Sales has changed a lot over the years. The days of formal letters and voicemails have come to end. Now, it is about emailing, texting, and social media. It is important to be able to put together a well written email. Email communication does not offer the subtle nuances in expression which come with in-person and over the phone communication. This means you have to be very intentional that your messages are received in the desired manner. The worst outcome is to offend and miscommunicate with a customer all because you rushed to get off an email off before boarding a flight. In the article we take a look at medical sales email etiquette.
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Rules Of Professional Email Etiquette
1. Professional Email Signature In Medical Sales
This should be a no brainer. The first component of professional business email etiquette is having an email signature. This should be simple and informative. It should have your name, position, cell phone number, email address, and company. Be a minimalist. Do not be one of those people that includes a bunch of links, causes, and quotes on your email signature. There is a time and place for this stuff and an email signature is not one of them. It is becoming more common for sales reps to include a link to their LinkedIn profile as part of a email signature. I recommend this as an easy way to put a face with a name for customers.
2. How To Write A Follow Up Email In Sales
Sales is all about following up. According to Forbes, the basic marketing principles states that it takes seven touches to close a sell. You should become a professional at tactfully following up with customers. This could be setting a meeting, getting an update, or closing a deal. It is all about the approach. I have seen sloppy sales reps who end up irritating customers with poorly worded messages. Put some effort into these communications. Imagine that you are on the other end of the email thread. It is totally fine to say things like “sorry to bug you” or “I apologize for bothering you again”. Also, it is acceptable to use smiley faces and other small gestures to keep things friendly. People get a lot of emails and do not want to feel like they are getting hounded.
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3. When Should You Use BCC And CC?
This is a staple of our medical sales email etiquette. I see many people who do not understand how to properly use the cc’ and bcc’ fields. This is not a place to throw additional people on an email thread for the sake of it. This should be done with a purpose. If you are adding a new person to an existing thread then you should introduce the person being added. For example, this may be done to add in an additional internal resource for a customer. Or it may be done to connect the dots on the client side. Be aware of the information contained in the existing thread. Is this information that is acceptable to provided to the additional folks added on the thread? If someone were to read through the entire thread would your communication reflect a competent and professional tone? It is critical to reflect and think about these types of things.
4. Mobile Email Etiquette In Medical Sales
There is a big difference is writing a thorough follow up email after a customer meeting with attachments and getting off a quick message from your phone. Many reps like to have a different email signature on their phone pointing out that any brevity is due to that fact that the email was sent from a phone. I personally have never done this. But it is a solid idea. Especially if you are interacting with customers that typically expect or anticipate a thorough, detailed response.
5. Out Of Office Email Templates In Sales
It drives me crazy when medical sales reps forget to set an out of office email. Customers and internal colleagues end up thinking they are not responsive. Always make sure to set a professional and thoughtful out of office message that provides resources while you are away. Plus, this allows you to go away on vacation and have peace of mind that your customers are being taken care of the right way.
Related: How To Sell Medical Equipment To Hospitals
6. How To Acknowledge An Email Professionally
One thing I have been trying to get better at is responding quickly to email requests with an acknowledgement that I am working on the request. I then set an expectation of when I will have the deliverable being requested. This fosters strong coordinated communication with my customers. Also, it shows that I am responsive and engaged in running my territory.
I have seen that I get better information from customers as well. If I let someone know that I will get back to them tomorrow, then they are sure to respond back if it is urgent and this response time will not work. This eliminates any situations were customers feel they did not get what they needed in timely fashion. Last minute and urgent requests are a standard part of the industry.
7. Basics Of Calendar Etiquette
A list about medical sales email etiquette would not be complete without talking about calendar invites. This is a best practice for sure. I am the first to admit that I forgot to do this more than I should. I have had many situations were I set a meeting with a customer and then when I show up they have forgotten about the appointment. Calendar invites make things easier for customers and it makes them accountable when the day of the meeting rolls around.
Cheers