What are some helpful tips for writing email communications to the sales team?

I tend to keep my communications short, sweet, and to the point while keeping the mentality of "what's in it for them" at the top of my mind. Bullet points and a TL;DR summary help with this. Make sure there is a crisp ask or offering at the end if you are hoping for a next step And as you would with anybody you work with, be respectful of their time!

Clarity is key. With both internal and external comms, I focus on being as clear and concise as possible. And for internal communications, it’s important to make sure your colleagues see you as a resource. I always encourage anyone with questions or comments to reach out to me directly.

When I’m writing an internal email, I think through what I would ask about the project I’m either proposing or reporting on. What is the purpose of this email? Why is it important? What research has already been done? What outstanding questions do we still have? Who does this impact? And never hesitate to ask a colleague to give it a once-over before sending it out to the group.

• Keep it short and simple. Majority of reps (and people) won't read more than a paragraph.

• Use bullets to keep it concise and easy to skim

• Always include a CTA (what do you want them to do with this) and what's in it for them to read it/take an action/use the content etc. Make sure your ask of them is VERY clear and includes any links to resources they might need (i.e. call sheet, list of accounts etc)

• If there is a lot of information to share, start with a 3 bullet TL;DR / exec summary (what they NEED to know) and link to the additional details (for those few who want to read all the details)

I'd be happy to have some back and forth on this, but I'm not sure I fully understand the context of the question. Are you writing emails to sales, and if so, what type of content are you sharing? Or you writing emails for sales reps to send to customers? Feel free to email me back and I can take another stab at answering.

Keep it short :) Start with TL;DR, then flush out the key info and link to other docs with detail. Also, I have found it rare as of late to email the field....Slack is where it is at

Depends on what this email is for but generally: Keep it short, and to the point. Make it interesting and fun - humor never fails. You want to frame the benefit for them - that is the most important thing to consider.

This is a great question. I have a few rules that we try to live by for our comms: 

1. Make it short, sweet, and to the point! 
2. You shouldn't expect your sales team to read every word, so make sure to use bold, underline, colors for items that are most important. 
3. Build a cadence - we've seen more success when our comms are predictable and consistent. 
4. Try to use the rule of 3 when you can - sending an email with 10+ things you need sales to know about now isn't always effective. 
5. Don't be afraid to try new things - we're always experimenting with our internal and external comms. Try using GIFs or video or even switch from email to slack instead. Every org is different but it's always good to test different strategies! 

I’d say it’s not just the sales team, but executives also. The #1 rule to remember is that people are busy so they prioritize based on subject lines and skim on the first pass if they do open your email.

So when it’s an extra-ordinary email that needs action, I follow the below format because it is extremely effective. (I once had a CEO tell me that this was one of the most clear emails he had ever received.)

1. Subject line - one thing I do if I need immediate action or input from an exec is to write it in capital letters in the subject line. For example: “ACTION: attend today’s client call” or “URGENT: need customer reference immediately”. Right there, you have guaranteed that your subject line stands out and that the reader has a pretty good idea what’s needed before even opening the email.
2. Body - in the body, I write bold section headers and add different colors than the rest of the body. Purple or pink are highly effective. This helps section it off and gives the reader a sense of what to expect.
3. Label each header appropriately and don’t use more than 3 section headers. Headers I find very useful are “Situation,” “Background,” and then either “Action for you,” or perhaps “Recommendation”
4. Each section is 2-3 sentences max.
5. If I need to call out someone specifically, I highlight their name to make it stand out.
6. One note of caution – only do this subject line occasionally on truly important emails otherwise it loses its effectiveness. For the body, it’s OK to use this format over and over.
7. Here is an example of what such an email might look like bit.ly/3pEB3eB