9 Rules for Emailing Leads (and Getting Them to Book!)

Tips for emailing leads and getting them to book.

There are few things more discouraging than responding to an inquiry and never hearing back.

Whether you’re finding that this where you lose a bunch of leads in the booking process or if you’re just looking to up your email game, this post is for you.

We’re covering 9 tips for encouraging leads to take action. Because that’s what a compelling brand does—it gets people to take action.

1. Use a BUSINESS email: Name[AT]YourBusinessName[dot]com

A business email does not end in @gmail.com, @outlook.com or @yahoo.com.

If you’re a legitimate business, your email should end in @YourBusinessName.com. This is usually easy and inexpensive to set-up.

We use Google’s G-Suite for Business. This allows us to use the Google platform for email and gives us access to Google’s other tools like docs, sheets, calendar, etc. It’s only $5/user per month, and is worth it for its reliability and familiarity. We highly recommend the GSuite.

Email can also (usually) be set-up through your host, and most of the time it won’t cost you anything beyond what you’re already paying for hosting.

2. Upload a profession profile picture and create an auto signature.

If you don’t upload a profile picture, then your email address is going to have that shadowy placeholder box associated with it.

People are more likely to trust you if they can see your face. It takes two seconds to add—so why not?

It’s also worth creating a signature that’s automatically appended at the end of each email. This way you can link to your website and social media handles. I know I often click the links in these when I get an email from someone I don’t know.

Neither uploading a profile pic or creating a signature are big task, but they can go a long way in building trust with your lead.

3. Use autoresponders wisely… and don’t come off as “too busy.”

Autoresponders can be helpful for letting people know their message was received or connecting people with information quickly. And, of course, letting people know you’re on vacation or a temporary leave of absence.

It’s also a great way to get your latest and greatest work in front of leads while they wait for a response from you. You can use it as an opportunity to point people to a social media account or a recent blog post.

Provided you’re intentional about it, it’s a great way to build trust before they ever receive a response from you.

But an autoresponder can also be super annoying, too. There’s nothing worse than receiving a super long autoresponder with a ton of links to different information and a note about how busy you are.

We get it, you’re a busy person. I despise autoresponders, but I admit that’s mostly personal preference.

4. Only email when you want to get emails.

Try and reply to inquiries as quickly as possible. But remember, only send emails when you want to receive emails.

Sending emails at 9:30 on a Tuesday night communicates that you’re available at 9:30 on a Tuesday night. Sending and responding to emails promptly during business hours communicates that you’re available during business hours.

A similar rule is true about how quickly you generally respond to emails. If you consistently answer emails within an hour of receiving them, that’s the response time people will expect. So the next time you respond to an email 24-48 hours later—which is still reasonable—that person will feel like it took forever to get a response.

It’s all about setting expectations. See #9.

5. Set deadlines and create sense of urgency.

Try to set deadlines when possible or at least create a sense of urgency. People need deadlines to get things done.

If someone wants to work with you, send a contract and say it’s due within 7 days. That way it actually gets returned in a timely manner.

If you don’t have a contract set-up already, you need to get one sorted. A contract not only clarifies everything for your client and keeps you on the same page but it keeps your business protected so you aren’t up at night! We recommend looking into a contract from The Contract Shop that you can set-up and send off in 15 minutes. Click here to take a look at their Independent Contractor Template.

And when you send along prices or information regarding your services, make sure people know how long those prices are good for. Reward people if they act in a timely manner.

Don’t go overboard with it. There’s a difference between encouraging action and pressuring people.

6. Ask a question at the end of every email.

Asking a question gives people a reason to respond. Just sending over information—not so much.

You’ll absolutely want to provide them with information, but try following that up with a question, too. It will increase the likelihood someone answers your email.

We send a list of qualifying questions to inquiries to know whether they’re serious about our service. However, it could be as simple as asking if they have time to jump on a phone call, video call, or meet for a cup of coffee.

<<Related Post: How to Solve a Booking Problem>>

7. Follow-up. At least twice.

Anyone who is familiar with our blog knows that I’m a big believer in following up with leads.

Not only does following up increase the likelihood that someone books (no one wants to leave money on the table, right?), but it also provides valuable insight into your market.

Instead of sitting around wondering why people are not responding or booking, why not just ask?

I think you’ll be surprised by the number of people that respond. And when they do, make sure you record their response!

8. Focus on the next step you want people to take (include a strong call-to-action).

You don’t have to do it all in one email. Just focus on the next step that you want someone to take.

This might be to review your collections and then schedule a consult. Or maybe it’s to review and sign a contract.

Whatever it is, make sure that you have a super clear, easy-to-understand, and visible call-to-action.

It’s easier to highlight the call-to-action when the email is concise. If the email is super long and poorly formatted, it’s less likely someone sees the action you’d like her to take.

If you have lots of information to share, consider creating a well-designed PDF of that information and including it in an attachment. This makes the email easier to read and understand. And it also makes the information you want to share easier to consume.

9. Educate and set expectations.

This tip could be a summary of the above rules, but it’s worth mentioning outright: Every time you communicate with someone you are setting expectations and educating clients.

If you don’t want to receive text messages or Facebook messages, ask people to email you. If you don’t want people to expect emails over the weekend, don’t send or respond to emails over the weekend.

Look at every email as an opportunity to educate clients. Before sending an email, ask yourself what you’re communicating to your clients “between the lines.”

People appreciate clarity. There have been times in our businesses that we thought establishing certain boundaries might scare off a lead (such as telling a client we wouldn’t make an exception in our contract). But it turns out that more often than not, those people appreciate us being up front about stuff, and they ended up booking.