Five Simple Steps to Making Sure Your Emails Get Read

Remember when you got your first email account? You were so happy! You FINALLY had email! And you told everyone about it and gave your email address to anyone who could possibly ever send you an email. You loved getting emails that had LOL Cats, videos of squirrels chasing each other and endless MEMES. But not anymore. You, like everyone else you know, gets waaaaay too much email. So how can you make your emails to your residents and prospects stand out from the crowd? If you know these simple tips, it’s not that difficult.

1. Send your emails at an optimum time.

From 3-5 p.m. every day, something called “Workplace Boredom” sets in. You know what I’m talking about. Lunch has long been over, the workday has at least two to three hours to go and while you may not be bored, you may be looking for something to do that isn’t exactly work related. Your residents and prospects feel the same way. They are taking this time to read through their personal emails. So make sure YOUR email hits their inbox between 3-5 p.m. Also, avoid days like Monday – when people are playing catch up from the weekend – and Friday, when people are mentally prepping to leave their workplace and start their weekend. Midweek emails are best – think Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday.

2. Put  numbers in your subject line. 

Most people who send emails don’t put numbers in the subject line. Take a look at your inbox right now. Do you see any emails with numbers in the subject line? A quick review of mine shows only one in the first fifty in my inbox. And it stands out from all of the others. Try this technique with your next email. Make sure you use the actual number – such as “7” – and not the word “seven” spelled out.

3. Keep the subject line short.

Some research indicates that subject lines over three words can cause your ‘open rate’ to drop by as much as 60%. That’s a high number! If you have a hard time being concise, just try to keep it as short as you can for best results. And make sure your subject line stands out from the rest of the overwhelming amount of emails we all receive on a daily basis. Something as simple as “Following Up” or “Checking In” can have a high open rate. Both of those subject lines indicate to the recipient that you and s/he have done business in the past.

4. Getting a response.

Okay, you’ve mastered the subject line, but now how do you get them to respond? There are three keys to getting a response to your emails:

a. Making sure the content is relevant or interesting. For a prospect, make sure you reference something they liked when they visited your community. When answering an email inquiry, refer directly back to one of their most important questions immediately. For a resident, give them the information they needed at the very beginning of the email.

b. Keep the content no longer than three sentences or an introductory sentence followed by three bullet points. When they open the email and see how brief it is, they are much more likely to both read it and respond to it.

c. Use spell check. If your email program doesn’t have it, download the free version of Grammarly and use that. No one, and I mean no one, wants to read an email that has misspelled words and improper grammar. It’s a quick way to end a business relationship.

5. Asking for a call to action.

Don’t ask permission. Go for the close immediately. If you want the recipient to call you, simply say, “Call me at 123-456-7890 so we can talk about this in more detail”. If you want them to email you back, ask directly for the emailed response. “Please email me upon receipt so we can set this up at a time convenient for you.”
While email itself isn’t exactly rocket science, there IS a science to it. So put these tips to work for you the next time you open your inbox. You’ll see the results within minutes of hitting ‘send’.