Ryan Dohrn explains why prospecting emails get ignored: they lack clear value. His Rule of 3 and 3 uses a three-word subject line and three sentences: social proof, a specific benefit like saving time or money, and a calendar link for a 15-20 minute meeting.
Questions this video answers
Ryan advises that lack of replies stems from not providing value. He recommends using his Rule of 3 and 3: a three‑word subject line and a three‑sentence email consisting of social proof, a concise value proposition, and a short ask with a calendar link for a 15‑20‑minute meeting.
Chapters
Hey friends and fans, hope you're having a great week out there in sales land. Your friendly neighborhood sales coach, Ryan Dohrn, here answering your listener questions sent in to ryan@ryandohrn.com. Love answering these questions. All right, Jackie from Oregon has got a simple but a good question. Ryan, I'm not getting replies to my emails, period. Please help. So Jackie, I don't know if you're talking about prospecting emails, but I'm guessing that's probably what you're talking about, or if you're talking about post-follow-up up or you're getting ghosted or, or what the circumstance is. But Jackie, I can tell you this, that if you do not provide value, people will not reply back. They're not going to reply back to things that are generic. They're not going to reply back to things that are not highly relevant to them. So remember, I teach a 3-step process when writing emails. First, 3 words in the subject line, 3 sentences max in the email. So I call it the rule of 3 and 3. 3 sentences— or 3 words rather in the subject line, 3 sentences in the email. Now, how do the sentences in the email play out? Pretty darn easy. First sentence is you mentioning social proof, names of other folks you're working with, other clients you're working with, even if it's a competitor. Second sentence, what's the value? How do you prove to them that you're relevant? For example, I saw on your Facebook page you're doing this, got a great idea to help you with that, or whatever the value proposition is. I can save you time, save you money, save you energy. That's the second sentence, whatever your value proposition is. And then the third sentence should be a link to your calendar or what your ask is. Remember, only ask people for 15 or 20 minutes. 60-minute meetings are kind of a thing of the past. Ain't nobody got time for that, right? So just remember the rule of 3 and 3. 3 words in the subject line, 3 sentences max. The 3 sentences should go in this order: social proof, mentioning people you've already worked with and helped. Second sentence is your value proposition. Keep it short. Third sentence is a link to your calendar, like using Calendly or something like that, or giving them some type of specific time that you want to reply. The value piece, Jackie, is probably what you might be missing, or you're writing some really long emails. So just think about that, give it a try, email me back and let me know what your results were. So Jackie from Oregon, thanks so much for that question. Hey, if you're watching this on YouTube, be sure to subscribe down below, click the bell button so you'll be alerted whenever we upload new things. Hey, and I'd love to come and speak to your national sales meeting at your national sales conference. So reach out to me over at ryandohrn.com. Never forget, friends, if sales was easy, everybody'd be doing it, and they're not. We're not crazy. This is a great career that'll feed your family for a lifetime. All right, we'll see you next week.
