3 Seemingly Trivial Mistakes That Hamper Your Sales Email Conversion Rate

3 Seemingly Trivial Mistakes That Hamper Your Sales Email Conversion Rate



Talking to a lot of customers over the past year has made, one thing clear - nearly all businesses out there - small, medium, or large have had to make a drastic change in their conventional sales approaches due to the covid outbreak. 
 
 The adoption of inside sales has gained momentum and businesses have started utilising technologies and applications on a dime. Businesses state that their email engagement rate went up to 48% higher during the pandemic. Now, as emails hold the power in turning your leads into premium customers, care must be taken to ensure that you avoid these three insignificant mistakes that might decline your sales email deliverability. They are,
  • Lacking a catchy headline
  • Information stuffing
  • No proper call-to-action.

Lacking a catchy headline



47% of the recipients open your emails solely based on your subject line. The first 60 characters of your headline line determine your open rate. So it is important to draft a compelling headline that draws your audience's eyeballs and intrigues them to open the email. The words "free", "limited time offer", "alert" have been overexploited which has lowered the chances of clicking your emails. Moreover, using these buzz words has a greater chance of your emails getting marked as spam. Here is a list of words when used in the subject line can land youremail in a spam folder:
  • Exclusive deal
  • Only today
  • Free 100%
  • Apply now
  • Limited time offer
  • Grab the deal
  • Reminder
  • Alert
  • Now or Never
  • Offer expires today
  • Once in a lifetime
  • Get it now
  • Free Membership
  • Guaranteed Return on Investment
  • Congratulations! You won
  • 100% cashback... are some of the blacklisted headlines that are filtered by the email providers before sending it to your customer's inbox.
 Leveraging the headline formula will help you  come up with catchy subject lines for your emails. However, you need to try a lot of variations to spot that sweet one. Here is the formula:



Without using a headline formula: Alert - Don't miss this chance to have a free call to discuss your requirements with our CRM experts
 
Using a headline formula: Schedule a call in less than a minute to discuss your requirements with our CRM experts

Information stuffing:













Opening your email is just crossing a chasm. Now convincing your audience for a sales pitch or enticing them to do your desired action is the beginning part of your acquisition journey. This particularly resides in the content. 
 
As there is a lot of emphasis on delivering value and contextual content, salespeople tend to stuff abundant information in their emails. An optimal email should be crisp, concise, to the point, and not exceed more than 4-5 lines. 
 
To frame the body of the email, consider greeting the recipient first, followed by an acknowledgement. Then, directly state the purpose of the email. And finally, direct them on what to do after reading the email.  
 
Information stuffed email body: 

Hello Sid!
 
Hope you are doing well! Thanks for showing  interest in evaluating XYZ CRM solution for your business. XYZ CRM is used by more than 60,000+ users around the globe. ABC, DEF, use our CRM for seamless integration and increased productivity. We are featured in major publications rewarding XYZ CRM as the best CRM solution for the year. We strive to deliver a remarkable experience to you. So, we would like to invite you to schedule a quick call to discuss your requirements with our CRM experts and see how we can help you further.
 
Without stuffing information:

Hello Sid!
 
Hope you are doing well! Thanks for showing interest in evaluating XYZ CRM solution for your business. We are here to assist you! Quickly schedule a call to discuss your requirements with our CRM expert and see if XYZ CRM fits your business.

No proper call to action



Adding a call to action button instead of a text hyperlink can increase your click-through rate by 2 folds. A prominent call to action button with its bold color automatically captures your audience's attention to click or at least to check what it is. 
 
However, an email's goal is to direct your audience to schedule a call or upgrade the product for which you must get them to click the call to action. Text hyperlinks may go unnoticed but a call to action button stands out. 
 
Text hyperlinked CTA - Schedule/Book your call 

Call to action button -    

Let's now group the above three simple strategies to see how effective it is in increasing your email performance.

Without using the three simple strategies: 


Using the three simple strategies:


Making these small changes in the subject, body, and CTA yields  incredible results. For a salesperson, time is money. Automating the email process with email marketing tools such as Zoho Campaigns helps you understand the user's requirements so you can draft an email that is more meaningful and relevant to potential prospects. 

    • Sticky Posts

    • As Sales Person, Here are my New Year Resolutions. What are Yours?

      Being a salesperson, I keep learning from my mistakes and have noted a few changes that I need to make in my approach. I take these resolutions going into 2021, hoping to keep it going for as long as possible :) 1. I will not say "Yes, our product has
    • Once Upon a Sales Meeting!

      It was an awkward silence in the meeting room "Uproar." John Kowalski, the new sales manager, was not happy with the team's performance. After scribbling something in the notepad, he decided to break the silence, John: I cannot believe you guys have been working like this. No reports, delusional forecasting, random targets, and no eye on the ball. Kevin: We followed Richard's orders. John: Well, Richard is not here anymore, is he? John walked up to the whiteboard, and wrote in big bold letters: "TARGET
      • Recent Topics

      • Assign multiple departments to multiple helpcenters

        Hi there! I have a reseller company for a software and I'm using Zoho Desk as my helpcenter and ticket management system. The software is great and I would like to make a suggestion! With multi-branding activated, your departments that visible in help
      • Zoho Desk Training

        Hello, We've had Zoho desk for a while now, but we run into issues occasionally, and I was wondering if there was a customer who currently uses it and really enjoys the functionality, that would be wiling to chat with us?
      • Advanced Customization of the Help Center using JavaScript

        Hello everyone, The Help Center in Zoho Desk can be customized by using HTML and CSS to provide structure and enhance the page's appearance—but what if you want to add interactive and dynamic elements? You can add these effects with JavaScript, a programming
      • Exciting Updates to the Kiosk Studio Feature in Zoho CRM!

        Hello Everyone, We are here again with a series of new enhancements to Kiosk Studio, designed to elevate your experience and bring even greater efficiency to your business processes. These updates build upon our ongoing commitment to making Kiosk a powerful
      • Edit default "We are here to help you" text in chat SalesIQ widget

        Does anyone know how this text can be edited? I can't find it anywhere in settings. Thanks!
      • PO Based Advance payment to Vendor

        We recommend to introduce a provision at PO to make advance payment to vendors and auto apply that advance paid later at the time of Vendor Bill submission for that PO. This will help us track PO-wise Total Payments.
      • Converting Customer Invoice to Purchase Bill

        Hi, In my service-based business, I sometimes create the customer invoice first, and later I receive the purchase bill from the vendor for the same job. Is there any option in Zoho Books to: Convert a customer invoice into a purchase bill, or Link/associate
      • Getting Project Template List using the REST API

        I am trying to confirm that I can use the REST API to create a project using a project template. The API documentation indicates this is possible by providing the Template ID, but it is not clear at all how to get a list of available Project Templates
      • How to get Quickbooks Desktop Info into Zoho?

        Our team has used Quickbooks desktop for years and is looking at switching to Zoho books in 2026. I want to bring all old sales history over since we use Zoho CRM. I can export Item sales history and generic sales orders from Quickbooks desktop. How do
      • ZeptoMail API Request

        We tried to send mail using ZeptoMail using Django. Following is my payload {'from': {'address': 'abc@abc.com'}, 'to': [{'email_address': {'address': 'xyz@xyz.in', 'name': 'Bhavik'}}], 'subject': 'Report Name', 'htmlbody': '<p>Test</p>'} Following is
      • Zoho Inventory - Allow Update of Marketplace Generated Sales Orders via API

        Hi Inventory Team, I was recently asked by a client to create an automation which updated a Zoho Inventory Sales Order if a Shopify Order was updated. I have created the script but I found that the request is blocked as the Sales Order was generated by
      • Admin asked me for Backend Details when I wanted to verify my ZeptoMail Account

        Please provide the backend details where you will be adding the SMTP/API information of ZeptoMail Who knows what this means?
      • Mass import of documents into Zoho Writer

        I'm using Google's word processor at the moment but feel that Zoho does a better job (on the online apps market). Iwant to move my documents (about 50-70) to Zoho but it seems to me that I have to import them seperately. Is it already possible to upload several documents at a time or is this a forthcoming feature? Cheers Rolli :?:
      • How we cut CRM updates from ~20 minutes down to 2, our real workflow

        Updating the Zoho CRM after every call used to be one of the biggest time sucks for our team. By the time you write your notes, clean them up, fill in the fields, and log everything properly… you’ve easily lost 15–20 minutes per call. We started experimenting
      • Add home page or dashboard in CRM customer portal

        is it possible to add home page or dashboard in CRM customer portal?
      • User Tips: How to change the the label display name of a system defined field

        Most users know how to change field label names via Settings > Modules & Fields but if you want to change the name of a system defined field you can’t as there is no “edit properties” option.  However with a simple hack you can edit any system defined
      • Search not working!

        I have items in my notebook tagged but when I search for a tag nothing comes up! Any fix for this?
      • Zoho CRM Community Digest - October 2025 | Part 1

        Hello Everyone! Here's a quick recap of first two weeks of October! Product Updates: Zoho CRM Android App Update: Surveys, Blueprints, and Smarter Mobile Features! Zoho CRM’s Android app just got a useful upgrade. You can now share records, upload your
      • Automate onboarding emails with CRM Workflow and Accounts module

        We’re a B2B SaaS company selling to public-sector organisations. Each organisation is stored as an Account in Zoho CRM, and each organisation typically has multiple associated Contacts. Our backend syncs product-usage data (setup status, user activity,
      • Using a CRM Client Script Button to create a Books Invoice

        Hello, I need help handling error messages returned to my client script from a function. The scenario I have setup a client script button which is available from each Deal. This CS executes a crm function, which in turn creates an invoice based on the
      • Important update: Enhanced security measures for account operations in Zoho Cliq

        Greetings from the Zoho Cliq team! We’d like to share an important security update that has an influence on some admin actions such as password reset, MFA reset, and MFA backup code generation. What’s changing? With our latest security enhancements, these
      • Sales Receipts Duplicating when I run reports why and how do we rectify this and any other report if this happens

        find attached extract of my report
      • No Functional Autosave or Manual Save Button

        Application : Zoho Notebook So I wanted to try Zoho Notebook(On Ubuntu) as an application, I installed the application and went solving my LeetCode problems visually(Drawing mode), at one point the app just stopped saving anything... Every time I tried
      • Enterprise subscription support

        My organization sells subscription services to enterprise customers, which is a different model from the consumer subscription model that Zoho Billing has been designed to support and I beleve this capability should be added. An enterprise subscription
      • Issue with Creator's IF logic

        Hi, I found the following code produces unexpected results: if(-1.0 < 0.0000000) {       info "True"; } else {       info "False"; } if(-1.0 < 0.000000) {       info "True"; } else {       info "False"; } The output returned is: False True However, the
      • Need option to send Package PDF in shipment email (Shipment PDF is missing Lot info)

        Is there any way to automatically attach the Package PDF instead of (or alongside) the Shipment PDF in the notification emails? We really need this feature because the default Shipment PDF creates a blind spot for our customers. It does not display Batch/Lot
      • zoho creator view is not present in the workspace and blank reports

        Hi Support,  Users who have "write" permissions keep getting this error for all of our embedded reports all of a sudden. See screen shot below: Meanwhile, my developer permissions account sees a blank screen in view and edit mode as shown in the screenshots
      • Customize portal email template

        Can i fetch only first name of the user in portal email template instead of the below code Hi ${User.FULL_NAME}
      • Can't we let users decide which options they'd like to add at embed widget?

        It seems embed widget DOES NOT offer a feature, where users can choose options upon subscribing plans. What Zoho has instead, is that admins have to manually create plan with options. How come no one in Zoho dev team never raised issue about usability
      • Reupload and rename from one field to another field (file upload)

        Hi Everyone, Sorry, i have question to use invoke url for rename and reupload attachments file to another field. Tested on development mode. Zoho C6. Refer to https://www.zoho.com/creator/help/api/v2/upload-file.html look my error notification. Does anyone
      • Printing Multi-Page Reports (PDF Export)

        Hi, I am moving a report from Google's Looker Studio to Zoho Analytics and trying to reproduce the Looker page by page dashboard editing experience. With Google, what you see is what you get when you print to PDF. But I can't seem to create the same experience
      • Resume Harvester: New Enhancements for Faster Sourcing

        We’re excited to share a set of enhancements to Resume Harvester that make sourcing faster and more flexible. These updates help you cut down on repetitive steps, manage auto searches more efficiently, and review candidate profiles with ease. Why we built
      • I NEED TO NUMBER TO TEXT NO HERE

        =NUMBERTEXT NEEED
      • Error: View is not present in the workspace

        When saving a dashboard, user receives a popup with the following error. "View is not present in the workspace" What does this mean or refer to? There is no further insight given.
      • Dear Zoho CEO: Business Growth is about how you prioritise!

        All of us in business know that when you get your priorities right, your business grows. Zoho CRM and Zoho Books are excellent products, but sadly, Zoho Inventory continues to lag behind. Just this morning, I received yet another one-sided email about
      • Is there any way to send an Excel received by email to Dataprep?

        Every day I receive an email alert with an Excel file that I want to process through a Dataprep pipeline. To do this, I need to: -Save the file to disk -Open the pipeline -Run the pipeline -Update the source -Several clicks to select and open the saved
      • Bin Locations

        Dear all, I am wondering if someone has the ability to develop the bin locations option for zoho inventory (integrated with zoho books) Regards, Ryan
      • Create and populate a record in an instant: Introducing zero-shot field prompting to Zia's ICR

        A couple of months ago, we upgraded our in-house AI image detection and validation tool, Zia Vision, with intelligent character recognition (ICR). By training Zia with sample images, you could create and enrich CRM records with data extracted from standard
      • How to Prevent Users From Skipping LMS Videos in Zoho People

        How to Prevent Users From Skipping LMS Videos in Zoho People Hello Zoho Developers, In this blog, we will quickly look at how you can stop users from skipping or fast-forwarding videos in Zoho People LMS. Zoho People provides a feature called Disable
      • [Integration Edition] Deluge Learning Series – Custom API with Deluge | November 2025

        We’re excited to conclude this four-month Integration Edition of the Deluge Learning Series: Session 1 – Integrating Zoho Apps with Deluge Using Built-In Integration Tasks Session 2 – Integrating Zoho Apps with Deluge Using invokeURL and invokeAPI Session
      • Next Page