17 Sentences You Should Never Use In a Sales Email

An important part of my job at Prospect.io is to help customers write cold email campaigns. While some of them write impactful case study level material, you’d be amazed at how many salespeople think that the sentences mentioned below are okay to use.

Here are 17 different ways to kill your own sales:

Sentence You Should Never Use As An Opening Line

This is where you grab your prospect’s attention. You have no time to waste, you want to hook them up immediately.

1. Hi, my name is XXX and I work as XXX at [that company you’ve never heard of]…

Yes, I can read. Not only is it in your email address and your from field, it’s also in your signature. Don’t waste my time already.

Try instead to grab your prospect’s attention. Do your research and mention something about them. Say to them, “I noticed you guys were at the trade show last week, what did you think of Elon Musk’s speech?”

2. I’m a sales rep for [that company you don’t care about one bit].

While this may seem like a good idea, you’re not being transparent. Not only are you talking about yourself, you’re also stating that you’re only there for the sale.

Instead, I suggest you introduce yourself as someone who solves problems and address your prospect’s issue directly.

Open with, “Hi, I know closing more sales is important to you, and I wanted to let you know that Spiro’s AI-Powered CRM can help you increase your monthly sales by 20%! Let me explain how…”

3. I hope this finds you well! / I hope you’re doing great!

Do you? Because you don’t know me and you’ve never even interacted with me in any way.

Get to the point and address why you are really emailing.

4. I know you get a lot of emails…

If you do, then cut to the chase. Also, by saying that, you’re saying that your email is just one amongst the rest. If you have something special to say, just say it!

5. I know you’re busy so I won’t waste your time…

Looks like you just did! If I’m reading your email, I obviously have the time for it so don’t waste it!

Sentences You Should Never Use as Your Reason for Writing

Remember, you don’t have a lot of time. So make it clear why you’re reaching out, and why to them specifically.

6. I’m writing to you because I believe you can really benefit from our product/service.

Oh really? And how did you figure that out? You don’t know what my pain points are and/or if your products are able to alleviate them.

Instead, ask them, “What is the single biggest challenge you’re facing right now in terms of marketing?”

7. I’d like to know how your company handles X and Y. Would you hop on a 15 min call sometime this week?

There’s a lot you can discover just by doing some research or asking simple questions I can answer right away. Show you’ve done some research before asking for a call; ask targeted questions.

Perhaps you could say, “I see you’ve started experiencing uptime problems about 2 months ago when you decided to implement X system. It’s something I’ve already helped customers with, maybe we could set up a call to discuss it?”

Sentences You Should Never Use When Explaining Your Benefits

What’s in it for the customer? Not for you. But for them? And please be sure to make it clear.

8. Our product will help you save time and significantly improve your revenue.

This is really vague, I’m not sure what you’re offering here. Am I going to save 10 minutes or 10 hours per week? How big is significant?

Use figures and clear benefits, like this, “90% of our customers managed to cut down their time prospecting by 40% and saw a 17% revenue improvement within 6 weeks.”

Sentences You Should Never Use When Establishing Credibility

Even if you managed to get my attention, make it clear why you’re writing and showed me what your product could bring me… why should I trust you?

9. We’ve been helping a lot of customers in your industry do X and Y

Really? Who are these customers? And what industry would that be?

Name the industry and drop a few names. Try something like this, “We’ve already worked with several SuperBrand resellers in your region such as X, Y and Z…”

10. I’m going to be honest…

I would hope so! If you need to mention it, that’ll just set alarm bells ringing all around.

Sentences You Should Never Use in a Call to Action

Everything in a sales email should be directed towards your prospect taking action.

11. I hope this’ll get you thinking, thanks for reading!

What am I supposed to do with this? Respond? Call? Invoke a demon?

Instead, give them something clear and easy to do. Say, “Would you like to discuss this further? Let me know when you’d be available for a call.”

12. Would you like to discuss this further? Also here’s a report you can download about the state of your industry. Let me know if you have any questions!

Having multiple calls to action is just as bad as having none. One email; one message; one action. Focus.

Sentences You Should Never Use During the Beginning of the Sales Process

These are just some bad approaches I see on a regular basis that I think deserve to be mentioned.

13. How much are you currently paying for…?

If you’re asking this question, I’m going to assume you want to sell me on price. It makes you appear cheap and desperate to close the sale.

Don’t sell on price, sell on value. Uncover how you can bring value to your customer. Try asking them, “What is the biggest benefit your current dog groomer brings you?”

14. Are you the decision-maker?

While the motivations and understandable, this can cause a few problems:

• Even if I’m not the one calling the shots, I might be the one who decides if it’s worth my manager’s time.
• If I’m not the decision maker, I don’t need to be reminded of the poor targeting of your email.
• If I’m the decision maker, it’ll appear as if you don’t really know who you’re talking to.

Just simply ask, “Who else is involved in the decision process?”

15. When can I expect a response?

You can’t. I mean, I don’t know you and you’re not entitled to anything. How do you know I’m even remotely interested?

Instead, save this for later in the process when you’ve had the chance to demonstrate value and your prospect knows enough to take a decision.

Sentences You Should Never Use During a Follow-Up

If you follow up -which you should- do it right. Be assertive about it and make it easy for your prospect to respond.

16. Excuse my persistence…

Don’t apologize, it’s your job to follow up. Also, it looks like you don’t believe in your product.

17. Just checking in / Just touching base

You think it makes you come across as relaxed and not to salesy, but the truth is: it makes you come across as shy and unfocused.

Instead, ask them, “Did you get a chance to check out my previous email? Is this something that makes sense to you?”

Are You Using Any of These Sentences You Should Never Use?

It’s okay, you can say it, you’ve use some of these. I know I have!

Now go clean up those cold emails!