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Is the 'Break Up' Email Dead? [Three Examples]
Gabe Larsen
CMO at Kustomer | Marketing Leader for $1B Meta Acquisition | Specializing in Scaling Businesses from $1M to $1B
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I received an email from one of my colleagues the other day. It was a 'break up' email from a prospect that had been trying to reach him over the past two weeks. My colleague really liked the email so he sent it to me. I in turn reached out to the sales development rep and asked if I could post the email on LinkedIn and he graciously agreed. As soon as I posted it, I started to get some pretty strong comments both in favor and against the idea of breakup emails. Here are a couple of comments:
Angel Denker WIIFT. What's in it for THEM?
Tony Rangel I like it. No email is perfect, but if you can spur a response where there was not one previously, both parties win. Either it's a yes and the discussion begins or a no and both parties move on.
Kenny Madden I humbly dislike these break up e mails Gabe Larsen. Just my opinion. I feel a rep has either not provided much value and the approach looks templated.
After 40 comments and a few thousands views in a couple of days, I thought I'd do some digging to determine if 'break up' emails have lost their mojo. But, before I answer that question, let's look at a few example break up emails:
Example One
This one follows the original design of breakup emails from HubSpot:
Subject: Should I stay or should I go?
I've seen so many copycat emails that follow this form, to be honest, this type of breakup email might be dead. Either way, here is a quick analysis:
Strength
I like that they discuss their purpose and bring in humor. Humor is often the key to a strong 'break up' email.
Opportunity
This email might as well be a template. It lacks relevancy and personalization - it has nothing to do with me as a prospect. The sales rep only wants to talk about their product. With the humor, the person has really missed the opportunity to talk about something that is funny to me. Armadillos are a great animal but they are not my animal of choice.
Here is the email InsideSales.com received from JJ, the email I was referring to in the first part of this post:
Example Two
Subject: Joshua, love/hate relationship?
Strength
I like that JJ used the name of the person in the subject line. Its strong when JJ references to his past communication. JJ's humor is short and too the point.
Opportunity
I like this email more than the previous email but again it would also be nice to have some relevancy and personalization to me as a prospect.
Example Three
Subject Line: Forget Business, Let's Talk Salsa Dancing
Strength
The personalization in this email is fantastic. It was so relevant to the prospect that the prospect loved it! The email also uses strong humor and the embedding of the GIF seemed to be a nice touch. I love that this can't be a template. There is just no way. It's not possible.
Opportunity
This might be deviating a little too far from the overall purpose of the email. The sales rep literally says let's forget about talking sales but then t
Summary
I don't think the 'break up' email is dead however if you you send a generic break up emails that are not relevant or personalized to the prospect, you'll find yourself in a bad place. In addition creativity and/or brevity trumps. You can't use the HubSpot email from two years ago, you have to come up with something new.
Want to learn more about prospecting? Check out our Sales Acceleration Podcast as we've had some killer episodes on the topic.
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7yI think I have about 10 break up emails in my inbox... 😑
Co-Founder - Soar.com
7yGabe - I'm pretty sure I received 2 out of 3 of those emails from sales people in recent weeks. Aside from echoing some of the other feedback from people in terms of style and voice...I think the most important variable in assessing whether this is appropriate or not is the background/context of previous interactions, if any. I've felt really weird receiving "break up" emails from sales people in situations where I never asked for contact or even responded to previous inquiries. To me that feels not only disingenuous but also presumptuous and possibly condescending for someone to "break up" with me if I never agreed to "go out" with them in the first place. In cases where I've expressed genuine interest and then given the sales guy the run around, an authentic "break up" email has effectively appealed to my sense of compassion...after all I opened the door for dialogue and encouraged him to invest time in my interest. One more thought...there's nothing worse than getting a "break up" email from someone, and feeling relieved that they won't be bothering me anymore, only to learn through a subsequent email that they didn't really move on. Look if you're going to give me an ultimatum and my actions show that I choose the "break up" option...then have the self-respect to stand by the outcome. You won't gain any credibility if you grovel back and beg for attention after you've played the "break up" card. So if you are gonna say it...mean it.
Sales nerd | CEO of No Fluff Selling | Father of 3 | Startup Mentor
7yLove it, Gabe - on point as usual. Break up emails can work if they're personalized, like all great email. I will often use a strong initial approach email that is personalized, and then try to use two bump emails before sending another customized email. (Bumps: "Hey Jim, just wanted to make sure this didn't get stuck in an email filter. Would love to hear back." "Jim - not trying to add to your email pile, but want to be pleasantly persistent. Can we talk this week?") Bumps make it easier to follow up without needing a new relevant pitch every single time, and they're often the thing I need to get them to remember that they meant to reply to me and forgot. Thanks for sharing!
Enterprise Revenue Builder, Leader and Advisor
7ySearching my spam folder looking for the armadilo email👍
Vice President Sales at Amplify
7yGabe Larsen- Sharing with my teams. Thanks for the good read!