This occasional series about initiating new relationships identifies small and sometimes overlooked techniques that can significantly improve the odds of winning new business.
College literature professors teach that great poets extract maximum impact from a minimum number of words. Ezra Pound demonstrated the point with his 1913 poem, “In a Station of the Metro.” It began as 30 lines and, over the next 18 months, was edited down to only 14 words.
An email subject line used in law firm sales can borrow from that example of editing. In roughly 40 characters — half a dozen carefully evaluated words — it needs to tell the reader something useful, create enough interest to earn an open, and be something that a smart, skeptical buyer of legal services would want to know.
Here are some things worth considering when sending an email to open a door. These suggestions are representative lessons learned from mentors and from trial and error along the way rather than a comprehensive catalog of to-dos.
Write the subject line last. A message can’t be distilled until it is written, so draft the email first, identify the one thought or theme that anchors it, and build the subject line from there.
Consider the recipient. A subject line aimed at a managing partner may put a BD director to sleep, and vice versa. “High-margin firms are growing revenue with AI” is aimed at managing partners, and “AI hacks that ring cash registers“ at sales professionals.
Send it to yourself first. Dispatch a draft to yourself and check it out on a mobile phone, where many if not most emails are encountered these days. How does it come off? If possible, send it also to a couple of friends or colleagues to get their takes on the subject line and body copy.
Respect the first 40 characters. Shorter is better. “Your opinion, please!”
Name something real. Refer to an event, article, presentation, case, place, alma mater, or something else that connects you to the recipient. “Loved your presentation on trade secrets!”
Borrow a name. Ask someone known to both you and the recipient if can use their name in an email. “Jean Rand said I should write you.”
Underplay it. Lawyers and law firm senior executives are professionally sensitized to overstatement. Go for substance, not exaggeration. “Law firm sales: just the facts.”
Ask a question on a topic about which the recipient already wonders. “Does anyone read client alerts?”
Start the email message in the subject line. “I’ve gotta know more about you and…” as a subject line leads to the continuation of the sentence in the body copy: “…your firm. Your discussion about law firm growth is still in my mind.”
Be playful when appropriate. A subject line saying “A modest proposal…” works both as a simple lunch invitation and, for readers who catch it, as a reference to the 1729 satirical essay by Jonathan Swift. Not every recipient will get the joke, which is fine. Those who do might appreciate the lighthearted and literate approach.
Rotate subject lines across a campaign. If the first 50 outbound emails are not getting the attention you expected, keep the body of the message and try a different subject line.
Change the subject line as the email stream’s topic evolves. Once an initial email becomes a conversation, the subject line should change along with the discussion. “Possible dates for the boardroom” might become a conversation about the agenda, in which case the original “RE: Possible dates…” subject line is hopelessly off target.
Use AI to create multiple subject line possibilities. AI can get us past the blank sheet of paper, but the final words, thoughtfully considered, are ours.
That brings us back to Ezra Pound. He spent a year and a half condensing a lengthy impression into “In a Station of the Metro:”
The apparition of these faces in the crowd:
Petals on a wet, black bough.
Your email probably cannot wait a year and a half, but an extra minute or two of consideration can transform a subject line into a sales poem that really sells.
Send along email subject line suggestions or examples that you have found to be effective. We all learn from one another.
Steve Bell is a principal in the Sales, Business Development & Growth Practice of LawVision. He helps law firms develop disciplined sales processes, improve business development effectiveness, and build more predictable growth strategies, integrating AI where it strengthens human relationships. Steve is known for his career-long work in initiating and advancing new relationships. He can be reached at sbell@lawvision.com or 202.421.5988.
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