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The email line that's client repellent

letsworkshop.com

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Re: The email line that's client repellent

#41

Post by bananacurve »

aestra wrote: post #30
bananacurve wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>people are lazy and you might be surprised but the fact is that they don't want to do work even for their own requirements. And they will pay to avoid even the easiest chore. We got tired of not getting any response from people using our free trial and briefly required them to call us to activate their free trial. People started paying for the first month rather than make a phone call and some that paid never even u…

Isn't this the idea of a mail in rebate? That they attract attention and people buy the product but hardly nobody bothers to mail them in? I might be off base on that, but that was my thought as to why they are offered.

The mail in rebate is also trying to get feedback from the customer, which is very difficult.

Re: The email line that's client repellent

#43

Post by gk1 »

herghost wrote: post #9

And the natural corollary is that if someone is attempting to stitch you up with a crappy piece of work that they're trying to get out of doing, if you respond to their attempt to palm it off to you with a question about the work that forces them to engage with it before they can respond, you will find that the crappy piece of work quite often never comes back your way.

When you suspect that someone hasn't thought through the problem enough, ask them to write it down in a short format (eg, bullet list, short paragraph, memo). It'll force them to think it through.

Re: The email line that's client repellent

#44

Post by rdudek »

This writeup was actually a lot better than I anticipated. One of the key things in consulting that I learned over the years is that you're basically contracted to help and grow the business. You have to present yourself as an ally that can provide solutions to problems and help the client grow their business.

Don't just write in your email your products/services and "hey, let's meet up and discuss stuff". Any high school or college kid can do that. Throw solutions, it will really make you stand out.

Re: The email line that's client repellent

#45

Post by baak »

jader201 wrote: post #29

Is this the same as "Let me know if you have any questions."? I often end emails like this, more as an acknowledgement that while I feel that I am clear, it may not seem clear to you, and to not hesitate to come back to me if anything is not clear to you. But maybe this also is leaving a similar impression as "Let me know how I can help."?

After a support session I usually end with "Let me know if you run into any issues."

I do frequently wonder if that's the best way to end the email... as what I want to suggest is "Email me back directly if something happens, but I don't think anything will."

Maybe: "Feel free to ping me directly if you run into any issues."

Re: The email line that's client repellent

#46

Post by Mimu »

Sephiroth87 wrote: post #6

I'm just wondering, are people on the other side of the mail "actively" rejecting you when you say that kind of stuff, or is more of a subconscious thing?

I think it's like:

1. Bad email: Pff, so I need to create a whole strategy by myself, use money to maybe hire a guy I don't even know...

2. Good email: This looks good maybe we can talk further about it. / This looks bad I'll declined or not respond.

First case, guy has to do the work, and nobody likes to do unexpected work. Second case, the guy just need to agree or not at the plan in front of him.

Re: The email line that's client repellent

#47

Post by robwilliams88 »

jader201 wrote: post #29

Is this the same as "Let me know if you have any questions."? I often end emails like this, more as an acknowledgement that while I feel that I am clear, it may not seem clear to you, and to not hesitate to come back to me if anything is not clear to you. But maybe this also is leaving a similar impression as "Let me know how I can help."?

It's not exactly the same, assuming you've already proposed a solution in the email, but it is still kind of redundant to say. I think most clients will let you know if they have a question, regardless if you write that.

If you think they might have questions, why not anticipate a question and answer it in the email?

Re: The email line that's client repellent

#48

Post by brd »

jasonwocky wrote: post #38
brd wrote: post #21

This philosophy is applicable to much more than just sales. I generally try to avoid highlighting problems unless I can suggest a solution. People don't want to hear whats wrong, they want to know how things can get better.

As the bearer of bad news, so to speak, I think that's often a good approach. On the flip side, I think it's bad as an enforced policy from above. I've worked with some managers who have a "Don't come to me with problems, come to me with solutions" rule. I think that's poor management for at least three reasons: 1. This kind of thing leads to bigger problems. If they're small but your employee is having trouble comin…

I absolutely agree that this only applies when you are the deliverer of bad news and should never be used as the receiver of bad news. Not wanting to hear problems is a terrible managerial style.

As for points 2 & 3, I think there is a big difference between solving something you've been told to do vs. solving something you've ran into. The latter will oftentimes highlight an underlying issue in the process/project which needs to be addressed and solving it without letting others know may create unwanted assumptions.

The reason I said "generally try to avoid" instead of always avoid is because sometimes there are real problems worth mentioning or, as you said, times where one simply can't find an acceptable answer. In either case its important to raise the issue even though no solution is at hand. This is exactly why not wanting to hear problems is so catastrophic from a managerial perspective, you end up not hearing about your largest problems.

Re: The email line that's client repellent

#49

Post by rhino369 »

jxf wrote: post #7

Interesting; I ran essentially the exact same experiment a while back (June to August 2012) and had a different conclusion! -- 68 incoming consulting leads -- group A: responded to 34 with "let me know how I can help" -- group B: responded to 34 with "would work to discuss this further?" -- group A: 20/34 (59%) responded, 14/20 (70%) led to contract negotiation stage -- group B: 6/34 (18%) responded, 5/6 (83%) led to…

Like your second to last bullet say, it's not the last line, it's the entire email. The article is really about how to frame the entire email so that you add value, take control, and provide guidance, instead of writing an email asking for guidance.

Re: The email line that's client repellent

#50

Post by jader201 »

robwilliams88 wrote: post #47
jader201 wrote: post #29

Is this the same as "Let me know if you have any questions."? I often end emails like this, more as an acknowledgement that while I feel that I am clear, it may not seem clear to you, and to not hesitate to come back to me if anything is not clear to you. But maybe this also is leaving a similar impression as "Let me know how I can help."?

It's not exactly the same, assuming you've already proposed a solution in the email, but it is still kind of redundant to say. I think most clients will let you know if they have a question, regardless if you write that. If you think they might have questions, why not anticipate a question and answer it in the email?

I also feel it's technically redundant -- like you said, they will follow up regardless -- but I think I do it to just give a more inviting tone/closing to the email.

However, I also used to end all of my StackOverflow questions with "Thanks in advance." just to be polite and appreciative to those spending their time reading/responding to my questions, until it kept getting edited out (for the same reason, redundant noise), so I got the hint and stopped.

Maybe this is similar?

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