Email is becoming less and less effective every day because tactics are abused. We're simply using email the wrong way.
Emails are much more effective after you've established a relationship with the prospect and are best put to use to maintain and nurture that relationship through your sales funnel.
The problem with cold email tactics these days is that people pitch their products or services too soon. That's not what sales are about or how it's done. Sales are about communicating, providing value upfront, and building trust and respect between parties.
Sales are about something other than pitching... and that's the main problem with cold emails. Rather than spending time getting to know your prospect's pains and needs, people are taking shortcuts for the quick win.
In our playbook at Meet Alfred, that's a no-go. Sales, which is just another word for the business relationship, is about something other than speed... it's about quality and durability.
The best sales guys know this, and that's what makes the all-stars.
Here are some other reasons why email is becoming less and less effective:
Better spam detection and filters
The majority of your cold emails are going straight to spam. They never reach the intended recipient. Google and other email service providers are getting smarter and wiser at detecting spam and other automated messages. In just the last year, email deliverability dropped more than 15%.
People are immune to cold emails
If your email did happen to reach the intended recipient, chances are it was deleted without a second thought. People adapt, and as a culture, we've adapted to ignore the majority of unsolicited emails that make it to our inboxes. This even includes email newsletters that we sign up for. Does anyone read email marketing newsletters?
GDPR and privacy
Then there's GDPR, which I will only dive into a little, but here's the thing. GDPR makes unsolicited emails illegal in 90% of countries. Plus, there are huge fines when it comes to policy violations.
Meet Alfred complies.
One last thing
Every growth tactic has a shelf life, including email.
We're just starting to see this law take effect with the cold email tactics. This doesn't mean that email is dead and that you should stop doing it. It just means the tactic is dying, email as a platform for maintaining and nurturing leads is still alive and well.
As sales experts and marketers, staying ahead of the curve is crucial. Social selling through Linkedin and other channels is the new kid on the block, but it will be for a while. Please take advantage of these tactics before the rest of the world discovers them and it loses their effectiveness.
If you have any questions, don't hesitate to contact our customer support team, available 24/7 using the orange chat bubble on your screen. We're always happy to help! 😊