The ONE Way To Get the CEO To Open Your Email

Are you calling on CEOs or other important top-level prospects in your sales job? Are you sending emails with catchy subject lines and getting very little response?

I am the recipient of thousands of emails each year. Each day, as dozens of emails are rolling into my inbox, I scan the Sender Names to see if any of them jump out at me: Emails I am expecting, emails from my children’s school/soccer/tennis or from people I know.

If I do not recognize the sender name or if the subject line is spammy, I simply do not ever open those emails.

But there is one way you can get important people to open an email. Referrals.

Example How Referrals Make All The Difference

My dear friend and New York Times best-selling author Rory Vaden started a new company called The Brand Builders Group. They specialize in helping businesses develop and grow their brand.

I saw an interview with Rory on the Lewis Howes podcast and he mentioned that Brand Builders was offering free 30-minute consultations with one of their certified coaches. I texted Rory and said ‘get me hooked up with one of your people’.

The next day I’m scanning my emails. I don’t recognize the name Jeremy Weber. I don’t recognize the subject line ‘Free Brand Strategy Call’.

What caught my attention was the sub-text ‘Rory Vaden asked me to reach out to you’. BAM! I opened the email immediately, responded to Jeremy and set up my free branding call within minutes.

If Jeremy had not included this in the sub-text, I never would have opened this email.

Back to Referrals

This is why referrals are such a critical key to growing your business. Whether you meet a prospect face-to-face, over the phone or through email, you have a 10X greater chance of them welcoming you with open arms when you are referred by a trusted source.

What To Say In Your Email To Important People

Include the name of the person who referred you in the subject line. Here are two good examples:

‘Bob Smith suggested I email you’
‘Bob Smith asked me to reach out to you’

** I never use the word ‘referred’ – it’s too obvious that you are selling something

Don’t give your sales pitch in your email. Sell the sizzle, not the steak. Give a short emotional purpose of what you do or problems you help people solve.

Good Example (Sizzle):

Hi Bob, Your friend Jack Porter at XYZ Company suggested I reach out to you. I’m the one who helps protect people financially when they go through catastrophic things like cancer. Bob is a client of mine and thought you might appreciate knowing more about this. When is a good time I can swing by your office for a few minutes?

Bad Example (too much Steak):

Hi Bob, Your friend Jack Porter at XYZ Company suggested I reach out to you. I work for ____ Company and we sell supplemental cancer insurance to company employees. When one of your employees is diagnosed with cancer, the policy pays them $2500 up front. It pays them $450 per day for hospitalizations and $300 per day for chemotherapy. There are no caps or limitations and the rates never increase. Cancer affects 1 of 2 men and 1 of 3 women so my cancer policy will help many families.

Your email needs to leave the recipient intrigued and wanting more.
Always set yourself up to discuss details in person, not over the phone or in email

What If the Prospect Doesn’t Respond To Your Email?

If your prospect doesn’t respond within 24 hours, you need to pick up the phone. Try to get the prospect on the phone (not voicemail) and say:

Hey Bob, This is ______________. Your friend Jack Porter suggested I reach out to you. I’m the one who sent you an email earlier this week, but it may not have landed in your inbox. I help protect people financially when they go through catastrophic things like cancer. Bob is a client of mine and thought you might appreciate knowing more about this. When is a good time I can swing by your office for a few minutes?

After you try three times to get your prospect to pick up the phone, but with no luck, then leave a voicemail and nudge them to call you back or respond to your email.

If you still don’t hear back, then it’s time to move on to a new prospect.

Trying to get your foot in the door via email is the hardest way to do business.

It’s critical to your long-term success to learn how to go meet prospects face-to-face. It’s much harder for someone to blow you off when you are standing in front of them. It’s too easy for emails to end up in junk folders, ignored or deleted.