The 3x3 Research Rule: How to Personalize Your Sales Emails in 3 Minutes or Less

Introduction: The Bottleneck in Today's Outbound Prospecting

"Personalize your outreach," they say. This is perhaps the most common recommendation when it comes to cold outreach. However, personalization is difficult, especially if you aim to keep your pipeline full.

It forces the sales development representatives (SDRs) to choose between spending a lot of time researching every prospect and composing irrelevant messages that will go to trash.

The problem here is the bottleneck. There are two opposing things the reps have to do – be highly productive by sending many messages and be thoughtful enough to craft something unique.

What is the answer? The answer is very simple – find a balance between being productive and personalizing. That is what the 3x3 research rule in sales enables SDRs to achieve.

Why Personalization is Now More Important Than Ever

Generic messaging has become outdated. Prospects are more educated, choosier, and overloaded like never before. Generic messages get noticed by prospects even less today than in the past.

That is where personalization comes into play. If a message strikes an individual's interest, they will notice it. It means that the sender has put some effort into studying them and their situation. Thus, personalization builds credibility and helps gain responses from recipients.

There is no denying that personalized emails have proven to be more effective than generic ones. The open rate, reply rate, and overall quality of interactions always go up with personalization. Yet, it is crucial to make the personalization process productive. Twenty minutes spent researching one prospect is too costly to spend.

It is exactly why the "3x3" research rule works so well in sales.

What is the 3x3 Research Rule?

The 3x3 research rule for sales is pretty straightforward. Find three pieces of relevant information about a prospect in three minutes, and use that information to craft your personal message.

Why? Because you will avoid getting lost in your research. By finding a small amount of data on a potential client and using it to personalize your message, you won't spend countless hours researching and writing an overly complex letter.

In fact, in most cases, a short but relevant piece of information works better than an unnecessarily complicated one. This way, you will be able to get through more prospects without sacrificing quality.

Sources of the 3 Key Insights

The application of the 3x3 rule within the realm of sales requires understanding the sources where these three insights may be found. These insights are derived mainly from three sources: the individual, the company and the industry.

Among the most useful tools when it comes to deriving insights from individuals is LinkedIn. Here, one can obtain a lot of useful information about prospects. This includes their job function, recent activities or moves. For instance, if the prospect received a promotion recently, this is an excellent point for personalization.

When it comes to company insight, this involves gaining some knowledge about the particular company. Examples of such information would be the company's funding history, product release, hiring patterns, etc.

Insights related to industries and jobs help to create context and understand possible struggles that people within the same sphere may experience.

Using all these insights, you can get three valuable pieces of information within a short period of time.

Putting Your Insights to Work to Personalize Your Message

Gathering insights is merely the beginning. It's about what you do with them next.

Begin by crafting a powerful personalized opening statement. Reference one of your insights in a natural way. For instance, "I noticed your team is moving into new markets this quarter."

Then, tie the insight back to your value proposition. Why does your message matter? For example, "We've helped other teams like yours successfully manage their onboarding during periods of quick expansion."

Maintain brevity throughout your message. Don't go overboard with lengthy paragraphs or extraneous information. Relevant and clear communication always wins over verbosity.

The objective is to create an effortless transition from insight to value proposition. That's why the 3x3 rule works so well in sales.

Using Personalized Emails: Examples Before & After

It is easy to see the difference between generic and personalized emails by using the 3x3 example below.

A generic email might be phrased as:

"Hi, I wanted to introduce our solution that will help you become more efficient. Just let me know if there is an interest."

Nothing is engaging in such communication. The client does not have a specific reason to respond to it.

A personalized email that uses the 3x3 rule of research in sales might read as follows:

"Hi [Name], I noticed that you've been making aggressive hires in the field of sales. This time around, many of your competitors were having problems with keeping their follow-ups up-to-date while going through fast-growing times. We have done that for others with ease. Can we do it for you?"

This approach works better since it addresses the specific needs of the prospect. The client may feel valued, although crafting this type of email takes no more than five minutes.

Common Errors to Avoid in Personalization

Though straightforward, the 3x3 approach is susceptible to several errors that marketers should take note of.

The first is over-personalization regarding irrelevant facts. Bringing up insignificant tidbits, such as a prospect's hobbies or an off-topic Facebook post, is inappropriate and unnecessary.

Personalization must remain within business boundaries and be relevant to the sales context.

A second error is that of personalization by cut-and-paste methods. It will be easy for prospects to see through your attempt at personalized communication if you are merely modifying a standard message. Authenticity is key here.

Lastly, too much research is detrimental to the process. Remember that the purpose of the 3x3 rule for research in sales is convenience and speed. If it takes too long to do some digging, you have gone overboard.

Expanding the 3x3 Research Rule across Your Outreaches

The most compelling feature of the 3x3 research rule is that it scales easily. It provides you with a chance to personalize your outreach without compromising on quantity.

Templates are an excellent solution. You can prepare templates containing placeholders to allow for personalized input. A sample template may comprise areas where you could write about a company insight, a challenge based on the recipient's role, and a value statement.

The use of automation together with human input also works well. Automated tools can help you handle lists and sequences, while human intervention helps you personalize emails. You will eventually learn how to apply the 3x3 research rule in sales by developing a workflow.

Conclusion: Scale is possible

It doesn't mean that personalization should take up a lot of your time. The key is to find the correct approach that will help you personalize in a productive manner.

The 3 x 3 rule in sales is a good guideline that can help you achieve this goal. By using three relevant insights in three minutes, you'll be able to personalize your email without spending too much time.

Apex Hunters know how to work successfully within outbound sales. They never try to create a perfect email, they focus on being relevant.

Bottom line is, stop trying to figure out how to personalize. Follow the 3 x 3 rule and start sending personalized outreach emails today.

With the acquisition of this skill, you will not only enhance your email marketing efforts but also create a more solid connection with your leads.