more question. Shawn, what’s the one question I should have asked you, but didn’t?

Shawn Finder 07:24
So, I would say the one question would be, well, you have a sales engagement tool but what happens if people don’t have data to put into the tool? How would that work?

Tom Poland 07:34
Uh-huh. So how would it work, Shawn?

Shawn Finder 07:38
So that’s a great question. So, we actually allow you to upload your own data from what you have, and if you don’t have your own data, but you still love the software, and you want to automate your outreach, we can actually provide you data all over the world. So, if you’re looking for data in Australia, Toronto, Canada, the US, we have a database that’s inside the tool that you can search and filter, find who your ideal prospect, your ideal buyer persona is, search it, put them into your campaign and email them all from directly inside platform.

Tom Poland 08:09
Where have you been all my life? Marry me, please! Shawn Finder, thank you so much for your time. We’re closing out with 10 seconds to spare. You absolutely rock! Thanks so much for your time.

Shawn Finder 08:19
Thank you, Tom.

Tom Poland 08:20
Thanks for checking out our Marketing The Invisible podcast. If you like what we’re doing here please head over to iTunes to subscribe, rate us, and leave us a review. It’s very much appreciated. And if you want to generate five fresh leads in just five hours then check out www.fivehourchallenge.com.