Writing an introduction email to buyers

[Abed]

I am trying to approach some buyers by email and it has been quite difficult. Any suggestions of an attractive emailing method/example to try to approach these buyers will be appreciated!

 

[columbo]

One email is not going to make a fig of a difference.

Email works as a sustained campaign.

Make your information useful. Make your users want to click your emails without going "not another blood sales email"

Emails like:

"10 things you never knew about X widgets"

"The secret to..."

"The best ways to prevent..."

"What you never know about..."

"what the [recent big news story] means for the X industry..."

Be dramatic if you have to be:

"10 reasons why most [insert relevant industry topic] suck"


Keep this rule of thumb in mind - make every email interesting. Every email does not have to sell. If you send out 10 emails and 9 of them are interesting / informative / entertaining but 1 is used for selling, you're doing a good job. So just forget about selling. Make it informative / interesting or entertaining. Once potential buyers start to think "I actually like reading his emails" then you're on the right track to actually sell to them.

 

[Nochexman]

I am trying to approach some buyers by email and it has been quite difficult. Any suggestions of an attractive emailing method/example to try to approach these buyers will be appreciated!

Some questions to help you get some help:

• How well do you know the buyers?
• What are you selling?
• Why would they want to buy it?
• Where can they buy your product?
• Who are you and why should they buy from you?
• When do they need to purchase by in order to benefit from the above?

 

[Abed]

I dont know the buyers at all, they are my potential customers
Im selling upholstery fabrics for furniture manufacturers
they would buy it because i have competitive prices with high quality & i am distributed in 9 countries worldwide.

 

[patientlady]

Could you cut some samples and post in a Branded envelope. Cost maybe £1.50 for postage and envelope. Then follow up...

 

[StevePoster]

I am trying to approach some buyers by email and it has been quite difficult.

Its important that you are already established with your buyers or clients so that they are aware in your brand's latest product launch. It will take time but long duration and effective results.

 

[fisicx]

I dont know the buyers at all, they are my potential customers

In which case an email is pointless. Call them on a phone, make an appointment to go see them and take a bunch of sample to show them.

they would buy it because i have competitive prices with high quality & i am distributed in 9 countries worldwide.

No they won't. You need a lot more than an email to convince them to swap to a new any unknown supplier.

 

[webgeek]

@fisicx - exactly! Switching suppliers is a huge decision, not like switching tooth brushes, more like switching from carnivore to vegan.

They're gonna have to believe you know what you're doing and will be around to fulfil orders for the next X years to come. The number of companies that pop-up, undercut the competition, then disappear just as quickly as they appeared is astounding.

Unless you're offering them liberal payment terms, like 0% up front, 90 days after receipt to pay it, you're number one battle is overcoming their lack of trust.

 

[Vicky Limerick]

It would perhaps help to include a link to your website or display of testimonials in your emails so that they can explore your business outside of this contact.
Are you able to track engagement with your emails through a CRM at all?

 

[Steve Alphabet]

Choose 10 companies you'd really like to have as customers. Then contact them directly, with tailored emails that talk directly to them, linking to a landing page which is all about their company and how you solve their problems, engage with them on social media, even invest in a stamp and go old-skool with an actual letter. Takes more time but gets much better results than firing out one email to hundreds of people.

 

[FreebieBoy34]

Here are some of the things I can recommend (choose any of the 3):

1. Start on something that will invite interest - A great way of doing this is by stating an inspiring quote (make sure it has something to do with the topic) so that your prospects will be intrigue to know more about it by reading through the contents of the email... After stating this find a way to relate this quote to whatever your are trying to promote.

2. Share a inspiring story (also make sure it has something to do with the topic of the email) and then connect it to your business to introduce it to your buyers...

3. Be straight to the point, that is to introduce yourself, your business, and how your buyers can benefit from you. Highlight more on the benefits so they will be able to weigh their options through these factors...

These are some of the things I did when sending emails to my prospects and I had success with these methods... I hope this helps!

 

[stephen@wp]

Quick question:

Which email do you look forward to receiving most: an email from your best friend or an email from a massive corporation? And which of those two emails do you prefer to read?

Easy choice, isn’t it?

So, when you’re emailing your list, what do you do? Do you write as if you’re addressing a huge, faceless crowd of people? Do you write just like a massive corporate marketing department would?

If you want your subscribers to look forward to your emails, you should consider behaving more like a friend.

You know, like, and trust your friends … right?

Try toning down that corporate look, and create a more minimalist email design. Write in a conversational, respectful voice.

 

[marklew]

As a buyer, an email from a supplier I don't currently use/know will 99.9% be deleted without opening it.

Phone them, make contact at trade shows etc and then follow up with the email reinforcing your sales messages and the free samples etc as suggested above, start with 'as we discussed', 'additional information as requested', 'it was a pleasure to meet you at our stand/xyz event, as a follow up to our conversation please see below additional information'.

If it is a key product, the buyer will have sourcing strategies and an established list of approved suppliers. Look at the CIPS website and the sourcing cycle to see what buyers do (when done properly) when selecting suppliers. Its not usually on the back of an email or just deciding to use someone else.

There are also risk elements, where you sit on a supplier positioning/Kraljic models for example and the fact that most are very busy and don't need this distraction.

Build the network before going in with the kill, unless you have something truly unique, even then you will struggle without having some kind of relationship 1st.

 

[Ashley_Price]

they would buy it because i have competitive prices with high quality & i am distributed in 9 countries worldwide.

This is one of the biggest myths believed by many business people, that customers will buy from them because of price and quality. They don't. If they did then in the last year Pavilion would have overtaken many of my major competitors in terms of sales.

An email is not going to prove to someone that your fabrics are high quality - anyone can say that. And actually if you're prices are that competitive then just how good is the quality of the fabric? Surely if they are high quality they would have a higher price?

Would it not be better to send them samples of the fabric that they can touch, feel, examine...?

 

[Annoying Donkey]

Which email do you look forward to receiving most: an email from your best friend or an email from a massive corporation? And which of those two emails do you prefer to read?

Except a total stranger is not your best friend. Not even close...

This is something that Gurus sell as part of their get rich quick scheme. Be the prospects best friend... yeah right. In reality, it takes years to get into my circle of friends... A stranger treating me like they're my best friend shouts salesman and gets deleted...

As a buyer, an email from a supplier I don't currently use/know will 99.9% be deleted without opening it.

Maybe true of you, but not everyone. Any business that deletes an email might well be losing a customer. How do you know any given email is from a supplier?

Truth is some people will take cold calls. Some will read emails, some will read letters, some will respond to an advertisement, some might even search Google . But I bet you most business will be done between people who already know each other or have a mutual contact...

 

[Smart Business Lab]

People only buy from people that they know, like and trust.

Know
You have to get in front of them, and an email won't cut it. Although you might have the email address of the people you want to get in front of, there is no way to know that your email will a) get opened and b) get opened by that person. They may have an assistant to filter out all the 'junk' emails.

So you have to do something different. Get on the phone, visit the company with samples, sending samples out. All great ideas from other people. Think outside of the box though - send a handwritten (personal touch) letter with a costa/starbucks coffee gift card, ask for a personal meeting with you paying for the coffee. <<< Guaranteed to stand out and get you more meetings than by sending emails.

Like
If and when you do get them on the phone or in person, you have to make them like you. That's before you even think about pitching. They already know you're gonna pitch, but they want to know if they like you first. So be you, don't pitch for the sale right away and don't say anything stupid/untrue. If they think you're being genuine and straight up, you've won half that battle.

Trust
Invite them to your operation, set up a date and time for the meeting. Let them see you are the real deal. If you have testimonials, present them. Even social proof (online reviews etc) will build that trust level.

Once you have that, then you pitch. You make your offer when the client is ready to receive it.

 

[Annoying Donkey]

People only buy from people that they know, like and trust.

Another guru myth or soundbyte.

Know: I picked up one client while waiting in a post office queue. He didn't know me, but still "bought". Another I picked up on a long haul flight. He didn't know me, but still "bought".

Like: I have a couple of clients, let's just say there's mutual indifference. We do business because I have something they want and they have something I want. There's an exchange of value and business respect. We'll never be friends. And, in business, there can be disadvantages to being too friendly, like if you want to fire a client...

Trust: Trust comes in many forms. I work out of my home office, which is a spare bedroom. Showing a prospect over my operation is unlikely to impress But guess what, none of my clients care less... They want results and, by virtue of referrals, they expect to get it from me. Trust comes from the referrals and from subsequent interactions, not from some easy to rent fancy office or a smart suit or other such superficial things...

Email is generally a poor way of prospecting. You need something pretty compelling to get a response. From what OP says, I'd say samples sent by the post would be more effective...