*SALES EMAIL SUMMIT* Gary Williams –using survey results to write your email and make sales

Summary

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The Email Sound Booth with Liz Wilcox

SALES EMAIL SUMMIT: Gary Williams – Using Survey Results to Write Your Email and Make Sales

Podcast Host: Liz Wilcox
Guest: Gary Williams
Date: August 21, 2025

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Overview

In this episode, Liz Wilcox welcomes Gary Williams to the Sales Email Summit to discuss a sales email strategy that leverages real survey responses from your audience. Gary takes listeners behind the scenes of a highly effective sales email campaign built on live workshop feedback and shows how sharing audience language and results can spark authentic conversations and drive sales. The episode is rich in practical advice, examples, and actionable insights for anyone seeking to make their email marketing feel genuine, conversational, and profitable.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The "Survey Says" Sales Email Strategy

[01:02 – 05:23]

• Gary's Most Successful Email: Gary describes a standout sales email he sent, inspired by one of Liz's templates, that used audience survey data to drive engagement and conversions.

  • He conducted a live workshop and polled attendees with the question: "Where do you find yourself getting stuck when it comes to your productivity?"
  • 107 responses were collected live via Zoom.

• Survey Data Analysis with AI:

  • Gary downloaded the poll data and utilized AI to help distill responses into five key themes, acting as a "thought partner" for categorization.

• Crafting the Email:

  • The email shared the five productivity challenges/themes that emerged, and included direct (anonymous) quotes from respondents.
  • Readers were asked to hit reply and indicate which theme resonated with them.

  “We’re using the words of our ideal client, people that were on the workshop… it’s a beautiful way to actually speak the language of the people that you’re trying to reach by using their direct words with them.”
  — Gary Williams [03:52]

• Why This Works:

  • Relatability: Sharing real audience language makes the email feel personal and relevant.
  • Fosters Conversation: Invites readers to respond, sparking one-on-one conversations.
  • Behind-the-Scenes Appeal: Transparency about “what others are saying” taps into readers’ curiosity.

  “Not only do we just use those five themes, but we used actual quotes… Which leads us to the second thing of why this email worked so well is using their words created this relatability...”
  — Gary Williams [05:07]

  • Conversation Over Closing: The email isn't a hard sell—it’s a warm invitation to share and open a dialogue.

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2. Executing the Strategy in Your Own Business

[05:23 – 07:20]

• How to Replicate:

  • Run a live poll or send a one-question survey via email.

  • Summarize and categorize responses.

  • Pull back the curtain for your list: “Okay, the survey says…”

  • Include direct quotes (anonymized), showing readers they’re not alone in their challenges.

  • Invite replies on which theme resonates most.

  • Bonus: Sprinkle in success quotes from customers who have benefited from your solution, subtly shifting from problem to transformation.

• Applicability: Whether you have a live event or not, the approach works as a simple survey in any business context.

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3. Handling Replies and Avoiding “Cringy” Sales Conversations

[07:26 – 11:21]

• Liz’s Question:

  • “Did that ever feel cringy to you or embarrassing or awkward? And if so, what did you do to get over it?”
    — Liz Wilcox [08:13]

• Gary’s Honest Take:

  • Early on, he overthought the reply process, worrying about the nature and expectations of email replies (e.g. “am I starting a never-ending pen pal chain?”).
  • Leaned on Liz’s “welcome sequence” method: ask for simple yes/no replies and don’t overcomplicate the follow-up—gratitude is enough.

  “I definitely overthought that for the first few years in business... I don’t have to write them a novel to a yes or no response.”
  — Gary Williams [09:20]

  • Now, he views replies as opportunities for empathy and problem-solving, not just pitches.
  • Sales conversations should be inviting, not transactional. Responses are a “gift” — someone is sharing their pain point.
  • He stays unattached to the outcome, simply seeking to help, recommend solutions, and build relationships.

  “Sales is kind of like the intersection between empathy... and problem solving.”
  — Gary Williams [10:00]

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4. The Power of Enthusiasm and Audience Connection

[11:33 – 14:46]

• Liz highlights that enthusiasm and genuine desire to help is just as critical as strategy for making sales feel easy and natural.

  “When you’re enthusiastic about helping your people, sales comes a lot more easily.”
  — Liz Wilcox [11:33]

• Gary’s Call-to-Action:

  • Shares a free guide, the “Needle Moving Action Plan”—a 15-minute resource to help listeners identify and focus on priority actions for their business.
  • Recommends Liz’s membership as a game-changer for his own email marketing success.

  “Your membership has been the biggest game changer in my business... If you’re not already in her membership, what are you doing?”
  — Gary Williams [12:21]

• Resource Links:

  • betterfuturecoaching.com/action – Gary’s free resource
  • Liz Wilcox’s membership & resources – Weekly templates and email marketing support

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Using Audience Language:

  “It’s a beautiful way to be able to actually speak the language of the people that you’re trying to reach by using their direct words with them.”
  — Gary Williams [03:52]

• On Authentic Sales:

  “It’s not about closing the sale, it’s about opening a conversation.”
  — Liz Wilcox [07:26] (attributing Mike Kim)

• Regarding Reply Anxiety:

  “I definitely overthought that for the first few years in business... I don’t have to write them a novel to a yes or no response.”
  — Gary Williams [09:20]

• Empathetic Selling:

  “Sales is kind of like the intersection between empathy... and problem solving.”
  — Gary Williams [10:00]

• On Enthusiasm in Business:

  “When you’re enthusiastic about helping your people, sales comes a lot more easily.”
  — Liz Wilcox [11:33]

• Membership Testimonial:

  “Your membership has been the biggest game changer in my business...”
  — Gary Williams [12:21]

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Important Timestamps

• [01:02] Gary explains the “Survey Says” email concept
• [03:52] The value of sharing direct audience quotes for relatability
• [05:07] Three reasons the email worked so well
• [08:33] Discussion on discomfort with sales conversations
• [09:20] How to handle responses simply and authentically
• [10:00] Sales as empathy plus problem solving
• [11:33] Importance of enthusiasm in sales
• [12:21] Gary’s testimonial about Liz’s membership and invitation to his free action plan

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Takeaways for Listeners

• Use surveys—live or emailed—to gather real customer struggles and language.
• Share this “behind-the-scenes” feedback directly with your email list to drive engagement.
• Ask for replies; keep your responses simple and focused on empathy, not immediate sales.
• Use customer language and peer stories to foster trust and relatability.
• Focus on conversations, not just conversions; genuine connection leads to sales.
• Harness enthusiasm—it’s infectious and sells better than any script.

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Links:

• Get Gary’s free Needle Moving Action Plan: betterfuturecoaching.com/action
• Join Liz’s membership for weekly email templates: lizwilcox.com
• “Steal These Sales Emails” template pack (as mentioned in outro): See show notes for details.

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Transcript

[Liz Wilcox]

What up?

Liz Wilcox here, the host of Sales Email Summit. Before we get into this interview, I just want to let you know that this summit is sponsored by list gadget. ListGadget.com is how you can turn every email into a growth machine. We've got embeddable polls, leaderboards, referral programs and more. And I know this sounds crazy, but you can do it in about 30 second startup time. Now right now we are offer $10 off the starter plan to make it just $9 a month. So if you're into adding email polls, reactions, subscriber leaderboards and more to your email newsletter, head on over to listgadget.com all right, let's get into this episode.

Gary, what is the most interesting or the most lucrative, most exciting sales email you have sent out in the last six, six to 12 months?

[Gary Williams]

Liz, thanks so much for having me here and for all of you listening here at the Sales Email Summit, super excited that you made this choice to be a part of this experience to take your email and your sales to the next level. My name is Gary Williams and in my business I get to work with online business owners, change makers and authors to help them gain clarity in their purpose to to design intentional strategies around how their mind is wired and to take focused action towards a better future. And today I am super excited to share with you a little bit about this survey says sales email that I sent out that performed really well for me. So couple things, just about what this email looks like, how it works and some steps that you can take to actually implement this in your business. And then Liz, if you have any other follow up questions, happy to dig into those as well. So ultimately all you're doing with this email is you're doing a survey, just a quick survey question and you are sharing some of the behind the scenes results with your email list. So to break this down a little bit more, what I specifically did was hosted a live workshop. I did a quick zoom poll live on the call where I just asked folks to share an answer to a question. And, and so all I asked was where do you find yourself getting stuck when it comes to your productivity? And so people just typed in their answer as a short response and I had 107 live responses on that live workshop. And so what I did is I went through and I analyzed the results, I downloaded the zoom poll data and I actually used AI to help me with some of the analysis here a little bit here. I had it break it apart into different themes and different categories and was able to kind of use it as a thought partner. And ultimately what I did is I wrote a sales email that was inspired by one of Liz's emails inside of email marketing membership. So if you're not already in there, what are you doing? It's a no brainer. Get in there, Liz. One of the things that Liz focuses on is the power of getting replies to your emails. And so what I did is I shared these five themes of what I saw in the response to this one survey question about where the audience is actually feeling stuck when it comes to their productivity. And there were five big themes that emerged. And all I did was I asked them to respond with which one of those five things resonated with them the most. And so then what I did is underneath each of those themes actually shared direct quotes that came in from the survey responses. And the beauty of this is we're using the words of our ideal client people that were on the workshop.

[Liz Wilcox]

Okay.

[Gary Williams]

And it's a beautiful way to be able to actually speak the language of the people that you're trying to reach by using their direct words with them.

[Liz Wilcox]

Right.

[Gary Williams]

And so the power of this is it allowed people to respond back, it sparked conversations, and we were able to talk through some of the challenges that they were coming up with.

[Liz Wilcox]

Okay.

[Gary Williams]

And all we did was just ask them to respond back with which of those themes resonated with them the most. A lot of people gave a little bit more of a description, shared a little bit more of what they were going through. And in the email I just shared that if, if they respond back and it seems like the program that we're offering could be a good fit, that I'll share a little bit about what that could look like as well. So the beauty of this, okay, why did this work so well? One of the things that I've heard Liz say a time or two is that we're all pretty nosy, aren't we? We kind of like the behind the scenes. We like when people share what things are working well in their businesses. Right? And in this context, sharing directly with the audience. A behind the scenes of, hey, here's what the survey actually said, here's what people came up with, here's what people were identifying as their biggest challenge or sticking point as it relates to their productivity.

[Liz Wilcox]

Okay?

[Gary Williams]

So that works really well because we're nosy. We like to see, well, what are other people saying? What are other people experiencing? And so not only do we just use those five themes, but we used actual quotes. They were anonymous. We didn't Put people's name next to it or anything like that, but actual quotes of what people said.

[Liz Wilcox]

Okay.

[Gary Williams]

Which leads us to the second thing of why this email worked so well is using their words created this relatability, right? It allowed people to see themselves in the email and to actually see what people were saying and see themselves in those responses. And it created this beautiful connection and relatability because people were actually able to see quotes from their peers from other people that were on the workshop. And the third and final reason why this email worked so well is it sparked conversations. We were able to then tailor a response to show how the offer that we were selling in this email could actually address the challenge that they shared. And it was just a quick and easy way to spark conversation, to actually get some dialogue flowing. And I think that is probably the best way to be able to sell is through conversations, right? Conversations that convert. And so the power of this then is it allowed people to really see themselves in the responses there. So it's super simple for you to be able to do. You could do this on a live workshop like that. You could send out a quick survey in your email. It could just be a one question thing that you ask people to respond back to, and then you pull back the curtain, you share those responses. Okay, the survey says, and you actually share those things with the audience. And then the other thing that I included in the email that you'll see in the template as well is just some quotes from Wins that people celebrated as a part of the actual offer, too, just to kind of start to seed the fact that you don't have to just stay in this challenge space, that people are experiencing a transformation here. So super excited to see what's to come with all of these future emails. Liz, if that sparks any questions, would love to be able to answer those. And I can't wait to see how you're able to use this out there in your emails to be able to reveal the curtain a little bit.

[Liz Wilcox]

Right.

[Gary Williams]

To show behind the scenes and to share those survey responses to spark those powerful conversations.

[Liz Wilcox]

All right, Gary, this is so good. Thank you so much. I always say, and I stole this from Mike Kim. He's a copywriter. You know, it's not about closing the sale, it's about opening a conversation. So I love that you are bringing to this event an email that, you know, very purposely solicited responses so you could open up that conversation. You could say, hey, this, you know, problem A or B is your is issue. Actually, that's a great fit for my program. So, speaking of, I know a lot of people when I say, you know, get replies, get replies. People say, oh, you know, I don't know what to say after, I feel a little cringy. So I just want you to talk a little bit about how, like, did you ever feel that way? Like, oh, I don't want to. This person replied, they're telling me their problems. They now I'm going to sell them. Did that ever feel cringy to you or embarrassing or awkward? And if so, you know, what did you do to get over it?

[Gary Williams]

Absolutely. And such a great question. Honestly, one of the first times that I tried getting replies to emails was when I started using your template for the welcome sequence. And so for anyone listening, if you're new to Liz's world, she has a free welcome sequence available. Go grab it if you haven't already. It's a wonderful resource to be able to build out a welcome sequence in your business that when you get someone new to your email list, they're able to kind of become a little bit more acquainted to you and enter into your world. And one of the strategies that you teach in there, Liz, is the idea of getting kind of that yes or no reply back a really quick and easy response. And I definitely overthought that for the first few years in business I was like, oh, but am I trying to create a pen pal where I just keep asking questions and when will it end or when does it keep going? And honestly, what I did to overcome it there was just give myself permission for just a really short response back. I don't have to write them a novel to a yes or no response. I don't have to ask a million questions, which might be my nature on a call with someone.

[Liz Wilcox]

Right.

[Gary Williams]

But instead just a quick response in expressing gratitude for the response that they gave to me in this type of email. Honestly, I don't necessarily have a hard time with replying back here because for me it's less about the sale, like you said, and more about opening up that conversation. And when we open ourselves up to that conversation, to me, it is such a beautiful gift that someone is sharing with me something that they're challenged by a problem that they're experiencing. And I really view sales as kind of like the intersection between empathy of kind of meeting people where they're at from an emotional point of view and problem solving. And so for me, the less attached you are to the outcome of will they buy my offer? Yes or no. But having a belief in my offer that it's the best solution out there for the right person and then that gives me the confidence to enter into a conversation with curiosity to figure out, well, what is this person really experiencing? And with what they're experiencing here is what I have to offer the best possible path forward for them and if it is, let me extend that offer as a way to potentially solve that problem for them. And if it's not, do I have any thoughts around what direction they might be able to go in in order to help someone on a path to a better future to overcome a problem or a challenge that they might be experiencing in their own life? So I love that you brought that up. And yes, I definitely struggled with some replies early on, but with this type of email because they're sharing something that's quite vulnerable with you, it's kind of the territory that I love to swim in.

[Liz Wilcox]

Right.

[Gary Williams]

Of just the empathy and the problem solving and being able to just approach it with curiosity to be curious about. What could we do to support this person on their path moving forward?

[Liz Wilcox]

Gary, thank you so much. I love your enthusiasm and that's really what I want. People, aside from all the knowledge gems you dropped to pick up, is when you're enthusiastic about helping your people, sales comes a lot more easily. So thanks so much Gary. Let our audience know where people can sign up to learn more about you and from you.

[Gary Williams]

Yes. Liz, thanks so much for having me at this summit. I appreciate you so much. And of course the best place to learn more about me and my business is my email list of course. Right. I would love to extend a free guide to anyone listening in called the Needle Moving Action Plan. It is a 15 minute resource so it's quick and easy to implement. It's an not going to take you hours of watching content or anything else to help you identify where is a point of friction in your business right now and how can we free up some time to help you focus on those needle moving priorities in your business to focus on the things that are truly going to make a difference and the bottom line right in your time, in your energy, in your sales, to cut through some of that noise there. Okay, so it's an action plan. It will help you reduce some of that friction to focus on those things that truly matter. There's an actionable AI prompt in there that's really detailed that will help you break things down into next steps as well as a 15 minute guided workshop to walk you through a workbook that's in there as well. Would love to invite Anyone to check that out? Liz, thank you so much for one, inviting me to be a part of this summit. But two, for who you are and how you're choosing to show up in the world. Truly, your membership has been the biggest game changer in my business. And for anyone listening in, Liz did not ask me to say this. If you're not already in her membership, what are you doing? It's $9 a month. You want to be in this program. It is going to give you email templates for every week to help you actually show up in your email marketing to your audience without having to overthink. What should I send this week? And it has been one of the biggest difference makers in my business thus far. The best investment that I've made in my business on an ongoing basis. And so if you are new to Liz's world or not and you're not already in the membership, highly recommend it. As a raving fan of someone who uses it all the time, it is something that you don't want to miss out on. So Liz, I appreciate you for making the world of marketing accessible to people out there in the world. I appreciate you consistently showing up and creating resources for people like me that can enter into this space who didn't previously have a background in sales and marketing, but to feel confident in being able to show up and market my offer to extend an invitation and to actually make sales. So Liz, thank you so much. And everyone listening, definitely take action on what you're hearing.

[Liz Wilcox]

Okay?

[Gary Williams]

And we'd love to invite you to grab the action plan. Better futurecoaching.com action.

[Liz Wilcox]

Okay.

[Gary Williams]

Better futurecoaching.com Action thanks so much for being here. We'll see you all later.

[Liz Wilcox]

Look, look, look.

[Summit Announcer]

Gary and I met at an Applebee's for lunch a few weeks ago and I've known him in the online space for years. He'd been a member of my membership. His enthusiasm is contagious, his creativity is unmatched. So you want to get on his email list, okay, so go ahead and follow that link in the show notes. Speaking of another thing you can steal from Gary, aside from his infinite enthusiasm and wisdom, is this email for just $35. It's a total steal of a deal. Get it? The Steal these Sales Emails template pack a plug and play collection of every single email, including awesome creative survey based email from the Summit rewritten into simple templates you can customize in minutes. No decoding, no guesswork, just copy, tweak and send. Baby make sales just like Gary did. And the other online biz owners in this summit. Again, $35 total. Steal Steal these sales emails Template pack link in the show notes.