Email templates. The very thought of them sounds formal and, well, kinda boring, right? Wrong! Email templates don’t have to be dull, and they certainly don’t have to be impersonal. I’ve been using template emails in my business for many years now, and, I have to say, they are a huge timesaver. Think about it. You don’t need to be writing a personal, individual email for every single enquiry that comes into your inbox. I’m betting you spend enough time in your inbox as it is! If you can refine your enquiry response workflow with a pre-written template, you’re going to save yourself so much time (and maybe a little bit of your sanity!). And, I promise, your template email can definitely be personal! Here’s how to win over an enquiry with a templated email response.
Start With Your Subject Line
All good emails start with a good subject line. Why? Because, for most people, it’s the first thing they’ll see before they even open your email. And it could even be the deciding factor on whether they click through to read the email or not. C’mon, you know you’ve just deleted emails without even opening them in the past, right?
The trick here is to let them know immediately that you’re responding to their enquiry. The chances are, they’re going to be enquiring to lots of people, so let them know from the start why you’re emailing them. Don’t leave them with any doubt.
Go Long
You might be thinking you need to keep your enquiry response short and sweet. You probably don’t want to put them off with a wall of text and information this early in the game. But, in my experience, the more information you give them upfront, the more likely you are to get them to book a consultation.
Think about it. How often have you made an enquiry, wanting to know availability, pricing, how they work and if they’re the right person for you? And, when you get a short email back saying ‘Hey, let’s talk’ with no other information, are you thinking, oh man, I bet I can’t afford this person? I know that’s the thought that crosses my mind.
This enquiry response is also your first real chance beyond your website to connect with your enquirer. The reason they’ve got in touch is that they liked what they saw on your website. But now they’re in your inbox, and they’re inviting you into theirs. That makes them a warm lead. So you don’t want to waste this opportunity!
I started finding great success with my enquiry response email when I changed it to include a lot more information. My email was close to 600 words, and it wasn’t putting people off!
So if you’re worried about saying too much, don’t be. I’ll talk a bit more about what you should include in your enquiry response email in a minute.
Be Excited For Them
If they’re coming to you for your help, then that’s something worth celebrating. Whether you’re offering a service to a fellow business or a client who needs your skills and expertise, they’ll have gone through a series of thoughts and emotions before sending you an inquiry. And that’s something to get excited about!
So, if you’re a wedding photographer, for example, responding to an enquiry, congratulate them on their engagement. Get excited about their wedding plans! If they’re a small business owner inquiring about a new website, get excited about their growing business and congratulate them on their success!
If you’re excited and enthusiastic about their needs and the problem you can solve for them, they are much more likely to want to talk to you. Because everyone wants someone to work with them who loves what they do, don’t they?
Remember To Use First Person
This is an email. Treat it like an email you would write to any person directly and keep it personal. Use ‘you’ and ‘I’ or ‘me’ when you’re writing it. Now is not the time to get all third party formal on them. You want them to get to know you a bit and start to trust you enough that they take the next step and book a consultation with you.
On that note, make sure you leave a space to insert their first name at the start of the email too. Remember, you want to make this personal, so no anonymous greetings, please!
So What Should You Include In Your Email?
You need to take your enquirer on a little journey with your email response.
#1: An open greeting
How would you usually greet a friend? Keep your email opening warm and friendly. Include an area where you can mention a personal detail about them to help build a connection.
#2: Address pain points
Think about why clients want to book you. What problems do they have? And what can you do to help them? Show them the benefits you can give them, rather than launching straight into your packages and pricing.
#3: Offer something valuable
Can you offer a free hint or tip that’s useful to them? If you can give them something of real value before they’ve even booked you, they’re much more likely to want to work with you. After all, if you hand out helpful information for free, imagine all the goodies they’re going to get when they pay you!
#4: Share your services
Now’s the time to share what you can offer them. Mention the packages you offer that will be useful to them. If you provide multiple services, create more than one template email to cover each service offered. Then choose the most appropriate one for each enquiry.
Share your pricing. You can send them a pricing brochure as a PDF, or a link to a pricing page on your website, for them to explore at their leisure. But be clear on your pricing before you ask them to book a consultation. Let them know what you charge so they can arrange a consult with their eyes open. I find clients who go on to book a consultation after I’ve sent them my pricing guide are about ready to book with me at that stage.
#5: Invite them to book a consult
And now you can ask them if they’d like to book a consultation with you. Highlight the benefits of a consultation. I like to let my enquirers know that it’s an excellent time for us to get to know each other a little bit to see if we’d be a good fit working together. That’s important to me, and it’s usually important to my clients as well. I also let them know it’s a good time to ask me any questions they have.
Be direct about the next steps, though. Don’t leave it open with a “If you like what you see, get in touch”. Instead, either offer particular dates or times right now in the email or link them to a scheduling app and encourage them to book in.
#6: Thank them again
Yep, say thanks again! Let them know you value their time and inquiry.
#7: The power of the P.S.
I love a good P.S. This is a chance to give them any final bits of information you want them to share, and most people read the postscript out of curiosity. Share your social links and invite them to follow you for ideas and inspiration. Or share a helpful blog post that walks them through an area of expertise. It’s a nice way to finish off your email. And, if they don’t book in a consultation right away, there’s a chance they’ll keep following you, which could mean a booking or sale later on down the line.
There you have it—my tips for an epic enquiry response email. Of course, I’m not into guaranteeing success with things like this. But, in my experience, emails that follow this outline work far better to engage your ideal clients. So, while it might not necessarily increase your responses or bookings, it’ll definitely bring about more of the kind of clients you want to work with!
If you can’t face the idea of writing your own response templates, though, I offer this as a service and would love to help you! Get in touch, and let’s see if we can get your email template sparkling.