So, this feels a bit scary.
There’s this one trick that I tell my clients. I made the decision a while ago that I wouldn’t ever put this in a blog, because I thought I had to save something just for them.
The thing is, it’s just not my style. Even literally – a few years ago on holiday, I read an interview where someone said,
“The best advice I ever had? My nan always said, Never save anything for best”
It had a bit of a profound effect on me (and my wardrobe), and I’ve stuck to it. Now, people often say, “Ooh, fancy frock, Marsha! Are you off to somewhere special?”, when I’m just popping out to do the recycling.
So, in the spirit of Never Saving Anything For Best, here is my BIGGEST client secret, wrapped in a video about the BEST way to end an email.
WARNING: It includes some MIND CONTROL. Please only use your new-found powers for good….
Make the email about them | Don’t ask what you can google | Keep it brief | Add value
Talking people through the process of doing something,
makes them more inclined to do it.
(TWEET THAT by clicking HERE!)
Your Turn
Try these two tricks out on at least one email this week, then let me know in the comments below how it went.
I’d also love to know what you thought of those tips – and the video – and whether you have any similar tweaks you always make in your emails. Just let me know by leaving a comment below, or clicking here.
Of course, if you want the full VIP treatment – with more advice like this, that’s tailored to you and your situation, click here to find out how, or just to schedule a FREE, no obligation call with me.
If you enjoyed this video and you know someone else who might, you can share it with them by clicking on one of the round buttons below, or spooookily hanging to your left.
Thanks!
You rule,
xx (Yes Yes) Marsha
PS this week, I told the Yes Yes Marsha Mailer Family why, for Halloween, I’m dressing up as my networking nemesis.
Want to know my best-ever client secret – and get even more advice, tips, plus stories that I won’t put on the internet? Come and join the Yes Yes Family – it’s free! Just pop your details in below:
How To Win Friends And Influence People In The Digital Age by Dale Carnegie & Associates:
To buy in the US/Canada/Other, click here
To buy in the UK click here
VIDEO CREDITS:
Music:
Intro/outro music: ‘George Square’, by the amazing David Berkeley: http://www.davidberkeley.com.
Music during pretend radio show: ‘One And Only’ by the wonderful Anna Vogelzang: http://theanna.bandcamp.com
Sound effects: Sironboy, northern87 & HerbertBoland, all from freesound.org
Everything else: copyright Marsha Shandur 2013
26 Comments
Lara
October 31, 2013Great video again! I am always telling people that they should tell people what they want them to do. It isn’t bossy, people just won’t necessarily think to do what you want them to do otherwise! That’s why suggesting what people should comment on in the comments is always so good – otherwise most of us are inclined to simply think “good post!” not write anything.
PS I have a really hard time not using emoticons :)
Marsha Shandur
October 31, 2013Thanks, Lara! Yes, it’s funny, I’m sure *I* used to worry it was pushy, but then I saw other people do it and realised I don’t mind at all.
And I, as I said, LOVE an emoticon. I’m haunted, though I am haunted by what Will says in this scene from The Inbetweeners:
(warning, teenage boy-style gutter language in this clip!)
liz Scully
November 1, 2013Great post Marsha – and brilliant advice. When I’m coaching clients to close a sale, I do the same thing (go ahead and pull your diary out – are you free next Monday? Good, block out the next 10 mondays for our sessions – and now would you like to use visa, mastercard or American express?) Works like a charm.
One thing though – in India, the magic words that get a reply are this, you just put at the bottom, please revert. Like your tip, it will utterly change results. I was astounded when I started using it.
Marsha Shandur
November 1, 2013Liz!!!
(1) Thanks for the nice words
(2) This is going to sound crazy, but I just HADN’T thought of it in terms of sales – genius!
(3) I LOVE this fact about India! What does “please revert” mean?? Hearing stuff like that (that a language I know so intimately can be used – and have a huge effect – in a way I can’t even begin to understand) bends my brain in a delicious way!
liz Scully
November 1, 2013Yes, I’m with you ‘please revert’ does sound very odd in standard English, you’re not wrong.
but it’s meaning is simple – it just means ‘please revert back about this issue’. But it’s affect is much, much more. Instead of just twanging your mails silently out into the void to never hear anything by return, soon as you add those two magic words you get a reply. Probably not the one you want, but an actual reply all the same.
Now, would this be the moment to gently plug my personal blog? Ostensibly it’s about the quirky joys of Indian English, but mostly it’s just me being lightly confused, and searing indictments of citrus fruit quality in Bangalore. Should such hard hitting news be of interest, you can find it at http://www.madamletmetellyouonething.com/
Ps You really should try that leading technique for sales – it works like a charm
Marsha (Yes Yes Marsha)
November 2, 2013That is AMAZING. I am going to try and adopt Please Revert into my everyday speech.
And thanks for the link, I’ll check it out!
Solveig
November 1, 2013Love your video! And couldn’t agree more with you.
xx
Marsha Shandur
November 1, 2013Thanks, Solveig! Glad you’re with me on this :)
martin
November 1, 2013My missus uses “let me know what you think” to sign off with emails all the time – I totally get why she does it at work, but it does grate a bit when she does it in emails to me!
Marsha Shandur
November 1, 2013Martin, that’s HILARIOUS! I have TOTALLY accidentally tried to use my mind tricks on my sweetheart.
Also, the thing that scares me about having put up this video is that now people will all know when I’m doing it to them!
victorialucia
November 1, 2013This was so great! Thanks for the great information. I’ll use this next week and let you know how it goes.
Marsha Shandur
November 1, 2013Thanks, Victoria, please do! I hope the mind control works for you too (as long as you’re using your powers only for good :) ).
Love your blog, happy to have you drop by here!
Stacy Boegem
November 1, 2013Great video, Marsha! This was my first time coming across your site and you, and I’m happy I did. Great email tips, and much needed advice for many. Email is tricky because we can control what we write, but we can’t control how it’s read. Recipients bring their own mood, their own experience, their own perspectives, beliefs, etc. when they read an email, so if you catch someone on a bad day or in a bad mood, a perfectly benign email could be misinterpreted by them even if you meant nothing negative or obnoxious, etc. at all! Thus, smiling through your email is so critical as it results in you infusing more positivity and is less likely to be read in any kind of icky way. I know this one first hand since the first email I ever received from my husband (when I had no idea who he was) I interpreted to be uppity and obnoxious, when he didn’t intend that at all… Married 7 years now, and still joke about that email exchange – especially his use of the word “perhaps” when making a suggestion to me…
Marsha Shandur
November 1, 2013Stacy!! I love this comment so much!!!
First of all, everything you said about people’s moods etc is SO TRUE, so eloquently put, and will, if you don’t mind, now be included in what I tell my clients. Thank you!
Secondly – that’s HILARIOUS about the first email exchange with the husband! Thank goodness you chose to overlook that dangerous little “Perhaps”.
Thanks so much for stopping by and telling that awesome story (and the brilliant thoughts).
Melissa Burkheimer
November 1, 2013I just used this trick!! Your tips are so helpful Marsha. Love you how you became a radio DJ there for a minute. :) xo
Marsha Shandur
November 2, 2013Brilliant – you’ll have to let me know if it worked! And dude, that hand-on-hip stance is EXACTLY how I looked when I *was on the radio!
Shana LaFore
November 2, 2013Fantastic and entertaining, as always. You’re absolutely right. A quick short play-by-play CTA works like a charm and the “happy ending” is great. I too like Warmly, and Best. Thanks for the great vids. Keep ’em coming!
Marsha Shandur
November 2, 2013Thanks, Shana! Ha ha, I love that you called it a “happy ending”
(though possibly because I have a smutty mind)
ceciliamoorcroft
November 4, 2013Another fabulous video Marsha, what a treat! Love your voice, loved the radio bit. Now that we have the videos, I can hear your voice and your smile in everything you write too.
I love the mind control. Makes me feel a little shy, but I promise to try it. :D
Smiling through my comment,
Cecilia
oxo
Marsha Shandur
November 4, 2013I, too, am smiling through your comment! :)
Thanks so much. And I promise you that that sentence does not read with as much impact as it feels like when writing it!
Matt D
November 7, 2013I was flirting with someone over email (who later became a girlfriend), She said the thing that sold me was the message I sent that just said “Entertain me”.
Marsha Shandur
November 7, 2013Matt! Whit whoo! As a bit of a show-off myself, you had me at “Entertain..”
Ann Harris (@sosocialann)
February 25, 2014Marsha – this is fabulous! So glad I found ya, though I know this is an old post it’s still *super* relevant. Thanks pretty lady!
Marsha Shandur
February 25, 2014Aw, thanks Ann, you’ve made my afternoon! :)
Danielle Lemieux
January 16, 2019Totally doing this right now!!!! MIND CONTROL FOR THE WIN! Thanks Marsha.
Marsha (Yes Yes Marsha)
January 18, 2019Sweet!!!
Leave A Response