How To Write Effective Sales Emails with ChatGPT (11+ Prompts)

The follow-up has the right mix of personalization, value positioning, and suggested next steps.

Crafting Subject Lines That Draw Attention

You could have the best email ever, but it is all pointless if your prospect doesn’t open it in the first place.

ChatGPT can suggest subject line ideas that will pique interest.

Some tips when generating email subjects with AI:

• Use audience keywords – Include terms your prospects search and care about.
• Focus on benefits – Highlight the value your prospect would get from opening.
• Incorporate urgency/exclusivity – Phrases like “limited time”, “only for you” etc.
• Ask questions – Make it conversational wherever appropriate.
• Test different lengths – Find the optimal subject length for engagement.
• Leverage FOMO – Create a fear of missing out by mentioning demand or trends.
• Avoid spam triggers – Specify no spammy words or ALL CAPS in the prompt.
• Validate ideas – There are great tools to test subject line appeal before sending.

Example prompt and response:

Prompt: Give me 10 different subject line options for a cold sales email that would appeal to a Director of Marketing at a tech startup. Mention urgency, exclusivity, and benefits where possible. Include FOMO elements. Use keywords like “growth”, “customers”, and “data-driven”.

With a bank of different subject lines like these to A/B test out, you can identify which variant delivers the highest open rates.

Generating CTAs That Drive Action

The call-to-action (CTA) is one of the most critical components of a sales email to move the prospect towards a conversion.

When using ChatGPT, make your CTA prompts detailed:

• Match CTA to email stage – Request a meeting for cold outreach, demo for nurtured prospect.
• Make it easy to act – Include clickable links, booking forms, downloads.
• Show value – Focus on the benefits the CTA will provide (e.g. See Platform Demo).
• Incorporate urgency – Limited-time offers create urgency (e.g. Exclusive Discount Ends in 48 Hours!).
• Keep it clear and concise – Short, action-driven verbs and phrases work best.
• Test different CTAs – Generate multiple options and experiment.
• Place strategically – The CTA should stand out at the end or near callouts.

Example prompt and response:

Prompt: For the sales email draft I provided, give me 5 different CTA options for scheduling a meeting or call. Make the wording compelling and action-oriented. Include urgency and exclusivity phrases where possible. Provide clickable calendar links for easier booking.

With different options, you can identify which CTA drives the most conversions based on your offer and audience.

Proofreading and Refining the AI-Generated Content

While ChatGPT provides a huge headstart on creating sales email content, some refinement is required before hitting send.

Here are tips for proofing and improving the copy:

• Check for accuracy – Any data, stats, claims made should be verified.
• Fill in blanks – You may need to add full names, companies, links etc.
• Ensure logical flow – Organization of ideas and transitions may need smoothing.
• Look for repetition – Remove redundancies and vary word usage.
• Inject personality – Add personal details/stories to make it relatable.
• Vary sentence length – Break up lengthy sentences for easier reading.
• Tighten wording – Condense and simplify complex sections.
• Review tone – Does it align with your brand voice and target audience?
• Optimize keywords – Add keywords and synonyms where relevant.
• Check links/CTAs – Test they are working and placed strategically.
• Grammar and spelling – Fix any errors like typos or punctuation issues.

While AI can do the heavy lifting, always spend time refining the output before sending sales emails at scale. Proofing improves engagement, brand consistency and maximizes your chance of converting leads.

Now that we’ve covered how ChatGPT can help at every sales email creation stage, let’s round up some key lessons on using it effectively…

Best Practices and Limitations When Using ChatGPT for Sales Emails

ChatGPT can be an invaluable asset for creating sales emails at scale, but success depends on how you leverage it. Here are some guidelines:

Being Specific and Detailed with Your Prompts

Crafting detailed prompts is vital for getting quality output from ChatGPT.

Ensure your prompts cover:

• Target audience profile and specifics
• Business/product/service background
• Email purpose and objective
• Ideal structure, length and tone
• Any specifications about content, offers, CTAs etc.

Do’s and Don’ts when writing prompts:

• DO provide as much context and details as possible.
• DO specify if you want multiple variations or versions.
• DO request optimized wording suited for the medium.
• DO ask ChatGPT to exclude spammy or repetitive text.
• DON’T assume ChatGPT will infer information you don’t provide explicitly.

Taking the time to craft thoughtful prompts will result in emails that resonate more with your prospects.

Always Reviewing and Editing the Output

While ChatGPT produces very good initial drafts, it is not foolproof.

Here are steps to review and refine the output:

• Check for accuracy: Validate any data, stats, claims made in the emails.
• Ensure relevance: Review if email aligns with your offering, audience and goals.
• Assess tone and voice: Does it reflect your brand style and the reader’s preferences?
• Improve flow: Organize sections, transitions, and ideas logically.
• Add uniqueness: Incorporate details, stories, or personalization.
• Tighten wording: Condense fluffy sections and simplify language.
• Grammar and spelling: Fix typos, formatting errors, punctuation issues.
• Strengthen CTA: Use power words and urgency to drive action.
• Test and optimize: Send variations to identify what works best.

Allocating time to refine the copy is essential so do not skip this step!

Using ChatGPT as a Starting Point, Not a Shortcut

ChatGPT is an excellent tool for quickly generating initial sales email drafts that human copywriters would spend significant time on.

However, keep in mind that:

• It should complement and not replace your skills.
• You still need marketing knowledge and creativity.
• The AI output cannot be sent as-is without refinement.
• There is no substitute for understanding your prospects and business.

Use ChatGPT to accelerate drafted but rely on your expertise to craft resonating emails tailored to each client. Think of it as a supportive framework, not an easy shortcut.

Testing Different Versions of Emails

Leverage ChatGPT’s capability to swiftly produce multiple variations of sales emails.

Aspects you can test:

• Subject lines
• Content focus and tone
• Email length
• CTAs
• Timing
• Offers
• Personalization level

You can then:

• Send A/B tests to small batches
• Analyze open rates, click rates
• Look at reply and conversion rates
• Identify what resonates best

Continuously testing and optimizing your sales emails will improve results over time as you refine elements that work.

Understanding the Current Limitations of AI

While rapidly evolving, ChatGPT does have some limitations to keep in mind:

• May miss niche industry or company-specific details
• Tone can sometimes sound stilted and unnatural
• Legal or compliance issues may be overlooked
• Longer emails can lose coherence
• Personal creativity and intuition is tougher to replicate
• Misunderstands complex instructions frequently
• Output quality varies greatly based on the prompt
• Prone to hallucination and generating inaccurate content

Understand these current gaps while leveraging ChatGPT so you can compensate for them in your reviews. Also provide constructive feedback regularly to the AI to enhance its capabilities.

In summary, be very intentional about how you use ChatGPT for sales emails rather than depending completely on it. With the right approach, it can take your outreach game to new levels but still requires application of skill.

Now let’s run through some sample prompts you can use as inspiration to create sales emails with ChatGPT…

11+ ChatGPT Prompts for Sales Email Inspiration

Let’s look at some example prompts for various sales email purposes to spark ideas:

Prompts for Cold Email First Drafts

Introductory cold email:

“Write a 200 word cold email from me, a sales rep at [company], to the [title] at [company]. [Company] sells [product], a [solution] that helps [target] [pain point]. Focus the email on introducing our offering, key features, and value proposition. Include a CTA to schedule a quick call to discuss further. Use casual but professional language.”

Cold email focused on pain points:

“Compose a 150 word cold email from me at [company] to the [title] at [company] in the [industry] industry. Incorporate their biggest challenges like [pain point 1], [pain point 2] etc. and position [product] as the solution. Highlight the specific benefits and ROI. End with a CTA to set up a custom demo. Make the tone friendly and helpful.”

Cold email with social proof:

“Write a cold email of max 200 words from me at [company] providing [services] to the [title] of [company]. Mention how we have helped similar companies like [company names] achieve [results]. Provide 1-2 real customer review quotes to build credibility. Emphasize our expertise in this domain and include a CTA to schedule a consultation call.”

Prompts for Follow-Up Messages

Simple follow-up email:

“Compose a 100 word followup email connecting with the [title] at [company] I had initially reached out to last week regarding [product/service]. Thank them for their reply and answer any questions they had asked. Provide my availability for discussing next steps and include my phone number and email signature.”

Follow-up with content offer:

“Write a 150 word followup email to the [title] at [company] I reached out to earlier about [product/service]. Reference our last conversation on [topic] and share [content offer like ebook, whitepaper, or case study] that provides additional value on that topic. Include benefits of accessing this content and end with a CTA to schedule a meeting.”

Follow-up email with deadline:

“Compose a followup email with a sense of urgency to the [title] at [company] that I had spoken last week. Mention the value proposition again in 1-2 sentences. Create urgency by mentioning that this [discount/special offer] is only available for the next [3 days]. End with a CTA to schedule a call to discuss before the deadline.”

Prompts for Catchy Subject Lines

“Write 10 creative subject lines using power words and urgency for my cold sales email selling [product] to [target audience]. Mention exclusivity and ROI where possible. Keep subject lines under 50 characters and involve the prospect personally.”

Come up with 5-7 short, benefit-driven subject lines incorporating power words for my follow-up email to [title] at [company] regarding [product/service]. Create a sense of urgency and highlight value where possible. Subject lines should stand out in an inbox and inspire opening the email.”

Prompts for Call-to-Action Ideas

“Generate 3-4 CTAs for my sales email promoting [offering] to [audience]. Include deadlines, discounts, or exclusivity in the CTAs where possible. Use action verbs and make the CTAs short, scannable, and persuasive.”

“For my sales email draft to the [title] at [company], provide 4-5 different CTA options for scheduling a meeting or call. Include clickable calendar links. Create a sense of value and scarcity through the CTA wording.”

As you can see from these examples, tailoring your prompts to be highly specific is key to sales email success with ChatGPT. Use these templates as inspiration, get creative and let the AI be your sales copywriting ally!

Key Takeaways and Next Steps

Let’s recap the core tips covered in this guide and explore additional resources to continue leveling up your sales email game with ChatGPT:

Review of Core Tips for Using ChatGPT for Sales Emails

• Provide sufficient context – The more background given to ChatGPT in the prompt, the better output it can generate tailored to your goals.
• Specify clear guidelines – Setting boundaries and ideal outcomes helps ChatGPT meet expectations.
• Ask for multiple variations – Get several email drafts and subject lines to combine the best elements or A/B test.
• Refine the content – Do not send ChatGPT emails as-is. Spend time adding personality, tightening wording, and optimizing.
• Review limitations – Understand ChatGPT’s current gaps in knowledge, tone, and reasoning to compensate accordingly.
• Use strategically – View ChatGPT as an accelerator of the drafting process rather than a substitute for human creativity and strategy.

Additional Resources for Improving Sales Emails

Here are some helpful resources to continue mastering sales email creation:

• Read blogs and guides on copywriting, A/B testing emails, optimizing subject lines, and building engagement. Constantly learn and experiment.
• Check out tools like Reply, Mailshake, Outreach, and Salesforce to streamline personalization, sequencing, and automation for your cold email campaigns.
• Use subject line analyzers like Subject Line Score or Subject Line Tester to identify top performing headlines.
• Leverage free email templates and get inspiration from resources like MailChimp, HubSpot, and CoSchedule.
• Study what competitors and industry leaders are doing. Sign up for their content and analyze their email language and strategies.
• Attend events, webinars, and trainings on email marketing, copywriting and conversational selling to incorporate new techniques.

Experimenting Further with ChatGPT for Email Marketing

Some ways to explore additional applications of ChatGPT for email:

• Personalize email templates using merge tags, names, company details etc.
• Generate sequences of templated emails for different parts of the sales funnel.
• Craft emails tailored to different segments, roles, regions your company serves.
• Create emails personalized for various stages – new subscriber, inactive user, loyal customer etc.
• Produce tailored responses to frequently asked sales questions in emails.
• Compose compelling newsletters, announcements, promotional campaigns.
• Optimize subject lines for emails targeting different buyer personas.
• Use it to research and incorporate trends, current events, and pop culture references where relevant.

The possibilities are truly endless when it comes to creatively leveraging this AI writing assistant. The key is to use ChatGPT strategically and synergistically as part of your overall sales process.

We hope this guide has equipped you with the knowledge and templates to start experimenting with generating high-converting sales emails at scale with ChatGPT. Happy email marketing!

Summary

ChatGPT provides a game-changing opportunity to enhance and scale your sales email efforts. Here are the core lessons to leverage it effectively:

• Give ChatGPT sufficient background context and clear guidelines in your prompts to get tailored, high-quality output.
• Utilize its ability to swiftly generate multiple variations of emails, subject lines, and CTAs for A/B testing.
• Thoroughly review, refine, and customize the AI-produced drafts before sending out.
• Use ChatGPT’s output as a starting point and apply your human creativity, strategy, and marketing expertise on top.
• Understand the current gaps in ChatGPT’s capabilities and compensate for them when proofing its work.
• Continuously experiment with new ways to leverage ChatGPT’s language skills for crafting resonating sales emails.
• Combine ChatGPT with sales automation and CRM tools to create personalized and coordinated emails at scale.

With the right approach, ChatGPT can significantly enhance sales productivity, creativity, and customer engagement through emails. However, human oversight remains critical to craft emails that truly understand prospects and spark meaningful conversations.

The future possibilities as AI capabilities evolve are incredibly exciting. For now, view ChatGPT as an ally and force multiplier rather than a complete substitute for human creativity and strategy when it comes to sales emails.

Here are some frequently asked questions about using ChatGPT for sales emails:

FAQs

What is ChatGPT and how can it help with sales emails?

ChatGPT is an AI system created by Anthropic to generate human-like text. It can help draft, personalize, and optimize sales emails faster by providing an initial framework to build upon.

What are some tips for crafting effective ChatGPT prompts?

Give ChatGPT extensive background context about your company, product, target audience etc. Specify your precise requirements like length, tone, CTAs. Ask for multiple variations. Set clear boundaries.

Should I use ChatGPT emails as-is without any editing?

No, you should not use the raw ChatGPT output without refining it first. Always spend time personalizing, tightening wording, checking accuracy, improving flow before sending.

What are some current limitations of ChatGPT for sales copy?

Limitations include generating generic or inaccurate content, losing coherence in long copy, lacking creativity, misunderstanding complex instructions, variability in output quality.

How can I use ChatGPT throughout my sales email workflow?

You can use ChatGPT for first drafts, follow-ups, subject lines, CTAs, personalization, A/B testing different versions, creating sequences, responding to FAQs and more.

What additional resources help improve sales copywriting skills?

Reading copywriting blogs/books, studying competitors, taking courses, using sales email tools, leveraging templates, attending marketing events etc. all help level up skills.

Should ChatGPT replace human copywriters and strategists?

No, ChatGPT should complement human creativity and expertise, not fully replace it. There is still substantial need for strategy, critical thinking and human relationships in sales emails.