The Six-Part Closing Email
A six-step follow-up formula that invites the customer into a story and closes the sale.
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Time to result
- ~days to results
- Steps
- 6
- Confidence
- 95%
Miller reframes selling as inviting customers into a story where they are the hero. His six-step follow-up email closes deals: start with the customer's problem, position your product as the solution, give a simple three-step plan to buy, paint the negative stakes of inaction, paint the positive stakes of buying, then directly ask for the sale. Writing it forces you to listen for the customer's real problem and position your product against it, which is how you actually learn to sell. The same formula powers in-person pitches, proposals, keynotes, and elevator pitches.
Origin
Miller disliked selling until he stopped selling and started inviting customers into a story. Noting that up to 70% of sales forces ignore expensive sales training, he built one repeatable formula instead. He has run it live with rooms of sales reps, once closing $2.4 million in the room.
Core principles
- 01You don't sell; you invite the customer into a story where they are the hero.
- 02Every follow-up must start with the customer's problem, not your product.
- 03Position your product as the solution, then remove friction with a simple three-step plan.
- 04Paint both the negative stakes of inaction and the positive stakes of buying.
- 05Always explicitly ask for the sale.
- 06The same formula works for emails, in-person conversations, proposals, keynotes, and elevator pitches.
How to run it
- 1
Start with the problem
Open the email by naming the pain the customer is facing: 'Earlier today we talked about how we all struggle with X, and I know that can be very painful.'
Pro tip You can only do this well if you listened carefully in the conversation first.
- 2
Position your product as the solution
Present your product as the thing that solves the stated problem: because we created X, nobody has to deal with this anymore.
- 3
Give a three-step plan
Lay out a simple three-step plan to buy (intake session, custom strategy, move forward) to remove cognitive dissonance with baby steps.
Pro tip Don't overthink the three steps; their job is to make engaging feel easy.
- 4
Paint the negative stakes
Describe the cost of not acting: I don't want to see you keep struggling, and a month or a year from now this will be even more painful.
- 5
Paint the positive stakes
Describe the better life your product delivers: with my product, here's how great your life will be.
- 6
Ask for the sale
Directly tell them to buy: I think you should buy this product today, it's the right product for you, click here.
Watch out Skipping the explicit ask leaves customers on the fence.
In the wild
Miller had 250 sales reps at a 1.4-billion-dollar company each write a follow-up email to a fence-sitting customer using the six-step formula, then hit send together.
→ Two days later the chief revenue officer reported they had closed $2.4 million worth of sales from those emails.
Instead of asking 'what brought you in today,' Miller trains salespeople to ask 'what do you hate about your current mattress,' surfacing the problem immediately, then offering three mattresses that solve it.
→ The salesperson is a mile into the conversation instead of getting avoided by the customer.
Common mistakes
Leading with the product instead of the problem
Opening with your product or a generic 'what brings you in today' leaves the customer nowhere and prompts them to avoid you.
Never explicitly asking for the sale
Fence-sitting customers stay on the fence when the salesperson never clearly tells them to buy.
Is it for you?
Best for
Anyone following up with prospects who understand their pain but haven't yet decided.
Not ideal for
Prospects who genuinely don't have the problem your product solves.
From the transcript
“I basically stopped selling and I started inviting customers into a story.”
“Start with the problem. Position your product as a solution. Give them a three step plan. Paint the negative stakes, paint the positive stakes, and…”
“We closed 2.4 million worth of sales in the room.”
From the episode
Donald Miller: How To Make Your First Million, 6 Steps To Grow Your Small Business in 2023
Donald Miller