Sales Breakup Email – Why Would You Break Up with a Prospect?

Have you ever felt frustrated when prospects haven’t replied to your emails?

You’ve put so much effort and time into writing a well-researched, personalized email, you’ve picked an email automation tool that sends like a human to help you out with sending the messages, yet some prospects are still unresponsive.

Do you keep following up with them? Or do you end the contact?

See when it may be worth cutting ties with a prospect by sending them a breakup email.

What is a sales breakup email?

A sales breakup email is a message informing a prospect that this is your last attempt of contact. The offer or meeting proposal is no longer valid. There’s no point in continuing the relationship with someone who stays cold.

You will probably ask: “Why would I do that? After all, I care about getting a reply from this company?” Your prospect hasn’t responded to any of the emails you’ve already sent. Most likely, they won’t reply to the subsequent messages either.

A sales breakup email is a goodbye message to a prospect who will most likely never respond to your follow-ups.

Is it worth sending a sales breakup email?

It depends.

The prospect can perceive this type of message as a loss of something that was recently available. It can go hand in hand with advantages that will positively impact the sales process:

It saves your time & helps you keep your pipeline clean

The positive aspect of the breakup email is that it saves your time. You will have more space to deal with other, more specific leads. By sending such a message, you will organize your sales pipeline, which will give you an actual state of it.

It might get you more replies

Sales breakup emails trigger reactance, which is the unpleasant feeling you get when someone pulls back an offer. It is often followed by a desire to regain the freedom to choose, motivating people to get back something they theoretically can’t have.

The recipient of the message loses the opportunity to engage with you voluntarily and feels a sense of loss.

This feeling motivates to satisfy the need and can lead to a positive response.

Ultimately, if none of these things happen, you leave a good impression by clearly closing the thread. And who knows, maybe your prospect will contact you when the need for your services emerges.

After all, people buy from people, so leaving a good impression might work in your favor.

The downside of sending a breakup email

If you decide to go for the breakup email, keep in mind that that’s it. You can’t contact the prospect anymore. Not even 6 months later in another campaign.

You might roll out a new feature that is a huge selling point, or the prospect’s priorities might shift – but still, you shouldn’t contact them anymore after you said you wouldn’t. You’re closing the door for good.

Should you send breakup emails?

Sales breakup emails can improve the results of your efforts.

However, you shouldn’t associate them with letting go after one failed contact attempt. In last year’s study, based on 20M sent emails, we showed that the reply rate for campaigns with 1-3 sent emails was 9%. In campaigns with 4 to 7 emails, it stood at 27%.

So before you call it quits, send a couple of follow-up emails.

See how to write a follow-up email if you haven’t heard back>>
Also, check how Woodpecker sends emails to mimic manual sending>>

I’m not urging you to send sales breakup emails just after one message without an answer. Yet, in some cases, breaking up with a prospect gives you more time to reach out to another and close more deals in the long run.

Here are some situations justifying breaking up with a prospect:

• A prospect hasn’t opened any of your emails – if the open rate of your mailing campaign fluctuates around 0% – it may be the time to look into why it is so low or say goodbye. We write about increasing the open rate here.
• Despite many conversations, there is no decision – you don’t know if a prospect will sign a contract, what’s the budget, and who is the decision-maker. Prospect probably isn’t ready to decide or doesn’t see the need or value in your solution. It’s a great time to send a breakup email and move on.
• A sudden breakup of contact – up until a certain point, everything was going according to the plan. You had a feeling that any moment you would close the deal. Suddenly something changed, and the prospect went dark.
• It looked great, but... – something just clicked between you. The customer saw the solution’s value, and then none of your initial arrangements came true. It’s time to write a breakup email.

How to write a breakup email?

Don’t beat around the bush. Your prospect hasn’t responded by now, and either doesn’t have the desire or time to do so. Your goodbye message should contain the essence of the offer.

It’s a farewell, but don’t be harsh. Don’t complain and act reproachful that they haven’t responded – your prospects don’t owe you anything. They don’t care if you miss your target. Be professional and kind. It may be your last chance to win them back.

Remind them what issues your solution will help them deal with, don’t be pushy, treat it as a win-win situation. You want to help!

Also, emphasize that you are contacting them one last time. The next move is up to your prospect. Be creative! Write a compelling subject line that will get the recipient to open it. But be careful with it. You should know how not to overdo it and end up in spam.

But how to write such a message?

3 breakup email templates

The idea of a sales breakup email is new to you? You don’t know how to create it, but you see the potential in it and want to give it a go?

I’ve prepared some templates to help you get started.

#1 Be specific

Admit that you care about the answer because you value your time and organization.

Subject: Can I delete your folder?

Hi {{First_Name}},

I’m cleaning up my sales pipeline, and I wonder if it’s time to close your file.

I’m guessing you have a lot on your plate, so I’f you’re not interested, I won’t be contacting you again.

On the other hand, if I can help you, please let me know or select an appointment slot in my calendar: [link to appointment slots]

#2 Announce the end

Show your prospects that you respect their time and commitment to the myriad of important things they are dealing with. Offer an alternative that makes it possible to reply to your message with just one character.

Subject: One last email

Hi {{First_Name}},

I thought I’d reach out one more time.

If you didn’t have time and my email just slipped your mind, reply to this message by typing 1.

If you are not interested, answer this email by typing 2, and I will no longer contact you.

Type 3 if you would like to meet with me the following week.

#3 Use humor

You break up because you know there is no point in continuing the relationship anymore. Try to illustrate how you feel with a favorite gif or graphic. If you’re looking to create a gif from a video clip that perfectly captures your feelings, a video to GIF converter can do just that seamlessly. Bring a smile to the prospect’s face. The recipient will have a hard time getting past your message.

Subject: It's not you, it's me...

Hi {{First_Name}},

I’ve tried to reach you. Unfortunately, you haven’t written me back, and I’m starting to feel confused, like Vincent:

You know, I’m a little bit lost in the situation, just like him. If there was a misunderstanding and you would like to write back to any of the earlier messages, let me know. If not, it’s a farewell.

While we’re at including images in email, read this blog post to see what is the risk of doing so.

How to put it to use?

Log in to Woodpecker. If you’re not a Woodpecker user, take it for a free 14-day spin.

Set up a campaign with a couple of follow-ups, and finish it with a breakup email.

Saying goodbye to a prospect seems counterintuitive, but it’s worth giving a go and measuring the results.

Sending a sales breakup email can be beneficial to your relationship, help get your sales pipeline in order, and prompt the recipient to reply.

Maybe it will simply put a smile on the addressee’s face. And that might make the prospect remember you and reach out to you in the future.