Email. Love it or hate it, it’s ingrained in pretty much every area of your business so you better get good at it.

A well-written email can, 

…turn an irate customer into a raving fan,

…educate a team member,

…make someone’s whole week,

…transform a looky-loo lurker into a paying client.  

They can affect every aspect of your business so if you’re wondering where can you be doing email better, why not look at it through the microscope of my Six Lens assessment.

The Six Lenses of Business assessment is a process I adapted from Alex Charfens 5 Core Functions analysis. 

We typically use it to assess businesses as a whole (my own and my clients’). It’s the foundation we use to continuously improve and scale.  

But you can also use it to assess smaller parts of the operation when those parts touch all areas of your business, like email. 

So let’s take a look at email through the six lenses.

Lead Generation

When people think of Lead Generation they often think of finding ways to get strangers onto an email list so they can eventually be sold to. And if the goal is to get people ON an email list then obviously sending email can’t be one of those ways you do that, right? I mean, you’d be putting the cart before the horse.

Makes no sense. But…

If you send relevant and entertaining emails to those already on your list you can ask them to share it with their friends and peers. ← that’s lead gen 

You can email past clients and ask for referrals. ← that’s lead gen

You can take screenshots of the fan mail you get in response to your great email and use it to promote your email list on social media. ← that’s lead gen

So, ask yourself, is your email doing everything it can do to drive lead gen for your business? How’d you score it on a scale of 1 to 5?

Nurture Systems

Nurture systems are how you currently help new leads move toward becoming a buyer.. 

Nurture systems often start with an email welcome sequence that welcomes, educates and sometimes invites your new lead to buy. They can include things other than email but we’re focusing on the email bits right now. Regular emails and/or newsletters that keep your business top of mind and continue to build a relationship with your new lead would also be included here.

How does your email game stack up in the Nurture Systems lens?

Is your welcome sequence specific to your lead magnet and paid offer? Does it tie those things together nicely? Do your emails educate your audience about the offer(s) you have and how they can benefit them? Can you intentionally segment your list so that you offer the right thing to the right person at the right time? Can you do more personalized outreach like sending a birthday or anniversary message or card? Maybe a free gift or discount code?

Conversion

Conversion is when someone takes a desired action. Typically people talk about conversion in relation to sales when a lead turns into a buyer. But it really is anytime someone takes an action you want them to take. So someone opting into your newsletter is a conversion even though no money exchanged wallets.

How well are your emails converting for you?

Remember, when you’re evaluating the conversion of your emails think of all the different actions you ask people to take. All the engagement opportunities you’ve highlighted for your subscriber. 

• Are you asking people to take action enough? 
• Are you burying the Call to Action (CTA) in the PS all the time? 
• Are you making it clear how taking the action will benefit your subscriber? 
• Do you mix things up a bit (use different wording, have different CTAs)? 
• Are you putting more than one CTA in your emails (this will reduce your conversion rate as people will have to decide which to take action on so more often than not you want only one Call to Action. Remember, 1 email, 1 purpose).

Delivery

Delivery is all about how consistent and engaging the customer experience is. And email is a big part of that.

For everything a person can obtain from you (a freebie, a course, a membership, 1:1 service, etc) you need to have a way to deliver it to them consistently and in a way that encourages them to engage with the process. 

Whether it’s onboarding them to a course (telling them what their next steps are or which lesson they should be looking at), or bringing them on as a 1:1 client (which means you need a contract and billing info etc), you need to do it in a way that ensures they do the things you need them to do.

When evaluating the emails you use in your delivery process think about things like:

• How many things are you asking for in a single email? Too many things to do will ensure something gets missed. You typically don’t want to ask for more than 3 things in any one email. If you need them to do more than 3 things make sure you provide a checklist that is easy to use/follow and that you follow up with them to remind them about what is still needed and when.
• How many emails you’re sending and how often — too many or too often with frustrate the person you’re engaging with and will increase the likelihood of something being missed.
• How long are the emails? A good sales email can be long but onboarding emails? Typically, shorter is better. Making your emails straightforward and concise will help ensure the person takes the action you need them to take. The exception to this is your welcome sequence or nurture emails that you send when someone joins your mailing list. Those can be longer but send some short ones too.
   

Are you clear in the email about its purpose? When onboarding someone you want it to be clear as to what they need to do and why they need to do it (What’s the benefit to them?), and when it needs to be done by. That last one is dependent on the type of email you’re sending but the more direction you give as to when they should do something typically the better.

How email can improve your Delivery score: What is your onboarding process like? Does it make your new buyer feel great about their purchase? Does your onboarding email make your buyer’s next step crystal clear, or does it leave them feeling confused?

Buyer Relations

This is all about retention, reselling, and upselling your clients which is honestly one of the biggest areas most of us end up leaving money on the table. 

When a client’s project is done we offboard them, thank them, and send them on their way. Sometimes we ask for a testimonial or referral but for some reason, we rarely ask them to buy again or buy the next level or extend their work with us in some other way. 

So when you’re thinking about how well your emails are performing in this area you want to think about the emails you send as part of your offboarding process. 

• Are you asking for testimonials and referrals?
• Are you offering them the opportunity to continue working with you?
• Do you ask them to get on your mailing list so they can stay informed on other opportunities to work with you?
• Are you suggesting complementary products or services that would enhance the work you’ve already done with them?
• Are your emails clear and to the point? No wishy-washy “let me know if there’s anything else I can do” nonsense and instead straight-up “Hey, this other thing I do can help you with this. You should get it” kinda talk.

Team Focus and Skills

The final lens assesses how well your team stays aligned on company goals and how well they are equipped to meet those goals.

Sending a summary of your meeting so everyone can review it and make sure they’re on the same page as to what was discussed.

Follow up with your team to ask them what hurdles they’re facing, what training or skills they feel the team is lacking or what they personally would like to know more about. 

Sending little messages to thank them for a job well done or highlighting a win or encouraging them when they’ve hit a roadblock can all help them feel more aligned and engaged with the company. 

So how do your messages to your team score in this area?

• Are they purposeful, concise, and devoid of all humanity? All business all the time? Or do you make sure to say “Good morning” when it’s the first message of the day and send emails that are meant just to say “thanks” or “good job” or “loved that you did that, would like to see more!”
• Do you encourage two-way communication? Ask for feedback/suggestions/thoughts on how they’re doing and feeling (or how the company is doing)?

How might you use email (or other messaging systems) in your company better in this area?

Scale Your Business With Email

I’ve had the privilege of working with some of the best copywriters in the English-speaking online business world, so I’ve learned a lot about effectively communicating, selling, and sustainably growing a business with email. The best thing about it? Email can effectively scale just about any business in just about any industry under the sun.

To learn more about optimizing email and other practices in your online service-based business, check out Scale Society, my six-month group program that will help you create the unique foundation your business needs to scale from 5 to 6 even 7 figures.

 

Get on the waitlist for Scale Society here.