When your prospect is looking for information to help them make a decision, they will be attracted to valuable impartial information. By offering this information as a stream of emails, it will become collectable, and referred back to at a later stage.

Use the principles of information architecture to control the flow of information. The information you are providing will be based on one of your 'quality issues'; you are providing information to improve this quality issue in the prospect/customer.

Each email should refer to articles on your website that help to build trust and reduce anxiety. You can link the articles together by classifying them with the same theme. That way, when an article is displayed, the other articles will appear in the related links.

How to structure the follow-up emails…

Here is an example of a series of 7 emails. The sequence does not have to be in this order, and you can even have links within the messages go to the same page every time.

1. Can you solve my Problem?

   This will probably be the first point of contact between the prospect and your business. Raise their expectations by describing your intentions in detail. Use the Gricean Maxims to decide the enphasis of your intentions:

   • Quality: Is it the precise nature of the information that is important?
   • Quantity: Is it the amount of information that is important?
   • Relevance: Is it the story behind the information that is important?
   • Clarity: Is it the order and clarity of the information that is important?

   Refer your reader to an impartial article on your website that responds to their anticipated 'Can you solve my problem?' type questions.

2. Will it work for me?

   Describe typical environments where the chosen quality issue is relevant. Use a case study, or even quote a testimonial.

   Refer your reader to an impartial article on your website that responds to their anticipated 'Will it work for me?' type questions.

3. What's in it for me?

   Talk about how to use your product or how your service works. Include supporting material where appropriate.

   Refer your reader to an impartial article on your website that responds to their anticipated 'What's in it for me?' type questions.

4. Why Choose you?

   Offer proof in terms of:

   • Ability: State why your business is qualified to offer this service. Do you have any accreditations?
   • Integrity: Refer to case studies or testimonials that highlight evidence that you do what you say.
   • Benevolence: Demonstrate your concern for the success of your clients by empathising with your clients and providing useful and topical information.

   Refer your reader to an impartial article on your website that responds to their anticipated 'Why choose you?' type questions.

5. Ask for comments and feedback

   Start by asking if the prospect has any questions. Provide as many ways of getting them to contact you to make it as easy as possible for them.

   It will also be useful to provide the popular questions with your associated answers at this point.

6. List Testimonials

   This is an opportunity to gain credibility by outlining existing happy customers and their experiences.

   Refer your reader to a case study on your website that responds to an example of a typical environment that concerns the chosen quality issue.

7. What's next?

   This will be the final email in the auto-responder sequence. Provide them with links to further information and invite them to sign up for specific product information. Make sure they are aware that if they don’t take this up, then the auto-responder will finish.

   Refer your reader to an impartial article on your website that responds to their anticipated 'What's next?' type questions.

Write your auto-responder emails in a condensed form of direct response style copy. Include an information 'how to' headline to raise interest in the reader. Outline your intentions and your motives behind the information you are giving away. Demonstrate how this information is useful to them. Close the email with a strong call to action and instruct them to visit your website for more details.