“Expertise requested” email
… 🥁 4/10
Messaging mismatch is a killer.
I picked out the email below for exactly this reason.
It starts so well yet ends so badly. We can all learn something from it, not least about ourselves.
That’s right! Let’s get existential!
The backstory:
Following the usual twists and turns, I’ve been doing what I do for work (or some version of it) for eight years. Yeesh. Eight years. Sure, there are still days when I wake up fearing that an amoeba would be better qualified to sit at my desk, but those days are dwindling. #Sorrynotsorry amoebas. Anyway, the platform in question is a professional network that’s always been hovering on the sidelines for every career move. And they sent me the email below under the guise of research…
(Sender anonymised to “Xxxx” out of courtesy. Think you know who? Guess away.)
— — — — — Forwarded message — — — — —
Subject line: “Your expertise is requested”
*WhoOooOOoosh*
That’s the sound of my chest puffing up by 30% as I spot this subject line in my inbox. Out of all the emails in front of me, this is the one I tap into first.
Yaaas, I’m being recognised as an expert!
The messaging here hooks into one of the deepest human desires: status. It acknowledges that the reader has a shiny shiny peacock’s tail, shinier than others.
It’s a big message. It’s bold. It’d better deliver.
I’m curious as hell about what will happen next. Why do they want my expertise? How am I going to provide said expertise? I’m expecting to have to type something to share intel about thoughts or experiences… maybe sign up for a research call…
“Thank you for using Xxxx! To help us improve our product, we’d like to ask you a few questions about your usage of Xxxx.”
Fine, fine, fine.
“It will only take about 3 minutes.”
Also fine, and it’s helpful to set expectations about the time a task will take. Although now my spider senses are tingling. All is not as it seems. Three minutes is a rather tight window for sharing expertise, isn’t it?
“Let’s get started…
How likely are you to recommend Xxxx to a friend or colleague?
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Not at all likely <> Extremely likely”
*WhoOooOOoosh*
That’s the sound of my chest deflating by 50%. My peacock’s tail has gone up in a puff of smoke. Because, you see, the core of this email is about NPS (Net Promoter Score).
Aside from the many maaany problems with NPS, I’m confused. What does it have to do with my “expertise”?
The subject line of the email has teed me up to feel all warm and fuzzy and important, and then the email itself drops the motherload: just give us a mark out of 10. I mean, you could attach a Sharpie to a badger and get it to give you a mark out of ten.
Were it not for you and the Email Teardown Club, I’d have hit the bin button. It’s pretty clear by now that the subject line is a red herring. But for the sake of closing the loop, I clicked, and surprise surprise, what followed was a bog-standard NPS survey. A bunch of multiple choice answers. No way to share “expertise”, even if I’d wanted to.
“We know you may be facing some recent challenges or uncertainty given concerns with Coronavirus, and we appreciate you taking the time to share your thoughts with us.”
…Hands up, who here feels like their inbox has turned into a game of Covid Bingo lately?
“Best Regards,
The Xxxx Research team”
— — — — — End — — — — —
Conclusion:
Email Teardown Club score = 4/10
OK, I accept that NPS is a necessary evil. A part of life. Investors care about it. Industry awards care about it. Don’t hate the player, hate the game and all that. So in general I just ignore NPS emails and go about my day.
But an NPS email pretending to be something else? Well that’s a whole nother dimension of messaging-mismatchery. And when this pretence involves labelling your audience as “experts” as a tactic to goad them into filling in your survey? Oh the humanity.
Still though, gotta give credit to that subject line. That one’s a keeper.
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*Side note* These teardowns are just my gut reactions as a real life customer, mashed together with my copywriter background, to explore what good and bad messaging looks like outside the sender’s ivory tower. I’m only one person, and I might not be representative. Agree or disagree? Tell me in the comments!
Cheerio,
Corissa
P.S. If you need a hand with your messaging strategy, I can help. I also have a few slots of 121 writing coaching up for grabs. Find out more 👉 corissanunn.com
