When you meet someone and they give you their phone number and ask you to phone them – the likelihood is you will. If a relative asks you to send them some photos of your children – you do. If someone asks you to send them a postcard from you holiday – you will. But – weirdly – when someone signs up to your mailing list and asks for you to email them on a regular basis, we often struggle to make it happen. Do you suffer from email reluctance?
All sorts of strange thoughts might go through your head. Such as: why would they want an email from me; what on earth have I got to say that anyone wants to read; or they’re going to delete my email even before opening it. This is what Sales Expert Matthew Kimberley calls “email reluctance” and it is surprisingly common place.
It’s so strange – these people have actively asked you to communicate with them, but you convince yourself that in reality that’s the last thing they want!
Don’t worry – you are not alone – and it’s easy to overcome!
Overcoming email reluctance
You just need to look at it from a different viewpoint. Here are a few key things to consider:
- Firstly – and most importantly – your list is a group of individuals all of whom have specifically asked you to keep in touch with them – so really, if you don’t, it’s almost a bit rude.
- Your emails should cover 3 key areas:
- Educate – everyone loves to learn new things
- Entertain – everyone likes a laugh and a giggle
- Sell – this is probably the area that most people find difficult to do. As long as you are helping your contacts out by providing the education and the entertainment parts – of course you can sell to them. And if you don’t like the “selling” word – you are helping them by showing them a solution, be that for a gift or a need for themselves. People aren’t going to stop buying things and as these contacts have specifically asked for you to stay in touch with them – the likelihood is they like your product – so be proud of it!
- If your emails entertain, educate and sell – people will be pleased to hear from you – and indeed if you email them regularly they will start looking forward to your next email.
- Think about which emails you enjoy receiving regularly and positively look forward to and why
- Why not ask your audience what sort of information they would prefer to receive from you?
- Finally – write beautiful delightful emails and you can’t go far wrong!
Relish can help you communicate with your followers and customers, and help your food business grow. If you’d like some help with your content and marketing, don’t hesitate to get in touch.