If your salespeople are involved in prospecting for new business and they use email as part of their outreach to new contacts, you may want to take a close look at their email signatures – specifically their job title.

Does their job title establish peer to peer credibility with the person you want them to speak or meet with, or does it, like most of the sales teams I work with, sabotage their prospecting effectiveness and results?

I once worked with two teams on how to write emails and letters to CEOs and other senior decision-making executives that would result in responses and meetings in minutes, hours or days – not weeks, months or never. The first team was an inside sales team tasked with generating meetings for field sales. The second team was a field sales team who also wanted to be able to generate meetings with their top ‘must win’ accounts. In both sessions, the topic of job titles came up and how they would be perceived by a receiving CEO or senior executive.

Here’s the question I asked both teams: “Do you think your job title hinders or helps your ability to get meetings with the CEO?”

Both teams agreed that it hindered.

Here was my follow up question: “So why have a job title in your email?”

“Because marketing says we have to!” cried out the SDRs.

As the VP of Marketing was sitting in the first session, I asked him ‘why’ a job title was needed in the SDRs signature and would it be OK if they removed it immediately. “Of course” was his sheepish reply.

The next day, the VP of Sales smacked his head in disbelief at being asked the same ‘hinders or helps’ question. It had never occurred to him that this small detail could hinder his team’s success.

If you’re struggling to identify the small details that could hinder your sales team’s success, that is a clear indication you need help. Give me a call.