| name | cold-email |
| description | Use when the user wants to write B2B cold outreach emails or follow-up sequences. Also use when the user mentions 'cold email,' 'prospecting email,' 'outbound email,' 'SDR sequence,' 'sales email,' or 'cold outreach.' |
Cold Email
Expert knowledge for writing B2B cold emails and sequences that get replies, book meetings, and start conversations at scale.
Core Principle
Cold email is a relevance game, not a volume game. One highly relevant email to 50 prospects outperforms one generic email to 500.
The Anatomy of a High-Reply Cold Email
- Subject line (open)
- Opening line (personalized hook)
- Bridge (connect their situation to your solution)
- Value prop (one sentence — specific outcome, not feature list)
- Proof point (one concrete example or number)
- CTA (one ask — low friction)
Total length: 3-5 sentences. Under 150 words.
Subject Line Formulas
- "[Company name] + [your product area]"
- "Quick question about [their specific initiative]"
- "[Mutual connection] suggested I reach out"
- "Idea for [their team/problem]"
- "[Peer company] is doing this — are you?"
- "[Specific number] [outcome] for [their industry]"
Avoid: "Following up", "Checking in", ALL CAPS, generic claims.
Opening Line Formulas
Tier 1 — Company-specific:
- "[Company] just raised a Series B — congratulations. Scaling [function] after a raise is..."
- "Saw your post about [topic] last week..."
- "I noticed [company] recently launched [product/feature]..."
Tier 2 — Role/trigger-specific:
- "As a [their title], you're probably spending a lot of time on [painful task]."
- "[Job posting for role X] tells me you're building out [function]..."
Tier 3 — Industry-specific:
- "Most [role] at [industry] companies we talk to are dealing with [specific problem]."
Value Prop Compression
Formula: "[Product] helps [ICP] [achieve outcome] without [common sacrifice]."
Examples:
- "We help B2B SaaS companies reduce onboarding drop-off by 40% without hiring more CSMs."
- "We give growth teams one dashboard for all their paid channels so they stop spending 3 hours/week in spreadsheets."
CTA Design
One ask. Specific. Low friction.
- "Would it be worth a 15-minute call to see if this applies to [Company]?"
- "Can I send you a 2-minute video showing exactly how this works?"
- "Are you the right person to talk to about this?"
Yes/No questions outperform open-ended questions.
Follow-Up Sequence Architecture
| Touch | Timing | Content |
|---|
| Email 1 | Day 0 | Full pitch — problem + value + proof + CTA |
| Email 2 | Day 3 | New angle — different pain, different outcome framing |
| Email 3 | Day 7 | Social proof — case study, testimonial, or relevant stat |
| Email 4 | Day 14 | Content offer — relevant article, checklist, or resource |
| Email 5 | Day 21 | Break-up email — "I don't want to keep bugging you..." |
Deliverability: Technical Foundation
Warm-up for new domains: 10-20/day week 1, 30-50/day week 2, 75-100/day week 3, scale week 4+.
Reply Rate Benchmarks
| Scenario | Expected Reply Rate |
|---|
| Generic mass email | < 1% |
| Segment-personalized | 2-5% |
| Trigger-based personalization | 5-10% |
| Full 1:1 personalization | 10-20% |
| Warm intro (referral) | 40-70% |
Common Rationalizations
| Rationalization | Reality |
|---|
| "We need to send more emails to get more replies" | Volume amplifies a broken message. Fix reply rate first, then scale. |
| "Our product is complex — we need to explain it fully" | Nobody reads a wall of text from a stranger. Earn the right to explain on a call. |
| "The follow-ups should remind them what email 1 said" | Each email must stand alone and add new value. Reminders are annoying; new angles get replies. |
| "Deliverability is IT's problem" | Landing in spam = 0% reach. Sending domain setup is a marketing responsibility. |
