How to write first email to attract new customers

[solarenergy]

Dear friends,

Just registered today. I found UKBF is really a useful website, where we can discuss business.

As a saleswoman in China, we often send emails to potential customers to try to establish new business relationship. Frankly speaking, I have sent thousands of emails to develop new customers. But very few reply, maybe one replied in 200 emails.

Shall you give any suggestions on the emails that were sent to potentional customers.

The following is my developping email:
Dear Sir/Madam,

Nice to contact you and talk about solar panels. I am Tracy, manufacturer of solar PV panels in China.

Attached solar panel catalogue for your reference, Pls check. Sample order is welcome, a large discount for your first order .

We also could produce products according to your requirement.If you have any questions, please contact me , thank you in advance.


Tracy
international sales
company name
company address
website
tele no
fax no

Any comments or suggestions, that will be high appreciated!!

 

[wecandobiz]

Where to start?

• Don't refer to them by Sir/Madam, refer to them by name
• If you don't have their name then chances are you don't have their permission, so you're spamming
• Don't abbreviate words (e.g. "Pls")
• Don't talk about you -- no-one cares; pitch it towards THEIR needs

And I have the feeling your contact data may not be very high quality either, so why waste your time sending to people who, at worst, may not exist and at best don't have any interest in what you do?

 

[solarenergy]

Where to start?

• Don't refer to them by Sir/Madam, refer to them by name
• If you don't have their name then chances are you don't have their permission, so you're spamming
• Don't abbreviate words (e.g. "Pls")
• Don't talk about you -- no-one cares; pitch it towards THEIR needs

And I have the feeling your contact data may not be very high quality either, so why waste your time sending to people who, at worst, may not exist and at best don't have any interest in what you do?

Thanks for your suggetsions.

Normally, I could not find the name on the internet. That's why I refer to them by Sir/Madam. And the contact I found is related to the products I deal. Just think that they might be interested in our products. If people need our product, I am not spamming. If they are not interested, I think I am spamming.

For international business, we can only contact by emails. What I am doing is just like seeking a needle in the sea.

 

[chalkie99]

Why does everyone (seemingly) from China adopt English names when mailing us?

Do you have a different name if you are writing to Germany or Italy for example?

I find it slightly off putting as I cannot believe Chinese people are calling their children Tracy or Tommy, etc. It makes me feel as though your first contact is slightly dishonest and deters me from dealing with them.

 

[Tommo]

+1 for using real name.


Might be worth asking a native English to reword that too.

 

[unet]

Thanks for your suggetsions.

Normally, I could not find the name on the internet. That's why I refer to them by Sir/Madam. And the contact I found is related to the products I deal. Just think that they might be interested in our products. If people need our product, I am not spamming. If they are not interested, I think I am spamming.

For international business, we can only contact by emails. What I am doing is just like seeking a needle in the sea.

if you cant find thier name on the net and they have not requested information or signed up to a mailing list then its deemed spam. its not your call to work out if they are interested or not.

If that were the case then I think everyone in the world with a website is interested in my products so i will email everyone..........???

 

[solarenergy]

Why does everyone (seemingly) from China adopt English names when mailing us?

Do you have a different name if you are writing to Germany or Italy for example?

I find it slightly off putting as I cannot believe Chinese people are calling their children Tracy or Tommy, etc. It makes me feel as though your first contact is slightly dishonest and deters me from dealing with them.

We adopt English name for international business. That's quite easy to remember. Our Chinese is very complicated. Westerners can not remember.

Take my name for example, my Chinese name is 刘明翠, in Pingyin"Liu Mingcui". I bet most people can not read my Chinese name. But for an English name, everyone can call.

 

[chalkie99]

I understand why you are doing it but, from my point of view, I see your message saying "I am Tracy" and I think , well, that has got to be a lie so what else you tell me can I believe.

 

[Mike W]

We adopt English name for international business. That's quite easy to remember. Our Chinese is very complicated. Westerners can not remember.

Take my name for example, my Chinese name is 刘明翠, in Pingyin"Liu Mingcui". I bet most people can not read my Chinese name. But for an English name, everyone can call.

So why not shorten it to Pingyin or Ping, or even use an alternative easy Chinese sounding pseudonyn? Far more believable than Tracy.

As others have suggested, the doubt caused by your name can spread to what else you say.

 

[Phil Richardson]

Hi Tracy,

I do a lot of email marketing and the response rates are dropping, even for legitimate email marketing. One of the main reason for this is companies like yours who farm the internet for email addresses without that person having shown any interest in your products or services. This is certainly the definition of Spam and harms everybody.

I don't know if you contact consumers or businesses but the law in the UK is very different.

Consumers - these are ISP email addresses, gmail, msn etc. but also sole traders and partnerships. In the UK we operate an opt-in policy. You cannot email these groups at all without having proof that they have opted in to receive emails. You must be able to demonstrate this proof, an entry in a CRM system following a conversation isn't good enough. You can email consumers if they have been a customer in the past but only emails relevant to what they have bought.

Businesses - these are a seperate legal entity from the people that they employ. The UK operates an opt-out policy. You can send unsolicitored emails to individuals using a company domain. You need to offer an unsubscribe clause that you action within 28 days and the message needs to relate to their job i.e. you can't send personal emails to a work address or else this is treated as consumer law.

Even for business communication your practices are still classed as spamming, even if not illegal yet but the more companies that send out email like you the sooner the law will change.

I don't know if you are like a lot of non EU email marketers and don't care about the laws of the countries that you are marketing to but to start building up customers here consider our laws.

Why not try and build a legitimate opt-in database through social media, SEO, Adwords etc. This way your prospects may actually value what you do.

I don't mean to be rude with this reply because you have just registered but I am very anti your marketing policy. And because your response rates are so low so is your target market.

Regards,
Phil Richardson
Shortlist Marketing

 

[wecandobiz]

Thanks for your suggetsions.

Normally, I could not find the name on the internet. That's why I refer to them by Sir/Madam. And the contact I found is related to the products I deal. Just think that they might be interested in our products. If people need our product, I am not spamming. If they are not interested, I think I am spamming.

For international business, we can only contact by emails. What I am doing is just like seeking a needle in the sea.

As others have said, the policy you are adopting means you are spamming, as the recipients do not know you and have not opted in to your correspondence.

Your email will be even more badly received if it is plain you are spamming -- which it is from you not using a name -- and not having your full company details, unsubscribe options etc. and other aspects required by law.

You may be doing more damage than just wasting your time, as people who don't want to receive email from you and can't see you offer an unsubscribe option will click the spam or junk button. This information can be returned to ISPs/MSPs who will then blacklist you for email sending, whether you consider the mails legitimate or not.

I think your approach is riddled with issues so I would urge you to stop it and think more carefully about what you do. It might seem hard to get new customers, but that's because it is -- take any shortcuts and you'll find resistent from prospective customers and the intermediaries who effectively police our internet.

 

[Strontium Dog]

Do people think unsolicited mailings have NO place to play in building a legitimate B2B list?

I am talking here about sending lots of emails out to addressses from a broker asking them to sign up for a free report and thereby capturing addresses of people genuinely interested in your services. I have used this technique before and the take up is pretty low but it is a way of kick-starting a list.

Just after your thoughts.

 

[wecandobiz]

Depends what you mean by contacts from a broker. There are email datalist providers that are very reputable and whose data is double opt in, normally collected through the "well chosen partners" tickbox when people register for stuff.

Using this kind of stuff is OK, IF -- and it's a BIG IF -- you still complay with the law as far as making your identity known and providing unsubscribe options; AND adhere to decent marketing practices to ensure it actually gets opened rather than automatically junked.

And when I am talking reputable datalist providers I am most definely NOT talking the folks I see on here offering their database for sale because they've finished with it and it's yours a sum. These are very likely not to be opt in of any sort and if they've finished with it it's most likely because they've saturated it.

Putting aside the fact that selling it may well breach the Data Protection Act if it wasn't made clear their details would be sold when first collected...

 

[Target]

Let's not forget that technically it is not illegal to send unsolicited marketing emails to any UK plc, limited company, public sector organisation, LLP or (in Scotland) partnership. No opt-in required.

Is it a good business idea, though? Well, that's another matter...!

George

 

[channs]

Completely Agree With The Last Post. You Should Be Trying To Get Your Potential Customers To Opt-Into Your List And Then Build Your Relationship / Market To The List.
Remember That Customers Don't Generally Buy Straight Away So You Need The Details Of People Who Are Interested As Shown By The fact They Opted In.

Happy To Discuss This Further With You, PM ME

BTW, Please Please Please use your chinese name (in pinjin, characters will confuse). The changing of names to pseudo english ones is wrong for me! you are Liu from ....!

 

[solarenergy]

Thanks for all your comments.

As most agree that Chinese name sounds much more believable. I will use my real name, Chinese name, in future emails.

By the way, Liu is my family name. And Mingcui is my last name. I think I should use MINGCUI.

 

[alicedong]

i'm a new comer,too.and i sell DVD,if someone need some for fun,please touch me.

 

[anneparker]

Thanks for the advice and tips I will keep in mind while writing the emails.

 

[Target]

Hmmm, interesting post, ahem, Alicedong. Or should I say, ooh matron...?

 

[Mike W]

Hmmm, interesting post, ahem, Alicedong. Or should I say, ooh matron...?

lol! Very good

 

[Fresco_Creative]

Dear friends,

Just registered today. I found UKBF is really a useful website, where we can discuss business.

As a saleswoman in China, we often send emails to potential customers to try to establish new business relationship. Frankly speaking, I have sent thousands of emails to develop new customers. But very few reply, maybe one replied in 200 emails.

Shall you give any suggestions on the emails that were sent to potentional customers.

The following is my developping email:
Dear Sir/Madam,

Nice to contact you and talk about solar panels. I am Tracy, manufacturer of solar PV panels in China.

Attached solar panel catalogue for your reference, Pls check. Sample order is welcome, a large discount for your first order .

We also could produce products according to your requirement.If you have any questions, please contact me , thank you in advance.


Tracy
international sales
company name
company address
website
tele no
fax no

Any comments or suggestions, that will be high appreciated!!

I think the fact very few reply kind of speaks for itself

Emails will be seen as spam in the same way that cold calling will 9 times out of 10 annoy the living daylights out of people

I would rethink this. Also, don't go looking for business and don't hard sell. You will scare people away. Use the forum as a tool, get to know people and also get a strong rapport going, then people will be happy to open doors to you. Best of luck and welcome on here

 

[kapoors82]

If your product is good & reasonably priced and you consider UK a lucrative market, why not use a telemarketing Co. for say a few weeks just to kickstart your marketing strategy & once you get your first order (which i understand woudn't be as easy as said), i am sure it'll pay off for the expenses incurred on telemarketing & then you can always choose whether or not you'd like to stick to it or not. There're many good marketing companies around. I think you just need to work out a marketing budget and spend it prudently

 

[bsforrester80]

Let's not forget that technically it is not illegal to send unsolicited marketing emails to any UK plc, limited company, public sector organisation, LLP or (in Scotland) partnership. No opt-in required.

Is it a good business idea, though? Well, that's another matter...!

George

They is certainly a play for unsolicitated marketing emails but you need to remember that they will be treated with the upmost suspicion by businesses and the uptake on them is generally very low. You need to think about your reputation before sending them out.

 

[wecandobiz]

They is certainly a play for unsolicitated marketing emails but you need to remember that they will be treated with the upmost suspicion by businesses and the uptake on them is generally very low. You need to think about your reputation before sending them out.

Not only that but if as few as 1% of the recipients mark you as spam then the ISPs/MSPs are quite likely to blacklist you, which would stop even legitimate emaiils getting through to your intended recipients.

Why do you think Viagra and fake watches emails always come from a Hotmail or Yahoo address which they'll use once (to spam) and then bin?

 

[Target]

Agreed. I was making the distinction between what is technically spam and what is 'spiritually' spam. There's an awful lot of confusion and incorrect information on these forums about the legal position. Of course the reality is that sending a whole load of unsolicited emails - legal or otherwise - to businesses is never a good idea.

By the way, a 1% spam report rating is quite generous. I've seen some systems that are as low as 0.25%.

George

 

[wecandobiz]

By the way, a 1% spam report rating is quite generous. I've seen some systems that are as low as 0.25%.

George

Agreed George. Our own CRM system raises flags at 0.5% spam. Obviously this means you need to have sent 199 "good" emails to prevent the fall out from just one who files it as spam.

It's very easy to stray WAY above this with badly aimed email send to crappy email lists.

 

[Augustyu89]

Hi Tracy,

I do a lot of email marketing and the response rates are dropping, even for legitimate email marketing. One of the main reason for this is companies like yours who farm the internet for email addresses without that person having shown any interest in your products or services. This is certainly the definition of Spam and harms everybody.

I don't know if you contact consumers or businesses but the law in the UK is very different.

Consumers - these are ISP email addresses, gmail, msn etc. but also sole traders and partnerships. In the UK we operate an opt-in policy. You cannot email these groups at all without having proof that they have opted in to receive emails. You must be able to demonstrate this proof, an entry in a CRM system following a conversation isn't good enough. You can email consumers if they have been a customer in the past but only emails relevant to what they have bought.

Businesses - these are a seperate legal entity from the people that they employ. The UK operates an opt-out policy. You can send unsolicitored emails to individuals using a company domain. You need to offer an unsubscribe clause that you action within 28 days and the message needs to relate to their job i.e. you can't send personal emails to a work address or else this is treated as consumer law.

Even for business communication your practices are still classed as spamming, even if not illegal yet but the more companies that send out email like you the sooner the law will change.

I don't know if you are like a lot of non EU email marketers and don't care about the laws of the countries that you are marketing to but to start building up customers here consider our laws.

Why not try and build a legitimate opt-in database through social media, SEO, Adwords etc. This way your prospects may actually value what you do.

I don't mean to be rude with this reply because you have just registered but I am very anti your marketing policy. And because your response rates are so low so is your target market.

Regards,
Phil Richardson
Shortlist Marketing

I am totally agree with Phil Richardson's opinion. And help me understand more about how customers deal with E-mail in several aspect. Thanks so much for the suggestion.

 

[necom-telecom]

most oversea salesman do in this way ,they sent thousands mails their potential Customers ,in the mind ,but actully,cant get any feadback .so they feel tired ,

The follow is reason:

1. the customers is not their customers, they dot like their products or service
2.the mails cant reach potential mail box

3.the potential customers dot like this marketing way,

4.the customers in holiday ,not yet check their mail box
...... what do you think ?

 

[fozzmeister]

just a quick post to say these answers are all really valid, no need for me to really add much more.

if you REALLY can't find people's name, then add their company name into the email, mention something you like about their website - so they at least know you have bothered to look at them for just 20 seconds.

extra tip to make it more personal - include their business name in the email header so they see it's not spam - although to be honest I wouldn't trust an email like that in the first place.

would consider revising, heavily, if I'm being totally honest....


Fozz

 

[roydmoorian]

Just one more point - Never include an attachment it will be seen as dodgy, get the basic points put over in as few words as possible.

If someone is interested then they will get back to you - and oh, do include full and accurate contact details as would come up in a google search.

 

[Maverick1984]

One of my mentors gave me the best advice once and told me that the best thing you can give to new customers is 'free' content. This is important because what this does is cater to the 'law of reciprocity' whereby we are compelled to give back whenever we are given something for free. Especially if it's something of value to us.

So as a rule, i would use the initial email as a way to 'prime' the readers with good and relevant information, so as to build trust and credibility.

If this is done correctly, the selling will be easy.

 

[jparinas21]

Hi Tracy,

I do a lot of email marketing and the response rates are dropping, even for legitimate email marketing. One of the main reason for this is companies like yours who farm the internet for email addresses without that person having shown any interest in your products or services. This is certainly the definition of Spam and harms everybody.

I don't know if you contact consumers or businesses but the law in the UK is very different.

Consumers - these are ISP email addresses, gmail, msn etc. but also sole traders and partnerships. In the UK we operate an opt-in policy. You cannot email these groups at all without having proof that they have opted in to receive emails. You must be able to demonstrate this proof, an entry in a CRM system following a conversation isn't good enough. You can email consumers if they have been a customer in the past but only emails relevant to what they have bought.

Businesses - these are a seperate legal entity from the people that they employ. The UK operates an opt-out policy. You can send unsolicitored emails to individuals using a company domain. You need to offer an unsubscribe clause that you action within 28 days and the message needs to relate to their job i.e. you can't send personal emails to a work address or else this is treated as consumer law.

Even for business communication your practices are still classed as spamming, even if not illegal yet but the more companies that send out email like you the sooner the law will change.

I don't know if you are like a lot of non EU email marketers and don't care about the laws of the countries that you are marketing to but to start building up customers here consider our laws.

Why not try and build a legitimate opt-in database through social media, SEO, Adwords etc. This way your prospects may actually value what you do.

I don't mean to be rude with this reply because you have just registered but I am very anti your marketing policy. And because your response rates are so low so is your target market.

Regards,
Phil Richardson
Shortlist Marketing

Mr. Richardson said it all and i think there's no more need for further explanation. Think of it this way Tracy. Would you believe in something that just appeared in your doorstep? Before sending out letters you should at least research on some details necessary for proper addressing like the addressee, his/her position in the company, how your company can help with their needs and other important things.

Jerico Pariñas
Internet Marketing Personnel
New Media Services Pty Ltd

 

[coolfogdaisyliu]

learn alot,different culture depends on different habbit. the way we agree is not suitable in other countries.

 

[KateCB]

I receive hundreds of emails from manufacturers in Chin and India daily......seriously. I delete them all without looking at them - I have trusted suppliers, and if I want a new one, for a new product, or better pricing I will contact them - thats the businesss side.

On a personal side I receive perhaps 20 - 50 daily.....solar panels (already have them thanks) viagra (don't appear to need it....) ***** enlargements - addressed to KATE (!) etc....all unasked for, all spam, all deleted.

 

[necom-telecom]

Don't refer to them by Sir/Madam, refer to them by name

this is good, but most time we dot know the potential clients ,just write Sir/Madam , so not get any feadbacks.
refer their name ,give them a good feeling ,as people like his name .

• If you don't have their name then chances are you don't have their permission, so you're spamming
• agree,so we try our best find their name ,then write a letter to him ,and hunt for opportunity

Don't abbreviate words (e.g. "Pls")
most time we chat online , useing PLS,its ok, but for formal business letter ,we should not usieng simplified form

Don't talk about you -- no-one cares; pitch it towards THEIR needs
100 percent agree! we should show what serive or products we offer ,and what benefit we can offer , why not buy from us, what is our advantages (service,quality,pay term ,warranty ,lead time )------www/necom-telecom/com

 

[necom-telecom]

I receive hundreds of emails from manufacturers in Chin and India daily......seriously. I delete them all without looking at them - I have trusted suppliers, and if I want a new one, for a new product, or better pricing I will contact them - thats the businesss side.

On a personal side I receive perhaps 20 - 50 daily.....solar panels (already have them thanks) viagra (don't appear to need it....) ***** enlargements - addressed to KATE (!) etc....all unasked for, all spam, all deleted.

i agree, most we receive lots open letters which want to promote their service or products ,but actully ,we dot have this damand ,so i dot look them ,just delete them..... so when we want to write a letter to potential clients ,we should researth and analysis their damand and what them want ,and what we can offer ,then write a valuable letter for them , i am sure ,they will look for it, you will get feadback if you letter is vablueable for them...

 

[Deleted member 59730]

If you don't know their name phone and ask. When you have a name write a proper letter and send a printed catalog.

Email as a first approach is the very worst option. I am surprised you get one response in 200.

 

[Homshaw]

Thanks for your suggetsions.

Normally, I could not find the name on the internet. That's why I refer to them by Sir/Madam. And the contact I found is related to the products I deal. Just think that they might be interested in our products. If people need our product, I am not spamming. If they are not interested, I think I am spamming.

For international business, we can only contact by emails. What I am doing is just like seeking a needle in the sea.

What exactly do you sell? Is it solarpanels you sell or is that just a name?

 

[JustBen]

Thank you all for the comments. SPAM is what we all hate, but where is the difference between SPAM and unsolicited mail?

1. If you send the mail to a person responsible for the area, let's presume IT and you write to the IT Manager (John Smith from the X Solar Plates company).

2. You spent some time to find his name and e-mail, so you start
==============================
Dear Mr Smith,

I have just visited your website and found out that you are responsible for the IT Operations at X Solar Plates. I'm contacting you ....
....................

If you find this mail interesting, please don't hesitate to contact me, so I can provide you more details about our skills and services.

Kind regards,
(full contact details)

=================================

Would you consider this as SPAM?

 

[CSBob]

Nothing wrong with that approach at all, in my view - provided, of course, that you don't go on to offer...

On a personal side I receive perhaps 20 - 50 daily.....solar panels (already have them thanks) viagra (don't appear to need it....) ***** enlargements - addressed to KATE (!) etc....all unasked for, all spam, all deleted.

Not just me then? Phew! I was beginning to develop an inferiority complex with all these daily suggestions that I really need to 'enlarge'. Hell, I almost went out to buy the biggest motor I could find just to compensate for my obvious inadeqacies!