How to Email a Goldfish

Sales Tip of the Week from Mike Leeds – Pro Sales Coaching

How to Email a Goldfish

A goldfish has an attention span of nine seconds, but people may lose concentration after eight seconds (according to a 2015 Time article citing a Microsoft study), and more recently, comments from Apple TV's Ted Lasso. Basically, assume everyone has a short attention span (like a goldfish) and you will never go wrong. To maximize the chances of people reading your emails, please consider the following tips:

1. Embrace the Subject Line. What is your email specifically about?
2. Get to the bottom line in the first two paragraphs (assuming the first paragraph is an introduction/welcoming paragraph). Just Say It!
3. Details and the back-story should be optional reading later in your email. Some people will read it, while others will not. Be careful not to introduce an important nugget of information at the end of a long email since many people will miss it.
4. If possible, fit your email into one screen shot so people do not have to scroll down to get more information. If it must be a long email, you are increasing the chances of important information being missed or the whole message just being deleted. You must get the reader’s attention in that first screen to compel them to scroll down.

With today’s technology of instant information and multitasking, more people seem to be exhibiting shorter attention spans more than ever. When creating your next email, ask yourself if a goldfish would have the patience to read it.

Special thanks to the creators of Ted Lasso, CliffsNotes, SparkNotes, BookRags and Shmoop.

Have a great sales week!