No matter how often I tell sales people to stop using email and find a way to talk to clients on the telephone – I am a realist! Email will always be a salesperson’s default. So if that is the case I may as well summon up all of my resources and help sales people write the best emails possible.

Download the Podcast Transcript

7 Ways You’re Projecting Insecurity Over Email

Insecurity is poison to a sales relationship. If your prospect picks up on any anxiety or self-doubt, they’ll lose respect for you — and more importantly, they won’t believe your recommendations are valuable.

So what can you do to project confidence? It’s tricky, especially because in sales you often go from feeling like a champion to a failure in single week (sometimes a single day).

One of the easiest areas to tackle is email. Prospects can’t see your face or hear your voice, meaning following these suggestions will instantly make you seem confident.

Here are seven things making you appear insecure and how to fix them.

1) Writing too much

Emails that go on and on scream insecurity. After all, if you believe your message is powerful and compelling, you don’t need to write a book.

Next time you’re sending an email for the first time that’s three-plus paragraphs, stop and pick out the most compelling point. Delete the other sections. You can send these in follow-up emails. (As an added benefit, this makes your messages more varied and gives the buyer a reason to keep opening them.)

Just make sure you don’t leave out the call-to-action — that’s one of the most important parts of your message.

2) Apologizing

Do you begin emails with lines like:

• “Apologies for contacting you out of the blue.”

• “Hope I’m not bothering you.”

• “I’m sorry to trouble you.”

• “I know we haven’t met, but …”

• “Hopefully you don’t mind me reaching out.”

• “I know emails like these can be annoying, so I’ll get right to the point.”

These lines are usually used with good intentions: Reps want to show consideration for their prospects. However, starting with an apology implies you don’t think you’re worthy of the buyer’s time.

If you believe in your product’s value, and you’ve done some basic qualification to ensure your prospect is a potential fit, then you’re not wasting their time. You’re helping them.

3) Using too many emojis

Emojis can add personality to your email and make it a little more memorable. But it’s easy to go overboard. If every line has its own symbol, you’ll look like you’re trying way too hard.

How many emojis is too many? It depends on your market. In many conservative industries, just one smiley face would be completely inappropriate. Yet someone in an informal, modern industry tends to be far more receptive.

Factor in your company brand as well. If it’s playful, you can be playful too. If it’s relatively buttoned-up, reign in the emojis and smiley faces.

My final recommendation: When in doubt, leave it out. You can always wait and see what your prospect does. If they use a smiley face or emoji, you’re free to use one too.

4) Using exclamation marks

I admit, I used to have a real exclamation mark problem. Any time I wrote an email without one, I worried I came across as cold.

But then I realized most of the emails I got from other people didn’t include exclamation marks, and I wasn’t reading them as rude. Those messages simply seemed professional

Now, I rarely use exclamation marks. They’re rarely necessary — especially in a sales context.