Hello from Andres Lazaro Lopez and Mari Kemis from the Research Institute for Studies in Education at Iowa State University. As STEM education becomes more of a national priority, state governments and education professionals are increasingly collaborating with nonprofits and businesses to implement statewide STEM initiatives. Supported by National Science Foundation funding, we have been tasked to conduct a process evaluation of the Iowa statewide STEM initiative in order to both assess Iowa’s initiative and create a logic model that will help inform other states on model STEM evaluation. While social network analysis (SNA) has become commonly used to examine STEM challenges and strategies for advancement (particularly for women faculty, racial minorities, young girls, and STEM teacher turnover), to our knowledge we are the first to use SNA specifically to understand a statewide STEM initiative’s collaboration, growth, potential, and bias. Our evaluation focuses specifically on the states’ six regional STEM networks, their growth and density over the initiatives’ years (‘07-’15), and the professional affiliations of its collaborators. How we translated that into actionable decision points for key stakeholders is the focus of this blog. Lessons Learned: With interest in both the boundaries of the statewide network and ego networks of key STEM players, we decided to use both free and fixed recall approaches. Using data from an extensive document analysis, we identified 391 STEM professionals for our roster approach. We asked respondents to categorize this list by people they knew and worked with. Next, the free recall section allowed respondents to list professionals they rely on most to accomplish their STEM work and their level of weekly communication - generating 483 additional names not identified with the roster approach. Both strategies allowed us to measure the potential and actual collaboration along the lines of the well-known network of STEM professionals (roster) and individual’s local networks (free recall). Lessons Learned: The data offered compelling information for both regional and statewide use. Centrality measurements helped identify regional players that had important network positions but were underutilized. Network diameter and clique score measurements informed the executive council of overall network health and specific areas that require initiative resources. Lessons Learned: Most importantly, the SNA data allowed the initiative to see beyond the usual go-to stakeholders. With a variety of SNA measurements and our three variables, we have been successful in identifying a diverse list of stakeholders while offering suggestions of how to trim down the networks’ size without creating single points of fracture. SNA has been an invaluable tool to classify formally and evaluate the logistics of key STEM players. We recommend other STEM initiatives interested in using SNA to begin identifying a roster of collaborators early in the development of their initiative. The American Evaluation Association is celebrating Social Network Analysis Week with our colleagues in the Social Network Analysis Topical Interest Group. The contributions all this week to aea365 come from our SNA TIG members. Do you have questions, concerns, kudos, or content to extend this aea365 contribution? Please add them in the comments section for this post on the aea365 webpage so that we may enrich our community of practice. Would you like to submit an aea365 Tip? Please send a note of interest to aea365@eval.org. aea365 is sponsored by the American Evaluation Association and provides a Tip-a-Day by and for evaluators.  

My name is Sophia Guevara, Program Co-Chair for the Social Network Analysis (SNA) TIG.  This week, several evaluation professionals have shared with this blog’s readers their thoughts on social network analysis. With posts discussing logic models to examples of the application of social network analysis on a wide-range of evaluation questions, you’ve hopefully gained a better understanding of it. Rad Resource: The SNA in Evaluation LinkedIn group. This group provides TIG group members with an opportunity to discuss topics of interest for those utilizing or learning about social network analysis. Rad Resource: Join the SNA TIG group. As a member, make sure to make use of the eGroup discussion option. Rad Resource: SNA TIG business meeting. If you are thinking of joining the TIG or have already joined and are looking to connect with other evaluation professionals making use of SNA, the business meeting is an excellent place to do just that. The SNA TIG business meeting is held at the annual American Evaluation Association conference. Rad Resource: AEA public eLibrary and the Coffee Break Archive. There are a variety of resources that can help you learn more about the topic. For example, if you are looking to learn more about the use of SNA related-programs, check out Dr. Geletta’s coffee break webinar focused on importing spreadsheet data into Gephi. The American Evaluation Association is celebrating Social Network Analysis Week with our colleagues in the Social Network Analysis Topical Interest Group. The contributions all this week to aea365 come from our SNA TIG members. Do you have questions, concerns, kudos, or content to extend this aea365 contribution? Please add them in the comments section for this post on the aea365 webpage so that we may enrich our community of practice. Would you like to submit an aea365 Tip? Please send a note of interest to aea365@eval.org. aea365 is sponsored by the American Evaluation Association and provides a Tip-a-Day by and for evaluators.  

Hello evaluators! I’m Sheila B Robinson, aea365’s Lead Curator and sometimes Saturday contributor. In 2010, I traveled to San Antonio, TX to attend Evaluation 2010. I was on my own, and knew no one else attending the conference. I made my first friend there by recognizing the name tag of the author of an early aea365 post I admired, and introducing myself as we both waited to attend a session. This blog has been a tremendous connector for since its inception. Networking with other evaluators has been a highlight of my career and I continue to actively seek out opportunities to meet new people, whether it is in person at a conference, or online. I’ve made some wonderful new friends this way, and have often reached out to members of the evaluation community for help and advice when evaluation work gets tricky. Fortunately, many evaluators are more and more connected via social media and using it to collect and share information and resources. Lesson Learned: I was reluctant to use social media for professional purposes until just a few years ago, but now I find I very much enjoy the learning and interaction from these channels, among others: Twitter: It’s not just what celebrities ate for breakfast! AEA maintains a list of evaluators and evaluation organizations on Twitter here. I’ve also been "collecting" evaluators on Twitter; see my list of nearly 400 here. Facebook: It’s not just for Internet memes and selfies! Some AEA TIGs, affiliates, and evaluation associations have active Facebook pages (as do many independent evaluators and consultancies). A few of which I’m aware include: American Evaluation Association AEA PK-12 Educational Evaluation TIG AEA Affiliate Atlanta Area Evaluation Association (AaEA) AEA Collaborative, Participatory, and Empowerment TIG Better Evaluation Pinterest: It’s not just for crafts and recipes! Kylie Hutchinson may be the most active evaluator I know who maintains 9 evaluation-related boards. Ann K. Emery also maintains many boards related to data visualization. Google+: It’s not just for "techy" people! It’s also a place where evaluators share ideas. David Fetterman is one evaluator particularly active in this space. Stephanie Evergreen can also be found here. YouTube: It’s not just for silly cat videos! AEA has its own channel here, and AEA affiliate Eastern Evaluation Research Society (EERS) now has its own YouTube channel. AEA maintains a list of member blogs and Twitter handles here. If you have a blog or Twitter handle that doesn’t appear on the list, write to info@eval.org and ask to have it added! Do you use these social media channels professionally? Add your info to the comments so we can all connect! (Social Media icons by Aha-Soft Team via iconfinder.com) Do you have questions, concerns, kudos, or content to extend this aea365 contribution? Please add them in the comments section for this post on the aea365 webpage so that we may enrich our community of practice. Would you like to submit an aea365 Tip? Please send a note of interest to aea365@eval.org . aea365 is sponsored by the American Evaluation Association and provides a Tip-a-Day by and for evaluators.

Hi, I’m Elissa Schloesser founder and principal graphic designer at Visual Voice. I specialize in helping organizations visually communicate complex information, concepts and ideas—including evaluation methods, theories and findings. Rad Resource: Data Stories is a podcast that covers topics on data visualization. I highly recommend it to anyone interested in the field. A recent episode, titled Disinformation Visualization explores the "darker side" of data visualization. I found this discussion particularly thought provoking and relevant to anyone communicating data. It challenges you to think critically about the data visualizations you create and consume. Hot Tip: Can you spot a misinformed chart? Below is an example of two charts created from the same dataset. This example is a little extreme, but I included it to show how data could be manipulated in visualizations. Both are technically correct, but they strive to tell a different story based on how the data is represented. Hot Tip: Spot misinformed data visualizations by considering these three things: CONTENT: How was the data was gathered? Before the data is even visualized consider how it was collected. STRUCTURE: How was the data structured or sampled? Does the visualization only represent certain years or a particular age group? PRESENTATION: How was the data presented? Does iconography, colors, annotations, etc. used influence your perception of the data? Lessons Learned: Think of data visualizations as "visual arguments" rather than "visual evidence". Do you have questions, concerns, kudos, or content to extend this aea365 contribution? Please add them in the comments section for this post on the aea365 webpage so that we may enrich our community of practice. Would you like to submit an aea365 Tip? Please send a note of interest to aea365@eval.org . aea365 is sponsored by the American Evaluation Association and provides a Tip-a-Day by and for evaluators.

As a salesperson, when was the last time you caught yourself chasing the unchaseable? Better yet, when you do get a hold of one, and there’s interest, at what point did you mess up closing the sale?     Being oblivious to dead end prospects and flubbing the close are two of the most common (and costly) mistakes salespeople make. Let’s look at why they persist, and how you can fix the problems to improve your bottom line for 2014.   Treating Every Prospect Like "The One"   When you go all in on every prospect that pays attention to you, you’re setting yourself up for burnout and, more importantly, for fewer opportunities to close the bigger fish. If every prospect was a $40,000 or higher deal, then by all means work your tail off to get every signature. But if you’re putting the same energy and resources toward a $40 deal, the numbers game will not be kind to you.   The number of deals closed may look bigger if you try and close all the small, side projects, but will that hurt your quarterly goals if the dollar signs aren’t matching up?   Time is so precious that before you know it, the quarter’s almost up and you’re panicking because while you may have a lot of small deals closed, the bigger deals either haven’t panned out, or sign two months later than you need.   That’s because either the unmet need isn’t discovered, or it’s discovered WAY too late. Getting to the unmet needs and pushing to close big deals sometimes means you need to just really analyze which leads are small potatoes and shouldn’t eat up your time as much.   Talking Your Way Out of a Deal   Making the sale in a timely manner is high on every salesperson’s list. Going from pre-calls to building rapport and finding the unmet need eventually leads to the moment you close. But some factors get in the way: either you are met with objection after objection, or you talk yourself out of the sale.   Talking too much during the key moments of the close is dangerous for many reasons. One, you’re providing more time for the prospect to find some other doubt. Two, you’re extending your time that much more. Both of these are a detriment to that handshake, signature and deserved celebratory scream as soon as you leave their premises.   Every negotiation is about communication and knowing how to balance between silence and questioning. Salespeople are naturally chatty - and that’s wonderful. Healthy dialogue builds rapport and establishes the kind of trust you need for later.   However, if you’re about to close and you see that look in the prospect’s eye where you’ve checked off needs and see dollar signs metaphorically spinning inside each iris, don’t talk anymore. Put the coffee down, say "Let’s do this," or "Ready to give an order it’s wings?" or whatever response you use to close… and keep quiet!    You should have a good idea of when needs are fulfilled by how many times the customer is nodding in approval to your pitch. All too often, the sale (and talking about the sale) becomes an unnecessary game of seeing if you can be best friends, explaining how cute their kid is in their soccer outfit, dissecting the history of BBQ, and more - all before you’ve signed off on anything.   Practice being aware of the right moments to stop and let your final pitch sink into the prospect’s head. (Watch our When to Shut Up course for more).   Final Thoughts   These aren’t the only mistakes salespeople make during the stages of a sale - but these two really can sting. Lessen the bite and become better organized with your sales approach. Learn to prioritize the big fish and practice on knowing when to keep quiet when negotiations start to tip in your favor.   Learn to handle sales curveballs with our series on "Objections" right now with a free trial of Thinkzoom.   The post Two of the Most Common (And Costly) Sales Mistakes appeared first on .

Most of us were lukewarm about learning when we were in school because we didn’t like getting up at 7am. That’s why we loved college; because we dictated when we got up for class, if we went at all. But now that school’s over and done and you’re settled in at your job, learning should no longer be a "Do I have toooooo!" mindset. Quality eLearning programs teach a skill, solve workplace issues, empower employees to succeed, and help your company’s bottom line by creating a more productive workforce.     However, getting employees to latch onto eLearning can be tricky; especially if there’s no accountability, if management doesn’t have buy-in first, and if other factors persist. With Valentine’s Day upon us, we thought we’d play Cupid and offer a few ways you can get your employees to fall in love with eLearning.   Love at First Sight or Site?   Sure, the script is full of useful bits of knowledge. The person presenting it is lively and speaks clearly. But the visuals are clearly lacking. There aren’t enough visual cues, pictures or actions happening in the background. And that bare-bones approach to instructional design won’t just make your learners reach for the nearest cup of coffee to stay awake; it’s a detriment to their retention.   According to Brain Rules,  vision trumps all other senses when it comes to remembering information. The article states that if learners have more audio than visual to digest, they’ll only remember 10% of the information three days later. However, if a picture is thrown into the mix, learners remember 65% of the information in that same time span.   Learners need exciting content with even more exciting visuals to help make the eLearning experience better for their brains.   Looking For Love in All the Wrong Places   Your employees’ schedules are busy. Not only do they have their regular duties to complete, but they also need ongoing development such as eLearning to help improve their skill sets and become even better at executing those day-to-day tasks.   But you can’t force employees to learn at "such and such" time. If you make a series of courses mandatory on a certain day, with a specific block of time, you may leave yourself vulnerable to employee unrest. That’s why the learning platform must be cooperative to their schedules. It must be a mobile ready, 24/7 learning experience with courses that can be viewed whenever, wherever the mood strikes.   Like ours.   Love Your Wingman   Why is Facebook worth so much money? Why is LinkedIn so popular? Why does the latest social platform take off like a space shuttle?   It’s because social media platforms are an extension of us now. We consume information shared by others at a rapid pace. Posts that receive recommendations, favorites, or a stream of comments engage us even more. Best of all?  Multiple studies have shown that social media access is making us smarter. One study from the University of British Columbia points out how one group was able to learn new skills faster when they had access to more than 10 "mentors" full of knowledge, rather than the other group who was limited to just one.   Here’s an excerpt:   For the study, participants were asked to learn new skills — digital photo editing and knot-tying — and then pass on what they learned to the next "generation" of participants. The groups with greater access to experts accumulated significantly more skill than those with less access to teachers. Within ten "generations," each member of the group with multiple mentors had stronger skills than the group limited to a single mentor.   So it’s only logical that your learners have social capabilities on your LMS to not only comment on a recently viewed course, but to also communicate their own knowledge or tips to others around the office. When you foster an eLearning experience that includes - not excludes - social media/sharing opportunities, you encourage higher utilization rates.   Was there a love connection?   It’s important that your eLearning program has complete buy-in from both management and the employees - but you can’t just rely on buy-in alone. You need to have sound instructional design - courses that are short, visually stimulating, and connect research to content practically. You need a versatile, intuitive platform to do everything from easily administering courses to empowering social capabilities to learners.   Give your employees the ej4 eLearning experience and watch them fall head over heels for learning!   The post eLearning, You Complete Me! appeared first on .

2013 was a banner year for U.S. businesses involved in mergers and acquisitions. It’s estimated that within the first 9 months, the total sale of mergers and acquisitions approached over $865.1 billion dollars - the highest mark since 2008. 2014 is off to a hot start as well. Just recently, two of the country’s biggest cable providers merged.   Aside from the stock market making noise on "Merger Day," the businesses involved are faced with how to make changes to their existing operations. Will the ogo change, or receive a sub-header?  Will products change or be discontinued? What will the Marketing  message to consumers be? What will happen to our workforce and productivity? That’s a huge concern for both merging businesses.     From finding ways to communicate change to championing a new message to making sure both IT departments are up to speed on new software, here’s a look at what companies should be mindful of when merging.   Culture Shifts Need to Be Addressed   Company culture changes from mergers go far beyond one company having bean bag chairs and the other having ergonomic office chairs. No, the real company culture shift comes from conflicting leadership styles, contradictory company regulations, different employee collaboration, and how employees are motivated to perform at their best.   If a merger happens, and leadership doesn’t find a way to communicate a message that employees can get behind, prepare for huge morale dips, or worse, a spike in employee turnover. While you can’t please every employee (some employees may resist any change and quit on that basis), it’s paramount you deliver a message to quell confusion that’s sure to come the moment the merger’s announced.   Using ej4’s Thinkzoom is the perfect way to deliver that message. Whether it’s a CEO or another member of the leadership team creating the communication, you create one message and share it often with every employee. Not only is video more appealing than an email, you don’t have to worry about the memo or email getting lost amid the hundreds of other messages each employee sees a day.   Training Programs Must Be Available   Many departments face adversity when a merger happens. Some employees are let go because their role no longer exists or their role becomes duplicative. Other departments take on additional responsibilities and must learn new products/procedures quickly. If there’s no accountability or easy training program in place, your company will be in trouble. That employee confusion I just talked about previously comes full circle and motivation is pushed to its limits. More stressful scenarios from unexplained responsibilities likely means performance levels will crash.   That’s why you must communicate that message the right way. If the IT department of the company that was bought out needs to learn a completely different software platform, make sure they have the right training videos to coach them through it. What about new hires that were brought on shortly before, or during, the merger? How does HR communicate different open enrollment programs or detail job responsibilities clearly?   Thinkzoom is that communication tool where companies can target the right message and help teach the skills that employees need to feel comfortable (re: not likely to quit) and productive for the future.   Final Thoughts   A company merger is a big test. While stock prices tend to trend up with the announcement, it’s what goes on afterwards that companies must be keen on to prevent taking unnecessary financial hits. Keeping tabs on employee morale through better communication is the first step. Informing the staff of new duties, changes to current ones and having an easy platform to discuss new company regulations will help to eradicate employee fears and confusion. Above all else, it’s imperative that communication is easy, frequent and front-facing to keep employee turnover at a minimum and ensure as smooth a transition as possible for the road ahead. The post Two Things to Keep In Mind During Company Mergers appeared first on .

Do you remember a time when we couldn’t screen calls?  When you’d get a call from a telemarketer who would most likely butcher the pronunciation of your last name?  Ahhh, those were the days!   Hi, Mr. Schnowhsnfklaks.  I’d like to talk to you about-"   Click.   The greeting is everything. There’s more to it then just pronouncing the last name correctly.  Often times greetings are too generic, haven’t been thought through, or come off flat and energetic. If you’re lucky enough to keep the prospect on the phone, you have to get them to listen to your pitch.  Most of us are so stoked about getting to the next step, we bungle the rest of it!  We turn into "JoJo the idiot circus boy with his pretty new pet!"     Let’s look at how a company should communicate the best selling points of their product to its sales team to use on prospects.   Let’s say a company sells high-efficiency light bulbs. Their target audience is everyone from giant, corporate offices to small mom-and-pop stores. The obvious need is cutting energy bills.   The salesperson reaches a decision maker - the person responsible for the  company budget and the building’s maintenance/infrastructure. First, let’s take a look at how not to do it.   "We have some of the sleekest, most durable lights in the industry. Our lights are 100% eco-friendly. The wattage isn’t too bright or distracting and is easy to install throughout your building."     "So what," says the decision maker. Maybe he or she starts to raise doubts and asks you what your sales are - when the real question they should be asking is,  How does this affect my company’s building?   The QuickSell to that key question comes by discussing their issues. Maybe instead of talking about why your company is so great, you roll off into this question:   "Do you know how much your company’s electricity bill was in the past year? Better yet, what were the last few months like? Your building is roughly 5,000 sq. feet, give or take. How many of those rooms are lit up from 9 to 5? Maybe even all night in some cases? I know it’s probably difficult to enforce a policy that tries to remind employees to turn off lights when they leave a room, because your priority is their productivity. Have you seen any rise in your electric bills year over year? Have you done anything to counter it?"   Notice before the main hook, not a single question saying how awesome their lighting company is. Just repeated questions of the prospect’s needs. And if they don’t know the answers to all of them, at least the you raised them for the decision maker to mull over later - and you stand out as the company that asked.   Once you get feedback, then you rattle off the main hook:   To get lower energy bills, you should buy eco-friendly light bulbs from us. We cut "X" company’s bills in half last year… and their building was 10,000 sq. ft. It’s fast, easy, and will save you money.  I could set up a consultation today, if you’d like?   It’s that line of questioning that positions the sale down a better path. People naturally want to talk about their concerns and what their company can do to save or make them money. It’s the basis of almost every sale. If you’re spending too much time queued up to the first pitch, you’re going in reverse and may end up like the telemarketer above.   As a company, why not take that second pitch, acclimate the questions/scenarios to your company’s product and communicate that message to your team to use out in the field?   With ej4’s Thinkzoom, you have a communication tool to create a better selling point template - and other messages - for your sales team to learn and apply. And that one communication could have a resounding impact on your sales for tomorrow and the rest of the days ahead.   Communicate your company’s selling points to your sales team with ej4’s Thinkzoom. Test it out now for 15 days!   The post Cold Call With The QuickSell appeared first on .

March 1st - March 7th is National Write a Letter of Appreciation Week. It’s a friendly reminder about the benefits of writing a letter of appreciation to your family members, your friends, co-workers, or other people who’ve helped you out along the way. I’m not talking about the Thank You letter you write to a hiring manager after an interview. That’s understood (or should be, at least). These are letters you write thanking someone for something SPECIFIC. For example, being a good friend, a great teammate at work, or for just being kind and generous with helping not just you, but others along the way.   Writing a letter of appreciation is encouraged this week, but not mandatory. It’s not genuine if it’s forced. But what this week should remind everyone in the workforce is this:   When was the last time you thanked a co-worker for their hard work with an email (or letter)?   We’ve already covered the effects of management not praising its staff - 43% of employees cite lack of recognition as the reason they quit. But that question above doesn’t just revolve around management expressing gratitude to their teams; it concerns everyone in the office.   Remember the time when you were swamped with work, had a mountain of tasks, and a co-worker offered to help ease some of that?   Remember the time when a deadline was coming up and you had to get something pushed through a co-worker before approval?   Or just remember any moment where that co-worker went the extra mile to help the team succeed on a project? Maybe they gave great advice that helped you succeed at your tasks, or organized the project calendar to perfection, or just brought positive energy to everyone with their infectiously positive attitude and work ethic?   I’m sure we’ve all verbally expressed our gratitude to one another, but there’s a hidden joy of writing and receiving an appreciative email. It goes beyond just words and forces us to sit and write a message from our heart. We feel more positive emotions from writing a gracious letter that should, in turn, make the reader feel more positive emotions, too.   Positive emotions make us happier at work. According to a Harvard Business Review study, small wins make a happier workforce, and that happier workforce is more productive than a less united, neutral one. And what better way to take part in a small win at work than with a letter? You don’t have to write a letter of appreciation for everything at all times of the day, but it’s nice to appreciate your co-workers with an email or letter every now and then.   Besides, who doesn’t like feeling happy? The post Have You Written a Thank You Note to a Co-Worker Recently? appeared first on .

When you email a prospect, are you using an automated, "one-email-fits-all" approach? Do you try to keep them short or do you make it a novel? How much are you talking about your company’s strengths and less about what your prospect does?     There are plenty of questions to ask yourself when crafting that perfect sales email. Here are a few reminders to help you craft the right one.   Avoid Subject Line Disasters   If your prospect is someone that’s used to receiving hundreds of solicited emails a day, the last thing you want is to emulate everyone else’s style. Using the same, "Just a few minutes of your time…" subject line as 50 other emails is the wrong approach. Chances are that approach will land your message in the "Trash" quickly.     There are plenty of email sins, but it all begins with the subject line.   Don’t use any of these examples:   One-word drops:  "Hi." "Hello." "Special!" All-Caps attacks: ATTENTION: THIS IS IMPORTANT, FREE MONTH OF OUR SERVICE, SAVE 20% INSTANTLY WITH US!, etc. Stale questions: "Did you know…", "Would you like to save money?", "Can you get your product noticed?" "Does your marketing approach need help?"   Check You’re Your Grammar   Your sales email might have some intriguing questions, fantastic hooks, and/or amazing promotions. But if you have sloppy grammar or poor punctuation throughout, it becomes an eyesore on the readers. They won’t take you seriously. They’ll judge the quality of your product and the business based on how substandard your email is. They won’t focus on how you’ll help their company because you’ve peppered the email with too many misspellings.   [Here’s a list of the 100 Most Commonly Misspelled Words]   It’s imperative that you proofread every sales email you send, especially if it’s an automated email that goes out to a massive audience! And be extra careful when typing out an email on a smartphone. Most smartphones have autocorrect features that will change your words (and possibly the message) as you power through. Same goes for tablets. In fact, whatever platform you use to send your message, just review everything at least twice.   Get to The Point   Don’t spend the first few sentences talking about your company’s history (or theirs). If you’re trying to offer something, or trying to feel the person out, get to it in the first few sentences. Again, if the prospect is used to seeing 50-100 solicited emails a day, how much time do they have to read every email from cover to cover? They don’t. And if you don’t pick their brain immediately, the email is a lost cause.   Timing Is Everything   Are you sending emails out during the peak readership hours of the day? There’s a difference between email opens on Monday at 8AM than Tuesday at the same time. Same rule applies for the lunch hour on Wednesday versus Thursday or Friday.   There are plenty of email software tools out there that monitor opens, clicks and whether the reader shared that email with others (Signals is my personal favorite). If you can, sign up for a free trial of that software, then test to see when your emails are getting opened the most, save that information, and use it for future prospecting.   It’s better to time your delivery than it is to send three of the same follow-up emails.   Final Thoughts   Your sales emails play a vital role in the prospect funnel. That’s why you must never overlook the minutiae of what makes them work in your favor. Know your audience, personalize every email if you can, keep grammar fouls at bay, and make sure to get to your point quickly. If you can will yourself to make better emails, you might just open your prospect’s eyes more to your message.   The post Make Your Sales Emails Count appeared first on .