How to End a Sales Email to Boost Response Rate (with 21+ Examples)

Picture this...

It’s Thursday afternoon, you’re on your fourth coffee, “Mr. Brightside” by The Killers is blasting through your headphones, and last night’s pizza is waiting in the fridge with your name on it.

Life is good.

You’re about ready to hit Send on a batch of sales emails you’ve prepared for your prospects. You’re feeling confident about it.

You scroll through them one last time, making sure everything checks out.

Then your song ends, and at that very moment, your eyes fixate on your email closing lines. 

You re-read them. Three times. Then your confidence wavers. Your email sign off sounds generic. Outdated.

“Is… is this why my email response rate sucks lately?” you think to yourself, horrified.

As a sales rep, there’s nothing more frustrating than spending time drafting emails for prospects only to be met with radio silence. 

And lately, that’s all you’ve been getting. You’re ready for a change.

If you want to know how to end a sales email to boost your response rate, you’ve come to the right place.

Let’s take a look.

You know how important it is to get email subject lines just right because it is the very first thing your recipients see in their inbox.

If the subject line doesn’t entice them to open the email, all the effort you put into writing it is wasted.

You also know how important the opening line of the sales email is because it is the second thing your recipients see after opening it. Sometimes parts of it even appear in the preview text.

But what about the end of the sales email? Is it worth perfecting?

The answer is HECK YES.

And here’s why.

Make a strong last impression

We’ve all heard people say “first impressions count.” Sure they do. Of course they do.

But what about the underdog? The last impression?

That counts too, especially in a sales email.

If anything, it might count even more than the start of the email, because some people immediately scroll to the bottom to see what the sender is expecting from them and who they are.

So the end of your sales email might be just the thing to convince them to take action, leading to an increase in response rate.

Engage (or re-engage) your prospects

The goal of your sales email is to engage your prospect. You want to pique their interest. You want them to want to reply.

And how you can achieve that is by ending your email with a relevant piece of information and/or a call to action (CTA) that will get them to, well, take action.

If you’re using a sales engagement platform that is directly integrated with Gmail, you can easily include email enhancements such as one-click polls and surveys (handy for prospects who don’t feel like writing out a response), GIFs, and link previews that help with visualization and that make it easier for prospects to engage with your email.

Mixmax polls enable prospects and customers to reply with 1 click.

Show a clear path to action

The less ambiguous you are with your email closing lines, the more likely it is that your prospect will want to reply.

Show a clear path to action. Whether it’s with email enhancements (as mentioned before), or by including a one-liner that will get them to confirm that they are, in fact, interested.

Make it obvious and easy to respond to.

Asking for a meeting right off the bat just doesn’t cut it anymore (did it ever?). According to Gong, the Interest CTA is the highest performing call to action for cold emails.

Interest CTAs perform 30% better than specific or open-ended CTAs. Stats & image by Gong.

In other words, it’s better to try to sell the conversation, not the meeting.

Identify the sender (you)

If your sales email sign off doesn’t include a clear picture of who you are, you better believe your prospect is going to hit that delete button faster than you can say pipeline.

It’s important for the recipient to know who is contacting them so they don’t classify you as spam. And the more credible you look, the more open they will be to talking to you.

Think of it this way–would you consider replying to a cold email signed J. McPeanuts, VP of Peanuts Inc.? Actually, that sounds like it could lead to a fun conversation. But you get the point.

Provide contact information

Providing contact information is crucial when you’re thinking about how to end a sales email to increase response rate.

Sure, everyone knows they can click Reply to answer an email, but showcasing contact info such as your phone number, business website, link to a customer success story, link to your calendar, and/or a link to your LinkedIn profile will make it even easier for your prospects to reach you and learn more about you.

Plus it boosts your credibility factor exponentially, which gets you one step closer to the edge and I’m about to break getting a reply.

You know why it’s important to perfect your sales email sign off; now it’s time to execute.

Your sales email closing line can take many forms, but usually what works best is a combination of several of the elements listed below.

And if neither of those works the first time around, don’t hesitate to send a follow-up email (or three).

Our sales engagement platform can automate this process for you with multichannel email sequences that can be set up across multiple touchpoints in Salesforce or Gmail.

Ok, on to the actual how-to.

Ask a question that will get prospects thinking

If you were meeting with your prospects in real life, you wouldn’t boast about yourself and your achievements the entire time, right?

The same rule applies when emailing. End the email with a question they’ll be compelled to answer instead of telling them how much you’d LOVE to book a quick meeting.

Write it in a way that will make them understand what they’ll be missing out on if they decide to ignore you.

Here’s one example we like to use (with more to follow):

Would eliminating manual & repetitive work to boost your team’s productivity be something that would help you reach your Q2 target this year?

Include a CTA button

A question that captures interest is a great call to action, but you can also include a branded CTA button that might be more visually appealing to your recipients.

Don’t use generic CTAs like Learn More.

We’re talking impactful buttons that will provoke them to click. Think more along the lines of See what {Client} has to say.

Tip: Mixmax has an integrated CTA button functionality that allows you to add custom buttons to your email (as shown above).

Create a corporate signature

Signing an email with Best + First Name will make you seem unprofessional and spammy. It’s just not the right tactic for cold emails.

The best way to gain your prospects’ trust is to create a corporate signature that contains relevant information.

Things you can include are:

• A photo of you
• Your name
• Your job title
• Your email and/or phone number
• A link to your LinkedIn profile (make sure it’s up to date)
• Your company logo
• Your business website

Add a P.S. section

Postscripts are seriously underrated. They’re a fantastic way to capture your recipient’s attention just when they thought the email had nothing to offer.

According to Siegfried Vogele, author of Handbook of Direct Mail: The Dialogue Method of Direct Communication, over 90% of readers read the PS before the letter.

Some of this is attributed to the fact that people like completing tasks, and by jumping to the end of the email to read the postscript, they feel like they have accomplished the task of reading and understanding the purpose of the email.

Writing a personalized P.S. section is what will make your email stand out from the rest. It’s what will make prospects realize that you’re not just rehashing an old template for the thousandth time.

Here’s an example of a P.S. section you can include at the end of a sales email that might get your prospects to hit that Reply button.

P.S. I hear you’ve been having a particularly hot week in San Francisco. Stay safe and hydrated!

OR

P.S. {Similar Company} was also struggling with {pain point} until they switched to {Your Company}. You can read all about it here :)

Check spelling and grammar

Nothing looks more sketchy than an email filled with spelling and grammar mistakes.

This doesn’t only apply to the end of a sales email, but we thought it’s worth mentioning anyway. If you don’t have an email enhancer such as Lavender or Grammarly, we suggest you get on that. Like now.

A good way to understand how to end a sales email is to learn how not to end a sales email. Some of the things that used to work in the past just don’t work anymore, and it’s important to keep up with sales email trends as they evolve.

Here are some things to avoid.

Don’t ask to schedule a meeting right away

If you’re sending a cold email, chances are your prospect has no idea who you are. And chances are they don’t want to meet with you.

Would you agree to go on a date with a stranger you met five seconds ago?

Cold emailing is all about introducing yourself and asking the right questions to get your prospect to consider going on a date with you (we don’t mean this literally, obviously!).

So take it easy. Keep the “let’s book a quick meeting this week to discuss” for your next email. 

Don’t focus on yourself

Let’s keep the dating analogy going.

If you meet someone for the first time, are you going to talk about yourself non-stop? No, because that’s lame, right?

The same goes for your sales email sign off. Make sure you focus on their needs and reiterate how you can help them with their pain points.

Don’t overuse “I” and “we.” Instead, use “you” and “your.”

Don’t be uncomfortably pushy or aggressive

If you're too pushy or aggressive in your email closing lines, you're going to push your prospects over the edge. In other words, your email will end up in their trash bin, only to be permanently deleted 30 days later.

Avoid using words like “you have to” or “you should” or “book now.” These can easily annoy or offend your recipient, which definitely won’t get you a reply.

Now that we’ve established a strategy for your sales email closing lines, let’s dive into some plug-and-play examples that will help you boost your response rate.

Interest-based CTAs*

1. Are you actively trying to improve {prospect’s business goal}?
2. I have a presentation on {prospect’s needs}. Want me to send it over?
3. What sounds most intriguing to you about this?
4. Are you interested in learning how {Competitor1} and {Competitor2} are achieving {positive_outcome}?
5. Is fixing {problem} top of mind for you right now?
6. Are you game to explore how {company} can help with this?
7. Have you ever tried {type of solution} before?
8. Would it help your team if they could {outcome}?
9. We’ve helped companies like {Similar Client} achieve their goals. Want us to help you achieve yours?
10. Would you be interested in us sharing some of our insights with you?

*Several of these are borrowed from the insightful Hans Dekker from Lyne.ai. 

P.S. section

1. P.S. Are you planning on attending {important event}? I’m so looking forward to it!
2. P.S. I noticed you also have an interest in {common interest}. I’m all ears if you want to chat about it!
3. P.S. How would it feel to help your team achieve {goal} in half the time?
4. P.S. Here’s what changed for the better when {Popular Company} decided to take a leap of faith with {Company}.
5. P.S. Just leaving this infographic on {topic} here in case you’re interested :)
6. P.S. Just leaving this case study with {Client Name} here in case you’re curious :)
7. P.S. Thought this blog on {topic} might be interesting to you!
8. P.S. How much time do you spend on {task} every day?

Thank you section

1. I appreciate the time, {Prospect Name}. We look forward to working with you.
2. Just in case you have questions, {Prospect Name}, I’ve gone ahead and attached a few resources below. Please don’t hesitate to reach out to me directly if you can’t find your answer. I’m happy to assist!
3. Thanks again, {Prospect Name}. I know how hectic your schedule is and I’m grateful you made time for this. 

Every part of a sales email is important, but the end of the email is ultimately what will convince your recipient either to reply or ignore you. The key is adding value to your email sign off with personalization and relevance.

Check out our piece on cold email strategies for tips on how to 10x your response rate.