Secrets to Closing a Deal Via Email

Larry Chiang gets gets to the core and leverages great conferences like Web 2.0 Summit – It launches entrepreneurs’ careers. If you liked “13 Lies Told at Web 2.0 Expo“, “How to Work a Conference as a Hottie” and “The Art of Being a Booth Babe“, you’ll like his latest column: ‘Secrets to Closing a Deal Via Email‘.

By Larry Chiang

Let us close more deals.

By closing deals, I mean get what you want via email. It may mean landing a job interview, getting a sponsor for your MBA alumni meet-up or landing a celebrity guest speaker for your campus group.

Here’s how I close deals via email.

-1- Subject Line Must Have Your Cell

If you’re reaching out, you must provide full access (and bust spam). For example, if I go after a speaker after their keynote, I lead-off with my cell. Bonus points if you include their cell.

-2- Ping the Email Address First.

A cardinal sin of a first-time contact is a long, detailed email. It puts too much burden on the receiver to read and respond to every point.

I recommend pinging an email address by first asking the easy question, “Is this the best email address to reach you?” Your target can either answer with a ‘yeah’ or something more. Wallah. You and your receiver now have a dialog.

Your FIRST goal in an email is to get opened
Your next goal is to get read
The following goal is to get some type of response

-3- Vacationify Your Emails

Err more on the side of being a vacation versus being another part-time job when they see your email. A vacation could be a relevant picture, communal knowledge sound bite, or maybe a TV clip. All of it needs to push your deal forward or mentor / inform the reader.

-4- Timing and Repetition. And repetition.

Strategic timing is critical. For example, I like saving as a draft to send out first thing in the morning. The theory is that it ends up closest to their most recent morning email.

Another example is after a 1st time meet and greet, I set up a 3 day, 7 day and 14 day follow ups. I also am ok with people ignoring a message and I email them again versus sitting and brewing about ONE unanswered email.

-5- Mentorship Marketing.

Pushing a deal forward is much more possible when you infuse mentorship into your emails. For example, when you are emailing someone to sell them something make sure you educate while trying to influence. Sitting for a sales pitch is made much more tolerable when you get mentored a little.

-6- Twitterize Your Email

Twitter is the oh-so-hip tech tool that forces messaging to stay under 140 characters. It applies to email because emails can be terse where you get in late and get out early.

People might miss your tweet but you can “@reply” direct to their email. For example, if you hear their name cited and sourced, send a snippet that you tweeted letting them know they are a guest starred in a conversation.

-7- Close Them On SOMETHING

The call to action can be “buy something” but can be as simple as “call me”. Clear call to action + clear WIFM + a low bar for action = IDEAL

WIFM is what’s in it for me.

Alternative advance where no action is action. An example of this is when you say, David Hornik of August Capital, I’d like for you to be on my Venture Capital Secrets Panel at Snap Summit. If I don’t hear back from you, I’ll assume the picture off the August Capital website + official bio can be cut and pasted.

-8- Triangulation Influence

This is a fancy term for either going up over their head or using a third-party reference. By trying to close a deal via email, you’re in essence going head to head.

Triangulation influence in short is trying to influence them from their flank. If you have two third party advocates, then you can influence them on three fronts.

Good luck closing and email me about how you influence via email.

This post was cranked out in about an hour so email me if you see a spelling or grammatical error(s)… larry@larrychiang com


Larry Chiang antagonizes credit monopolies.

Text or call him during office hours 11:11am or 11:11pm PST +/-11 minutes at 650-283-8008. If you email him, be sure to include your cell number in the subject line.