There’s been a big push in the last few years for a more personalized approach in marketing and sales outreach. Spend a lot of money on databases to find highly detailed information about a prospect  (like who their college mascot was) to make a connection and get an in.

What many companies are realizing is that all the extra money, tech, and effort that goes into finding out this data isn’t making a difference on their campaigns.

Prospects don’t care that you threw in a “Go Bears!” into the ending of your email, they care about how your product or solution can help make their lives easier.

While you may think bringing up golfing in email prospecting will spark a connection, your prospect will be wondering how the hell you knew they like golfing on Sundays unless you checked their Facebook page. Not only can it come off as creepy and off-putting to make your prospect wonder exactly what data on them is out there and public, but it overshadows the purpose of your email prospecting in the first place: to offer your product as a solution to their need.

Not all personalization is bad. Relevant information to their job, their company, or their industry can make you stand out for being a more informed vendor. This information is often readily available by news their company releases themselves or by industry blogs so it wouldn’t be surprising (or weird) for you to bring it up. It is often more relevant to their pain point and your product which will give them even more reason to talk to you.

Relevancy is the key

So if it’s not personalization, then what is the best approach for sales emails? Relevancy and relatability.

At the end of the day, doing business together is a relationship and your potential buyer wants to feel like you really care and understand them and their job and have a genuine desire to help their day-to-day.

So how can this be done?

Actually care

The most successful copywriters are those that put themselves in their prospects shoes. They understand how busy they may be, how many email solicitations they may receive on a daily basis, and what would catch their interest. Changing your messaging to be empathetic to the prospect and their schedule can make them more receptive to what you have to say.

At SalesHive, we like to use an intro line  “I know you’ve got a lot on your plate, but hear me out”. We’ve received positive feedback and people acknowledging they are busy and appreciate us understanding. We then get a referral to the correct person or to someone who would be involved in the decision making process who may have more bandwidth to speak to us.

Help them - make them feel

Unless your prospect is the CEO of the company, “increasing revenue “sounds great in an email and is something every company would want, but it’s not a pain point. And, if your prospect is a Director or VP, it may not be the most important thing to them that would convince them to take a call with you. What they care about (and we all care about, it’s why you’re reading this blog) is how to be less stressed at work, how to have more time in your work day, and how to be seen as a leader in your department.

These are the things prospects connect with the most, not ROI stats and percentages. (Don’t get me wrong, these can be impressive, but they won’t get you an emotional reaction.) Position your messaging to highlight how your product or solution can help them in their day-to-day tasks and set them up to succeed in their role. After implementing this approach in my own copywriting, I’ve seen an increase in positive responses and prospects more willing to answer questions and talk.

Make them think about you after they’ve left the office

Your emails should have enough relevant and relatable information that it causes your prospect to think about it after they’ve gone home. Email prospecting like this typically contains industry information relevant to their company and position, a link to an article you found that you thought might help them, an invitation to share ideas vs. a product demo.

These are the kinds of approaches that make you stand out from every other sales and marketing message and get your prospect to want to talk to you. It also sets yourself up as someone they would want to do business with because you bring something to the table beyond a product or service.

The takeaway

Instead of wasting time, money, and resources on finding out what kind of car your prospect had in high school, focus instead on improving their everyday life at work by using your product and see what difference it makes.