Following our talk about leaving effective voicemails last week, including some great one-on-one conversations with our SFC Premium Members throughout the week, the same question kept coming up: Can a coach apply the same approach to sending better e-mails?

The short answer is, "Sure!"  Of course, we've talked about effective e-mail strategies before.  And, we spend a lot of time talking about winning e-mail communication in our book for college recruiters, "Selling for Coaches".  But I want to discuss it again today, and put some different spins on some of the previous tips we've given.

Here are today's five tips for writing e-mails that get noticed, get a response, and further the recruiting process with your prospect: 

1) Your subject line should creatively say why you are sending the email   "Do YOU have what it takes to play ball here?" is much more effective and interesting than "State University baseball program". Subject lines can either make you or break you, especially with teenagers.  Talk about why you're contacting them, why they should open the e-mail, or a creative slant on a basic recruiting message. And providing a theme - with just a tiny bit of self-promotion - will remind them why it's important to read your email.

2) Cut to the chase. And make it QUICK!  "Chad, I've looked over your stats and credentials, and I think you've got what it takes to make our roster"... is the right way to start off your e-mail. Put all the details into later paragraphs. This is super-helpful in this "Age of Text Messaging" so that your recipient doesn't need to scroll down or select "more" to get the full message. Many communication experts also prefer the simple present tense "I write to offer you..." versus the "present progressive" tense "I am writing to offer you..." but most people find that a bit quirky and formal, so use at your discretion!  Whatever you choose to do, don't beat around the bush!

3) Use bold font sparingly, to accentuate words that you'd like emphasized.  You need to be careful not to overuse bold font, italic font or underline font.  Use it too much and your e-mail message begins to look cluttered and confusing.  Same goes for different colored fonts.                             

4) Number or alpha-bullet points.  When you have 8, 9, or 31 different points and they are undifferentiated, it is very difficult for your prospect to sort through them or ask follow up questions. Use a), b), c) or 1), 2), 3) to break up the email, clarify your main points, and make responding to you easy.

5) Attach with caution!  MS Word documents are the safest form for resume attachments. Always send your resume as a .doc or .txt unless a recruiter specifically requests otherwise. While formats like PDF's may seem harmless, Adobe isn't nearly as common as MS Office, especially for your teenage prospects.  Using PDF files in the adult world is a different story, of course, but you have to remember who you're dealing with - teenagers.  If you find that you absolutely must send one of your prospects a PDF file, do them a favor and include a free link to Adobe.com for the free reader software for reading PDF files.

There are two more tips I want to pass along: One is a crucial part of any e-mail message that you send to your prospect, and the other is a tip that you probably have never thought of doing before.  If you're a SFC Premium Member, the tip will be arriving in your Inbox on Wednesday morning.  If you want the additional two tips, why not sign-up for a free trial of our Premium Membership?  You'll get the two additional e-mail tips, plus lots, lots more throughout the next month.  Get the details here.

Try using these tips to improve your prospect e-mails, and let us know if you have any questions or need further assistance with creating great e-mails.