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Make Parting Such Sweet Sorrow: Best Sales Breakup Emails
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Have you ever read about how to write a sales breakup email?Someone in the RevGenius community asked how to write a great breakup email, which made me curious about what’s out there. I have written many breakup emails in my time, but I when went to find inspiration on the subject—there was little to see. “And sometimes, it’s appropriate to end the opportunity—or at least make it seem like you think it already is to draw your prospect back in.” Cutting Through the Crowd
What Makes Breakup Emails Work “Showing a prospect that you still care even after you know you’re not moving forward shows you are committed to a longer relationship with them.” If you can leverage your breakup emails into an opportunity to build an enduring relationship with your prospect, you will undoubtedly be top of mind for opportunities as their needs evolve.And who knows, you might even gain an incredible professional friend along the way.
Have you ever read about how to write a sales breakup email?Someone in the RevGenius community asked how to write a great breakup email, which made me curious about what’s out there. I have written many breakup emails in my time, but I when went to find inspiration on the subject—there was little to see. “It’s good to create clarity for where things stand.” Cutting Through the Crowd
Not every prospect you let go is one you want to walk away from. Sometimes, you want to break up with a prospect not because they are a pain to work with but because irreconcilable logistical issues emerge that you can’t get past. Maybe implementation requirements (assigning resources, timing, etc.) aren’t quite aligned. Or the buyer can’t get their IT or security team on board. Or they won’t give you the data rights you need. Whatever the scenario, you don’t want to end the opportunity, but you know it won’t lead to an engagement that will create a good experience for your customer or your business. “An email like this lets the prospect know you do want to work together, and you believe the work together could be successful, but that you are unable to overcome a specific issue that would hurt both you and them.” What Makes Breakup Emails Work
First, I send the email. Then, separately—and immediately after sending it—I set up a meeting for the same or the next day. “The client might need to adjust the time, but I’m proactive about setting a time to show I want to have this conversation and think it’s important.” My email reads like this:[Name], we have decided to stop pursuing this work. We set up a meeting at [date and time] to discuss our decision further. We understand if you prefer not to meet, and there would be no hard feelings for that decision. If the time we proposed does not work, please let us know what does.As we close our collaboration, we’d gladly refer a couple of companies we know and trust who we think would do great work with you. Please let us know. We can discuss this during our meeting later.[Lead sales rep name]Then, use the follow-up meeting to give a human voice to the message in the email. This meeting is not a negotiation. It reinforces the decision and sets a plan to bring the process to a close, should the pursuit require one.Why does this email work?Maybe the more important question is, why not call first? There are good reasons to call first, but sending the email first serves two purposes:
But the difference between building your brand and destroying it can come with how you walk away. I’ve written breakup emails to clients like these in the past. They are always gut-wrenching because no one wants to receive—or give—unfavorable news. But the longer you go between knowing you need to end the relationship and sending this email, the harder it will be. Before the example, it’s essential to keep these two guiding principles in mind: “You should talk directly after giving the news.” Second, this email should never be a surprise. A reasonable person should see it coming.