How do you write a sales break-up email

The biggest fear of any sales representative is silence from a sales prospect. It's more terrifying than missing your quota or lacking a pipeline. That's because silence leaves a deal in limbo. It remains open in the CRM, and naturally, you'll keep your hopes up without many tools to win and close it. A good salesperson digs into their toolkit and draws out break-up emails to avoid the limbo going on indefinitely. It's never easy, but a well-crafted sales break-up email can make it a little bit easier – and give the deal another chance. Next, we'll run you through 10 best practices and tips for writing prospecting break-up emails that help you maintain a positive relationship with your prospect while moving. In addition, we'll introduce you to Flowrite as well as our break-up email template and show you the power of our AI writing assistant with an almost magical break-up email sample.

What is a break-up email?

When you send an email to a prospect again and again but don't hear back from them, you might want to try and close the communication loop by sending a sales break-up email. This email will enable you to confirm either that the prospect is no longer interested or that they're still interested but just haven't had the time to reply. The best break-up emails are designed to provoke a response you haven't gotten previously and are an effective way to move a deal forward to clean it from your pipeline.

How do you write a break-up email?

Wondering what to say in a break-up email? Follow these best practices and tips of break-up email samples to ensure that your last attempt does its job and that you don't come off as pushy or desperate.

1. Underline that your goal is to help the sales prospect

Prospects don't have much incentive to speak with a sales rep who is only interested in the deal for quota's sake. If you're only interested in the deal for quota's sake, prospects will be able to tell, and they don't want to speak with you. Make it clear that you're reaching out because you want to help their business and see if they're still interested in improving their bottom line. So, when writing a break-up email, make sure you have a genuine reason for reaching out. 

2. Go straight to the point

When breaking up with a sales prospect, it's essential to be direct and get to the point – let your prospect know what you want from them, and if they're interested, they'll stay in touch. This approach makes it easier for the prospect to decide and shows that you respect their precious time. If the deal doesn't go through, it's essential to wrap up the relationship professionally for future opportunities with them or their company.

3. Give the prospect an out

Blair Enns of Win Without Pitching recommends sending the potential client a last attempt sales email that removes all emotion and takes it as given that the deal is lost. For example, you can state that you assume they've closed with your competitor. According to Enns, this approach triggers either relief or desire in the prospect. On the other hand, it gives them an easy way out of the conversation with a quick reply, but the fact that you've moved on can also intrigue a sense of urgency. If they're still interested in what you have to offer, they'll surely be quick to respond.

4. Don't walk away from the deal without a value-add

The best break-up emails provide value to the prospects offering them a convenient way to re-engage with you if they become interested again. Many salespersons provide their prospects with additional resources in their break-up emails with the option to get back to them when it best suits the prospect. It doesn't only leave a good impression on the prospect, but the goodwill might also reap benefits for your company in the long run.

5. Use tone to your advantage

When it comes to your last attempt email, it's not only what you write but how you write it. The tone of your email is a powerful tool that you can use your advantage to drive urgency in the prospects. To put it bluntly: No bullshit tone of voice can entice a reaction in the potential client who's not ready to weave their goodbyes to you just yet. If you need help with this, Flowrite's tone selector is your new best friend. 

6. Ask the prospect a question

If you've lost contact with a prospect and want to reopen the discussion, asking them an innocuous question can be an effective sales tactic. The question should be highly relevant to them. For example, you can ask them about the product or deal you discussed or something about their role, business, or industry. Sometimes, these questions gradually lead to a conversation and save the deal you've been going after.

7. Enlist the help of your CEO

If your prospects tend to go MIA on you, it's less likely to happen with the CEO of your company in the picture. If you want to close the loop, write a sales break-up email as if you were the CEO of your company. Then discuss this strategy with them, explaining that you need help moving the deal forward, and ask them to send the break-up email from their email. By having the CEO pick up the conversation with the sales prospect, you've effectively re-engaged them in conversation. By enlisting the company leader to give your prospect one more chance, you'll hopefully jumpstart the dying communication between the two of you.

8. Set clear expectations

The business break-up email is your last dance with the sales lead, so you need to be crystal clear on the fact that you won't be following up on them anymore, and the ball is in their court. If you fail to do that, your final attempt to re-engage the lead won't be effective in driving urgency and achieving what it should: get a response.

9. Break up email subject lines

The email subject line is often the most overlooked yet one of the most critical parts of prospecting break-up emails. So what good will your last attempt make if the recipient doesn't even open it? The sales process has reached a critical fork, and the best break-up email subjects make good use of the tension in the air. You are making a painful decision to part ways, so let it show.

5 examples of the best break up email subject lines:

• < Prospect's name>, it's me not you
• Before I go a few free resources
• Time to Part Ways
• Good Bye, from <Your Name>
• Looks like our timing is off
  

Like the best break-up email subject lines above show you're making a painful decision to part ways with your prospect – and you obviously want them to take a note. So let's put it this way: while you want to keep it professional when parting ways with a sales lead, the subject line of your final attempt is the place to let your emotions show.

10. Keep following up the sales prospect

When a prospect goes silent, it doesn't always mean they're not interested. Even after you've sent the close-the-loop email. It can simply mean they're busy and aren't currently available to talk. By keeping things friendly and open and not getting desperate, you'll save the relationship and keep future opportunities alive. Then, when the time comes to reach out again, send them a neutral sales follow-up email about something of interest to them that might start a conversation organically.

Break up email template by Flowrite

Flowrite is an AI writing assistant that turns your instructions into ready-to-send emails. A core of our product is AI email templates that automatically adapt to the situation and create unique emails considering the recipient and your previous correspondence.

What does this mean in practice? Well, you can forget copying and pasting, filling in the blanks of traditional sales email templates, and typing out sales emails as you know it.

Flowrite allows you to focus on the message instead of the delivery – and save time every day. With our browser extension you will be drafting personalized sales break-up emails faster than ever before.

Try our sales break up email templates yourself

When it comes to sales email templates, break-up email templates are among the most useful ones for salespeople to have at hand at all times. So give the demo below a try to see our break-up email template in action to fully understand how much time you and your sales team can save with Flowrite.

Sales break-up emails can be challenging to write, but they're an essential part of a sales outreach. We hope that by now, you've learned some valuable best practices and tips on how to make your close-the-loop emails worthwhile. However, if you want to move deals forward faster, we suggest you give Flowrite and our sales break-up email template a try.