Sales email templates are partially pre-written emails that you can quickly customize and send to leads to book next steps with them and move them forward in your sales pipeline. Sellers often save email templates for a variety of sales situations — typically booking a call or demo with a warm prospect, but also getting a cold lead initially interested in their offering. A personalized generic or situation-specific sales email template can help save time and increase conversion rates.
- Free General Sales Email Template: Use this standard sales email template as a baseline to tailor for your needs. Read More Below.
- Format of an Effective Sales Email Template: Learn the standard components that all sales email templates should include. Read More Below.
- 11 Free Sales Email Templates for Any Scenario: Check out these situation-specific sales email templates for any selling scenario. Read More Below.
If you're looking exclusively for email templates for cold leads, check out our article on the best cold email templates. Otherwise, keep reading for sales email templates for a variety of leads — then, once you understand the elements of the best templates, learn how to write and send effective sales emails with our article on how to write a sales email.
Best Free General Sales Email Template
We created a free generic sales email template that you can customize to fit each specific lead. The email template is designed to help you introduce your business offering to potential buyers in a way that inspires them to schedule a meeting with you to learn more. It does this by opening with something you’ve learned about the lead, listing common pain points the recipient likely suffers from, pitching the solution, and finally asking for the meeting. Click below to download the template.
Format of an Effective Sales Email Template
An effective sales template consists of a from line, a subject line, an opener, a pitch, a call-to-action (CTA), and an email signature. Below, we'll briefly describe each component and give you some examples from our free template.
When your email arrives in your lead’s inbox, the first thing they’ll look at will likely be the from line so they can identify the sender. For this reason, consider updating your from line for your emails in Outlook or Gmail to entice the recipient to open it in the first place. This is especially helpful if you’ve spoken with the lead before, since they'll understand that the email is from you and can be trusted. It can also help you be clear and straightforward in cold emails.
Here are a few examples of upfront from lines:
- {Your First Name} from {Your Company}
- {Your First Name} @ {Your Company}
- {Your First Name}, the {Topic Relevant To Your Business} Expert
This is the example from line shown in our template:
Sales email template from line
Your subject line is the next thing your prospects see when your email arrives in their inbox. The purpose of a sales email's subject line is to get the lead or prospect’s attention. It should spark curiosity and motivate them to open up the email. Sellers do this with various techniques, from listing a shocking benefit to asking a question specific to the recipient.
Effective sales email subject lines are:
- Quick question about {Lead’s Domain of Responsibility}
- Interested in a {% Increase or Decrease of Important Metric}?
- Sick of {Pain Point Your Product/Service Solves}?
Here’s an example of a powerful subject line from our template:
Sales email template subject line
Typically, the opener greets the reader, introduces you and your company, and states the purpose of the email. It might also be used to hook the reader by stating something you learned about them during your research, such as a recent promotion. Use your opener to build rapport and give your prospect context so that they keep reading.
Effective sales email introductions include:
- I noticed that you are {Fact You Learned Through Research}
- {Mutual Connection} mentioned we should get in touch
- The reason for emailing you today is that {Reason}
- Congrats on {Promotion, Funding, Job Change, Award, etc.}
Here’s the generic opener from our template:
Sales email template opener
Your pitch is where you describe your offer, typically in the form of an elevator pitch that mentions a common pain point your target audience experiences and then briefly explains your value proposition. Starting the pitch with problems or pain points is a great way to get the lead’s attention — it also helps you come across as a problem solver instead of a spammer.
Here are some great ways to frame the pitch:
- A lot of people come to us, {Your Company Name}, because they’re sick of {Pain Point}. {Product Name} rids them of this forever and gives them {Value Proposition}.
- I read that your company has {Trigger Event — e.g., hired 1,000 new employees}. A lot of companies who do that have trouble {Pain Point}. Our {Service Name} helps them overcome it by {How It Works} so that they {Value Proposition}.
Check out our pitch from our sales email template:
Sales email template pitch
Your CTA states the next steps you want the recipient to take. Typically, this means asking for time on their calendar to have a call or meeting. Your CTA should be clear, concise, and easy to comply with. To do so, we recommend using a meeting scheduler tool like [fitlink slug="calendly-main"]Calendly[/fitlink] that gives the lead access to your calendar to schedule time on their own. Simply link out to it in the email and tell the recipient to schedule time.
Here are some examples of CTAs:
- Are you open to scheduling some time for a quick five-minute call to {Purpose of Call}? If so, please pick a time from my calendar: {Meeting Scheduler Link}.
- How about we set up a web-demo to show you the platform? I’m available from {Timeframe — e.g., 1-4 pm} on {Day 1} and {Day 2}. Let me know which works best for you and I’ll send over a calendar invite.
- Please reply with “yes” if you’re suffering from the above pains and would like to learn how we can help.
The last example is best suited for a cold lead who might not be ready for a call. Always have your lead or prospect’s feelings in mind when crafting each part of your email template.
Here’s an effective CTA from our general sales email template:
Sales email template CTA
Your email signature includes your sign-off, such as “Sincerely, {Your Name},” and details about you and your company like your company name, phone number, job title, personal website, and LinkedIn profile link to build credibility and give the recipient an easy way to research and contact you. Keep the information below the sign-off clear, professional, and concise. There’s no need for quotes or cliches here.
Here are effective sales email sign-offs:
- All the best,
- Best,
- Best regards,
- Thanks,
- Sincerely,
Take a look at our template's straightforward signature section:
Sales email template email signature
Whether you use a sales email template or create your own, make sure all six of these components are included to encourage your recipients to open your email, read it fully, and follow your CTA.
11 Sales Email Templates for Any Scenario
Salespeople often find themselves in various sales situations, each demanding a different type of email to help them move the deal forward. We’ve created sales email templates for the 11 most common sales scenarios, from reaching out to a cold lead to following up with a webinar attendee to booking a demo with a prospect. Each template is customizable so that you can quickly and efficiently personalize it to fit each specific lead and circumstance.
Sales Email Template for B2B Cold Outreach
This cold email template is designed for sales reps reaching out to B2B decision makers in an effort to get them interested in a business offer. The goal is to get a reply back in which the lead expresses interest in learning more and agrees to a discovery call. This email does this effectively by opening with a line about the recipient and then listing common pain points that your recipient likely has if they fit your customer persona.
Expand this section to see a sales email template to use when reaching out to cold B2B leads, and check out our cold email templates article for even more first-touch templates:
Sales Email Template for a Warm Referral
Use this template if someone recommended that you speak with one of their connections about your offering. This could be a referral from a friend or an employee who passed you to someone else in their company. The goal is to book a call by name dropping the connection in the subject line and giving a quick pitch. For help crafting this pitch, check out our article on the elevator pitch, where you'll find the steps to create an effective one plus quality examples.
Check out the warm referral sales email template below:
Sales Email Template for a Cold Lead Follow-up
Use this template if you’re following up with a cold lead who hasn’t responded to your first email. The goal here is to remind them to read and respond to your sales message, while also providing value to them. Our template does this by politely reminding the lead about your last email and giving them a useful piece of content — either from your brand or another company.
Here's an effective template when following up with a cold lead:
Sales Email Template for a Warm Prospect Follow-up
Sometimes your qualified prospect forgets to respond to your email, which can stall the sales process. To keep the wheels moving, send them a friendly reminder about your previous email that will spur them into action, whether that’s signing a contract or scheduling time for a presentation. Our email template galvanizes them by focusing on the benefits they’ll receive by taking next steps.
Use this sales email template for follow-ups to warm leads:
Sales Email Template for Website Visitors
Website visitors coming to check out your product or pricing page are often expressing buying intent, so it’s smart to email them directly to get the ball rolling. This email template will build interest within the lead by mentioning the page they visited, create desire by making a quick pitch, and then influence action by asking them if they have interest in a quick call.
Expand the below for the sales email template specifically for website visitors:
Sales Email Template for After a Trigger Event
A trigger event is a change in the lead’s situation that creates a new opening for you to sell your product or service to them. Examples include promotions, company reorganizations, or investments and expansions. This email will help you seize this new opportunity by mentioning the trigger event and explaining why this is the perfect time for your lead to check out your offering. This template also shows the lead you’ve done your research.
Use this template when sending a sales email to a lead after a trigger event:
Sales Email Template for a Demo Request
If you’re selling software, your leads might request a live demo by filling out a form on your website or ad. If so, you’ll want to send them an email to set up the web-demo. The email should focus on the specific feature they expressed interest in seeing. Sometimes they’ll specify their needs and interests in the form — otherwise, you can look in your marketing automation software to see the ad or web page that brought them to the form.
Check out the template for setting up a discovery call and demo with an interested lead:
Sales Email Template for After Meeting a Lead at an Event
If you meet a lead at a trade show, conference, or baseball game, you’ll want to follow up with them with an email to schedule a meeting to talk with them more about your business offering. Do this with an email template that leverages the rapport you’ve already built by first mentioning something you two discussed when you met. Then, state why the lead would benefit from your product/service, and end with a strong CTA for a meeting.
Here's a template to use after meeting a new lead in person:
Sales Email Template for a Webinar Attendee
Sellers following up with leads who attended your webinar and fit your ideal customer profile should use this email template. The template focuses on connecting the issue or best practice discussed in the webinar to your product/service in an effort to turn them from someone interested in your brand to someone interested in a specific business offering.
Click the below to see the sales email template for webinar attendees:
Sales Email Template for Free Trial Sign-up
Salespeople often reach out to leads who signed up for a free trial in an effort to get them to look at the paid option. The email should be friendly and paint yourself as a useful resource at your company, while also educating them on the benefits of switching to the paid version. Our template does this by asking if they have any questions, highlighting three benefits of the paid option, then asking them if they’d like a personalized demo of the upgraded level.
Check out this template to use when emailing leads who have signed up for a free trial:
Sales Email Template to Find the Decision Maker
Salespeople selling into companies might be unsure of who within the company is the right person to talk with about their product or service. Therefore, they need an email template like the one below that will help them get passed along to this decision maker. The template below does this by introducing your solution and politely asking who would be in charge of evaluating it. Ideally, send it along to a slightly higher-level executive who can refer you down the ladder.
Use this sales email template to find the decision maker at a company:
Top 5 Tips for Crafting a Sales Email Template
Whether you're writing a sales email template from scratch or finding and modifying one that largely fits your situation, there are a few key tips to keep in mind so you can end up with the most effective template possible. These include prioritizing brevity, personalization, and casual language, creating templates for various scenarios, and testing multiple templates to identify the best ones.
Keep your sales email template as short as possible so you can personalize it later without it getting too long. Your leads will likely be busy, so if they open your email and see that it's a quick read, they'll be more likely to read it all the way through and follow your request at the end.
If you find a template online, read it closely and make any changes that you believe will improve it for your business. While you can take a sales email template verbatim and simply fill in the blanks, it's often worth taking a few minutes to verify that the bones of the email are structured just right for you and your audience.
Sales emails are a useful tool for nurturing your leads and developing relationships with them. When writing your template, keep the permanent language both professional and conversational. Using verbiage that's too formal could cause your leads to perceive you as stuffy or lose interest early on in the email.
Companies that offer more than one product or service often create a template for each one. By drafting these specific templates, you can make your emails seem more personalized to your leads without requiring much effort in the moment.
Create two templates, then use one on half of your leads and the other on the remaining half. If you notice that one template elicits many more positive replies, consider it to be the winner and use it with the additional leads you email. You can then start testing different subject lines for the winning template and monitor which gets more opens.
Above all, remember that you can — and should — continue tweaking your template until you've found the version that tends to bring you the best results. Writing the best sales email template is a continual work in progress, so include all of the key components, follow these tips, and monitor the success of your templates, and you'll book more meetings with leads.
Bottom Line: Sales Email Template
Sales email templates help you speed up your emailing process while maintaining a high level of personalization for each email, thereby increasing the number of emails you can send and their open and response rates. Sales emailing is a great way to generate new opportunities as well as nurture current ones toward a close. Equipped with these templates, start modifying and personalizing them to your audience and seeing which perform best.
