Summer is in full swing. As things heat up we thought it would be the perfect time to talk in this blog post, about ways to put some sizzle in your sales using the power of metrics.

Analyze This

Trying to get your business development program to measure up with the best in the business? It might just be a matter of metrics.

So as a hotel sales manager, you’ve taken on the herculean task of crafting and implementing your business development program. Before saying congrats on a job well done, we have one question for you: How are you measuring its effectiveness?

It’s one thing to have your sales team busy pumping out emails and tracking down leads, but if you’re not quantifying, analyzing and following up on the results of those efforts, well, your program needs some love.

So, what’s the missing element that will get your Biz Dev to next level status and have your team selling smarter, faster and more efficiently? Easy, it’s called metrics.

In short, metrics is data. Here at UpMail the one thing we love more than geeking out on data, is getting others to. So, in this post we’ll show you how – by analyzing the performance of two easy email metrics – you can up your business development program to measure up with the best in the industry.

#1 Open rate

Your emails to prospects have all been sent. Great, now do you wait for your inbox to fill up and your phone to buzz with incoming calls? Of course not. Now’s the time to put data (we told you we love data already, right?) to work for you.

By using email tracking tools you can actually see who opened (or didn’t open) your message. Armed with this actionable information, you now have the insight necessary to follow up with those prospects that have showed the most interest in what you’re offering.

This is what we mean at UpMail when we talk about emailing smarter. You’ll now be spending your valuable time engaging further with only the most promising leads, those with the greatest interest in what you’re offering.

Here are some free (that got your attention, didn’t it?) tips on getting that open rate percentage to go up:

The medium is the message: The days of sitting at our desks from 9 to 5 and reading all of our emails on a computer screen are disappearing faster than a Snapchat. Our screens now fit in our hand and go with us everywhere. In the morning and evenings, when we’re in transit or at home, is when many of us check up on emails using our cell. If you’re sending emails at these times, keep them short and sweet, because that’s what reads best on our small screens.

Size does matter: Remember that a message can look awesome on your laptop but read awful on your phone. It’s called responsiveness, and it refers to the adaptability of a message according to the size of the screen it’s read on. When it comes to emais, small screens can wreak havoc with font sizes, column width and layouts. To ensure maximum impact, and response rates, be sure to factor in responsiveness in your email design.

Keep it personal: If you’re still sending out mass, generic email blasts and hoping for the best, we have news for you – times have changed. These days everyone is time starved and attention spans can barely handle 140 characters. One way to get a hold of a lead’s limited attention is to personalize emails to them.

Personalized emails get a response rate that’s 22% higher than those that aren’t*. But crafting personalized emails is time consuming and difficult you say? Actually no, it’s quick and super easy as long as you have the right tools. UpMail allows you to send up to 200 custom tailored emails at once.

#2 Click Rate

It’s one thing to open an email, but it’s entirely something else to engage with the content.

Did your lead actually click on a link you sent, open an attachment or read your template? There’s no need to guess anymore. UpMail’s real time, interactive dashboard lets you know how deep your prospect engaged with your material.

It’s called the click rate and it‘s important for two reasons.

1. The click rate lets you know if a prospect clicked on contents in an email. With this information, UpMail prioritizes your leads in order of most engaged. Simply check out the dashboard to see the status of who clicked what, when, and how many times. You now have the data you need to make informed choices about who to follow up with. Oh yeah, did we mention that with UpMail automatic follow ups are as easy as, well, a click.

2. Click rates also tell you about the effectiveness of the message and content you’re sending.

Click rates low? Maybe some massaging of your message is required or the quality of the branded material you’re sending needs a makeover. If that’s the case, try using UpMail templates for that professional looking image your hotel deserves .

High click rate? Nice, now you know what’s working when it comes to your sales communication. You can thank none other than your pal Metrics. Hint: If you want to thank UpMail, no need that’s what we’re here for. Ok, you can give us a proverbial pat on the back. Thanks!

In short, data is your bestie when it comes to emails. It’s powerful, actionable information that can get your sales going from blah to yah!

Got it? Ok now get back to your best summer ever.

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Based in London, UK, UpMail is an email tool for hotel sales people to increase one-to-one email communications productivity and sales conversion rates. UpMail customers includes Jurys Inn, Iberostar, citizenM, and many more.

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