The majority of salesy cold mail goes straight to trash. But as a business owner, what would make you respond?
My favorite strategies for making cold emailing more effective and less awkward💁🏼♀️
Tried and True techniques, copy and paste these somewhere so you can reference them!!
Friendly Introduction
• Start with “Hi [Recipient’s Name],” and then mention something you admire about their work or company. For example, “I was really impressed by your latest product launch!”
Personalized Offer
• Get straight to the point, but keep it friendly. “I thought of you when I came across something that could really help with [specific challenge or opportunity you noticed about their company].”
Relatable Success Story
• Share a quick story or example. “Just last month, we helped a company like yours achieve [specific result], and I believe we can do the same for you.”
Easy Next Step
• Suggest a no-pressure call or meeting. “Would you be open to a quick chat next week? I promise to keep it short and sweet!”
Warm Closing
• Thank them and add a personal touch. “Thanks for considering this, [Recipient’s Name]. Looking forward to the possibility of working together!”
These prompts should help make your cold emails feel more personal and engaging which should (in theory) help the chances of getting a positive response. The goal is to start a conversation, not just pitch your product or service.
I would respond to a cold email, but only for something I actually need/want.
The offer is more important than the copy of the email.
I get a lot of cold emails, I deliberately subscribe to them to see what is happening…however there are few folks out there do send great emails which I open and read.
I don’t know, as I’ve yet seen one I would respond to.The biggest and best companies don’t use this tactic.
I find them scammy or illegitimate at the very least. It feels like an invasion of privacy or something, and a tactic only a beginner would use. I don’t deal with beginners, as I want a proven product and company. That’s my thought on it.
A guy sent me an email with an embedded video where he was looking at my website. I didn’t watch the video but I did give him the courtesy of a polite rejection. Better than most get.
I’ve responded to cold emails on things I actually want or need. 99.9% of them get deleted immediately
I’ve learned in sales that the NUMBER 1 thing that gets people to respond is a very simple formula:
Legitimate need + free value
Identify that they need what you have, but don’t sell them right away. Provide the free value. Sometimes, when the time is right you can add an emotional variable and use that to persuade someone to take action towards the next steps.
You should ask /r/sales. They’ll get to straight to what works and you can adapt it to your audience.
Shorter is better, 59 words or less.
Interesting approach
I checked that sub a few weeks ago and seemed about a career in sales, more than sales for when building a business. I feel it was for when the business is at a point where they can hire sales staff. They know what works and systematize it through staff.
What’s your take on it? I wish there was a sub for entrepreneurs learning sales. The one you mentioned talks about sales quotas and such, unless I scanned too quickly and got the wrong impression.
How does someone even start doing research in a new domain they are interested in?
I noticed you use X. We have this high value thing we do related to it. Want to talk further? Social proof in signature.
99% of the cold emails I receive have obviously done zero pre-qualifying. They’re simply using a shotgun approach to see if anybody bites. By externalizing the work of determining if there’s even an apparent need/fit, they create so much noise and digital litter that I’ve almost become completely inured to it. Almost. It is still annoying.
It’s extremely rare that an email shows any evidence whatsoever that the sender has even looked at my website or profile(s) to see whether their offering or ask is relevant to me.
I consider this approach disrespectful as it attempts toaster the time and attention of thousands of random recipients, and it leaves a bad aftertaste, which I associate with the sender (person and brand).
On the extremely rare occasion that someone has actually bothered to determine whether I might need their product or services, and simply mentions why they have a reasonable suspicion that they’re a good fit, I do respond.
But this requires them to spend time looking at my work and understanding me, before asking me to look at and understand theirs. Almost no one does this. All of the tactics people use to appear like they’ve done their homework (without actually doing it) are painfully obvious. And if you’re looking for people who are easily fooled, I definitely don’t want to do business with you.
Very legitimate. Thanks for answering so thoroughly. Are there any services that you think would help your business in 2024?
Nada.
If the email is offering something that will improve my business.
Never
I once bought a marketing service from cold email. A kind that I didn’t even know existed.
They delivered it, but it was a huge waste of money. Now I automatically mark all cold emails as spam.
That was literally the only time I bought something from cold email.
Can you describe what you were working on with them once you enrolled?