The 'break-up' email. Why? Seriously...why?
I'd love to meet the "guru" who came up with the "break-up" email. You know the one I'm talking about; it usually goes something like "I've tried reaching out, but I guess you aren't interested. So, here's my last-ditch, half-ass attempt to guilt you into being interested!"
I received two this morning. And deleted both. Instantly.
The reason we use the term "relationship" in marketing and sales efforts (i.e. "relationship marketing") is because there are a ton of similarities between marketing and real-life relationships. From the introduction, to gradually getting to know each other to cementing the relationship.
So, let's look at this "break-up" email through the lens of a real life relationship:
Interested person: "I've tried asking you out a bunch of times and you've ignored me. So, I'm going to stop asking you out...unless you want to go out with me?!?"
In the real world...that's creepy! Would you turn around and go "gosh, since you put it that way, let's totally go on a date!" So, why do we think it's OK in marketing?
If your email campaigns aren't getting traction, you have some work to do. Whether it's the content, the target audience, the offer or any number of things. But the singular thing you should not be doing? The "break up" email. If someone on your team is recommending it...institute a full. Period. Stop. Period.
I'm sure someone out there has some one-off data that details how great the open rate on these emails are, hell...maybe even the conversion rate is good. But we have to think about the long-term servicing costs of these types of acquisitions. The amount of buyer's remorse is going to be higher, the re-activation (contract renewal) costs will likely be higher and the cost to service these customers will most likely be higher. Is the juice worth the squeeze?
Lastly, we have personal and organizational reputations to consider. Think about how these emails are perceived. Do you think after 10, 20, 30 emails that a target is going to see this creepy, sad email and go "gosh, they sound like a sad little puppy, I should really let them pitch me on their offer!"
So, what should we do if a prospect doesn't engage with us through all of our outreach efforts? Be a grown up. If you aren't getting traction with a prospect...move on. As my mother used to tell me: "there are plenty of fish in the sea."
Comments