Why Your Clients are Unresponsive to Your Emails

Introduction

It could be quite frustrating when you send business emails to your (potential) customers, hoping for the anticipated response, but end up getting the complete opposite – no response. Many people that find themselves in situations like this just surrender and feel they have done their best and move on to another customer, only for the same cycle to repeat itself. Indeed you may have put in so much effort in composing and getting the emails out there just to later see that your efforts seem fruitless. Instead of giving up on the clients or on the idea of sending business emails, you can choose to find out what is really going on.

The first thing to consider if you want to solve this problem is to answer this simple question:

“Why are my business emails not being replied?”

Or

“Why am I not getting email responses from my potential customers?” Same question, same answer!

Reasons Why a Client May Be Unresponsive

There are various reasons why you may be experiencing unresponsiveness from one or two clients:

Wrong Email Address

Consider the fact that you may have sent the initial email to the wrong email address. Therefore it is very important that before you hit the ‘send’ button that you do a thorough check of the recipient’s email address to minimize the possibility of sending to the wrong recipient.

Spammed Email: The Bulk Emails

This is one of the common reasons why clients seem unresponsive. As much as possible, avoid sending emails to too many recipients at the same time, that is, with one click. Many email providers have mechanisms for filtering spam emails that will likely dump your email into the spam or junk folder of the recipient. If you must send the same thing to many recipients, send it one after the other. Enter only one client’s email address. If you have to send to two email addresses belonging to the same client, then use the ‘CC’ space for the second email address. The idea is to avoid typing multiple email addresses in the same address box.

Spammed Email: The Forwarded Emails

Do not send forwarded messages the way they come to you. The spam filters will likely separate your email and send it to the spam folder. If you must send a forwarded email, first edit it using text editors like MS Word, then copy, paste and send. Download any attachment forwarded to you that you intend to send to a client, then attach it the email you are sending to the client. By doing these, you not only ensure your email enters the client’s inbox, you also make him feel unique when he sees the email is addressed to him alone, without anything being forwarded.

Spammed Email: The Bad Domains

Another reason why your emails may end up in the spam folder is your domain name. Domain names ending with .biz and .info have been abused by spammers, making some email providers to recognize them as spam. See the article Tips for Choosing the Best Domain Name and Email Address for more ideas on choosing a domain name and email address.

Wrong Audience

It is important that when you send a proposal or you are attempting to win over a potential client via email that you ensure that your products or services are relevant to the recipient. People will only respond to emails that are relevant to their need. Therefore, send your emails to only those whose needs you are likely to meet. There is no point wasting your time sending proposals to people who do not need the type products or services that you offer, they may not respond.

Sheer Disinterest

The client may have seen your initial email, read it, then sent it to the trash, or maybe just left it there. Some people though may need the products or services that you offer, may not show any interest for various reasons. They may be disgruntled from past experiences with companies similar to yours. Or they just do not want to engage your services for reasons best known to them.

Poorly Scripted Business Email

Another reason for clients not responding to your emails could just be that the emails were poorly scripted. Starting from ambiguous or unclear emails to emails that have poor grammar and/or typographical errors; the poor scripting of your email may just be the problem. These errors can put off potential customers, as it shows unprofessionalism and possible incompetence on your part. Therefore, it is essential that your business email writing skill is always at its best.

Need for a Nudge

Statistics shows that most humans are phlegmatic. In simple terms, most people need persistent nudge and persuasion to help them make up their minds and take steps that are productive. Follow up emails or phone calls are therefore needed after an initial email is sent to a potential customer. It is not enough to just send your business proposal via email, you need to step up the heat and send reminder emails. Mastering how and when to send follow up emails is very vital if you intend to expand your clientele.

Need for More Information

There could be an insufficiency of important information in your email making it difficult for even interested clients to make up their mind if they should contact you or not. Although, it is better to keep your business emails brief, the important information the recipient needs should be clear. Indeed, you may have scripted the email very well, but fail to provide a key piece of information. For instance, an email proposal for designing and hosting a website that contains all needed information except the cost of hosting.

No Action ‘Button’

Finally, every business email that has anything to do with marketing your products or services should have an action ‘button’. That is, the email should be structured in such a way that the client will need to take an action. Eventually, this is what gets you a responsive client. For example, provide a link to your website or a phone number. The tone of your email should tend towards pushing the recipient to make a move.