Many sales professionals strive to keep their client pipeline full. How to get there, though, is another topic. Most companies rely on cold calling, networking and other strategies to meet more people and land more clients. While these techniques are effective, sales professionals should also consider cold emailing.

Copywriter and content marketer Carmine Mastropierro says that a well-crafted cold email can help sales professionals acquire more clients than they ever have before. In this issue of Promotional Consultant Today, we share his steps for doubling a client list using this technique.

Email the decision maker. Mastropierro advises against emailing customer support or a website's generic email address. Sales professionals need to find the exact decision maker within a business. When you're pitching promotional ideas, find the email address of the chief marketing officer, for example. Since this person leads the entire department, your email will have a much higher chance of converting. You can also check LinkedIn or another contact database to help discover who handles what areas of a company you're interested in pitching.

Personalize every email. Never use a copy and pasted email template. Mastropieero says the best thing sales professionals can do is to customize every email with a couple of minutes of work. This small effort can make or break whether a lead replies and engages with your email. You can do this by ensuring that you use the lead's first name and company in the email. You can also make a custom comment about their business, such as one of their blog posts or recent client projects.

End with a call to action. An email must lead somewhere, or it can result in a low reply rate. By making a statement or asking a specific question, it prompts leads to keep the conversation moving towards a goal. Mastropierro says sales professionals can use calls to action in cold emails to:

  • Schedule meetings or phone calls
  • Ask if they believe you would make a good fit
  • Ask if you are speaking to the right person in charge

Create a strict buyer's persona. A buyer's persona is a personification of your ideal client. It's effective to have a buyer's persona when cold emailing because you can reach out directly to the type of companies you work best with and those that most need your services, according to Mastropierro.

Email at the right hours and days. Research shows that Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday are the best days to send emails and 6 am, 10 am, 2 pm and 8 pm are the best hours. Mondays are universally poor days to send emails because prospects are just getting in the office and have a backlog of messages. The same goes for weekends as people aren't typically working.

Always follow up. Don't be discouraged if a lead opens an email but doesn't reply. Mastropierro says this is completely normal. It has been found that closing sales often takes up to five follow-ups from the first point of contact.

Want to grow your business? Consider how you can obtain new clients by taking a smarter approach to cold emailing.

Source: Carmine Mastropierro has written for Neil Patel, Marketo, GoDaddy and other publications. He helps businesses generate traffic, leads and revenue through copywriting.