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Introduction

Being an SDR requires you to be on the phone a lot. Most people come into the job prepared for that and are happy to spend their time cold calling prospects. However, another big part of the job is sending emails. Often, new SDRs are not fully prepared to take on this part of the job.

So let’s talk about writing emails as an SDR. How do we get better at it and what is the goal of sending emails as an SDR?

Understand the Audience

Before composing any email, it is important for you as an SDR to understand the audience you are writing to.

What kind of language will they respond best to?

What is their level of industry knowledge?

Knowing the answers to these questions will help you craft emails that are more effective. The answers to these questions should be in your playbook or with your manager. Use your resources to best understand your audience so you can send emails that convert.

Keep it Short and Sweet

Your prospects are BUSY! Your emails should be concise and to the point so that you have a fighting chance of being seen in a full inbox.

Oftentimes, SDRs try to cram too much information into a single email, causing it to be overwhelming and confusing. Make sure to communicate the key points in a succinct manner and avoid flowery language and jargon.

Remember that your goal at this stage is a reply to the email, not a set meeting.

Use the Right Tone

It is important that you use the right tone when writing emails. The tone will depend on the brand, the campaign, your relationship with the prospect, etc. Your playbook and/or your manager should be able to provide you with guidance on this.

Make sure you’re using your resources and ask for feedback from your peers if you’re unsure.

Personalize It

Let’s face it, people know when they are getting a templated email. So personalizing your emails is a great way to make them stand out.

Just using the recipient’s name, mentioning something about their company or industry, or referencing a recent article or news item is a good start but can often feel like you’re just filling in the blanks. Take it one step further:

How to Personalize It

  • Check the recipient’s LinkedIn and mention a recent post of theirs. Share your thoughts on the post and what about it made you feel now was the right time to reach out via email.
  • Check the recipient’s company website. Check to see if there is any content there attributed to the recipient. If so, reference that content and share your thoughts.

Proofread

Before sending any email, make sure to proofread it for typos, grammar mistakes, and other errors. Tools like Grammarly can be helpful in catching issues you may not have noticed.

A well-written and error-free email comes across as professional and trustworthy while one riddled with spelling mistakes and grammatical errors can be seen as unprofessional or worse, as a scam.

Conclusion

When it comes to email writing as an SDR there are 5 main things you should be focused on: understanding the audience, keeping it short and sweet, using the right tone, personalizing the email, and proofreading.

Your goal when sending emails should always be to get a reply to your email. Worry about getting the meeting set after the prospect has engaged with you.

Use your resources (your playbook, your manager, and your peers) to ensure you have all the tools and support you need to send great emails.

Becca Fields-Poniskaitis

Head of Marketing

Becca is using her varied marketing experience and breadth of skills to build and develop a world-class, in-house marketing team here at Alleyoop.