buzz•word MAKING EMAILS COUNT
Composing effective emails is an art more than a scientific formula. But Gisela Hausmann, who examined more than 110,000 emails in developing her new book 73 Ways to Turn a Me-Mail into an E-Mail, (Amazon) offers the following tips: Avoid self-serving pronouns. Replace “I” with “we” whenever possible. Never use “I” as the first word. Be interesting. Beginning with something like “Hello, my name is…” is a boring turnoff. Start with a thank-you statement. Everybody loves to feel appreciated. Brag. In marketing a product or service, always spell out why yours is superior. Avoid trendy terms. They tend to mean different things to different people (and sometimes mean nothing at all to your reader).
Tips for Selling to Women Ask a few women how they’ve been treated when accompanied by men while shopping for big-ticket items or making other major financial decisions, and they’ll unload. Sometimes they were barely acknowledged and other times they were completely ignored. That’s a huge mistake for business owners. Women control many business decisions, sometimes from behind the scenes and sometimes upfront. They bring a different set of expectations to the buying experience, and you’ll increase sales if you meet those expectations with the easily accomplished actions below.
1. Make eye contact.
Don’t stare, but visually acknowledge her a few times instead of paying more attention to what’s going on around you.
2. Give a firm handshake. This is a biggie. We do not like the loose-fish type hand shake where you hold on to three fin-
gers. Don’t overdo with a bone-crushing grip, though.
3. Be sympathetic.
“Hear” us and show understanding. Express empathy only if you, too, have been in our shoes; you can’t understand something if you haven’t experienced it yourself.
4. Pay a compliment.
Don’t hit on us; just make a kind, gentle, generic comment such as: “That’s a good color on you” or “That’s a great-looking watch you’ve got.” It’s soooo easy.
5. Smile. This really is
No. 1, but I put it last so you’ll remember it. From girlhood, we’re taught to smile, and we enjoy being smiled at—not an idiot grin, just an enjoyable smile. It’s so important in sales. Actually, it’s important everywhere. Nancy Friedman is a speaker and author of nine books on customer service and sales. Contact her at 314-291-1012 or nancy@telephonedoctor.com.
