Henna Pryor: How to Write Insanely Effective Emails

In this episode, Marcus Edwardes speaks with Henna Pryor of Pryority Group about How to Write Insanely Effective Emails. For 14 years, Henna was one of the top finance and accounting recruiters in the Tri-State area, and consistently in the 10% of performers at Kforce, including the number one spot in 2017. In 2019, she founded the Pryority Group, where she focuses on executive coaching and transformative training for high achievers. She recently developed a course aimed squarely at helping recruiting and sales professionals massively improve their outreach game; or, as she puts in, “write insanely effective emails that get results.”

Henna notes that the staffing industry, in recent times, has focused on quantity over quality when putting together messaging campaigns. In a globalized world where recruiters and sales professionals constantly need to cut through noise and ever-shrinking attention spans, it’s understandable and time-saving to simply rely on sheer volume and the law of large numbers. However, by taking the extra time and effort to personalize each message, you set yourself up for even greater success. Namely, you should strive for the ability to connect with and convert someone in such a way that they are compelled to respond to your outreach.

Start with your prospect’s story, not yours. Nobody wants to hear about you first. Prospects are concerned with only one thing throughout your interaction: “What’s in it for me?” This is why Henna highly discourages using a template or, even worse, a script when reaching out. Your message should be in your voice and, more importantly, it should be tailored specifically to the person you’re messaging. However, to become productive with your time as a recruiter or sales professional, Henna recommends employing segmentation to be able to send out multiple messages while resonating with the “audiences” you are reaching out to.

Listen in as Henna discusses the difference between a blueprint and a script; the power of segmentation and specificity when crafting messages; creating curiosity in your subject lines; and how personalization, warmth, and fun can encourage more engagement.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode:

• [1:59] Why messaging is paramount
• [3:47] The key components to a successful messaging campaign
• [6:16] How to connect with and convert prospects
• [9:18] Getting and maintaining a prospect’s attention
• [15:15] Crafting personalized messages using segmentation
• [19:37] Incorporating your call to action in your message
• [22:43] Good versus bad headlines
• [26:26] The downsides of automated messages
• [30:40] Creating commonality and fun in your interactions with prospects
• [35:36] How Henna’s training has helped recruiters
• [38:08] Focusing on benefits over features
• [42:14] Approaching cold versus warm candidates and clients
• [43:47] Advice on email sequencing
• [47:03] Two tips to instantly increase the quality of your messages

Key quotes:

• “90% of people screen their phone calls and don’t pick up an unknown phone number anymore.”
• “Like it or not, people will instantly judge you based on the words that you use.”
• “When you’re speaking to everyone, you’re speaking to no one.”
• “People don’t buy features. People buy benefits.”

Resources Mentioned:

• The world’s only sales messaging and copywriting masterclass for the staffing industry: Recruiter’s Copy Clinic
• Connect with Henna Pryor on LinkedIn: Henna Pryor
• Email Henna at henna@pryoritygroup.com