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Are you tired of wasting your time and your valuable leads with cold emails that don't work? Or, are you just getting started in the cold emailing game and want expert advice before hitting send on that first message? Whatever the case, you're in the right place if you're hoping to learn how to write a cold sales email that actually gets opens and responses.
We're tired of watching our fellow email marketers struggle in the trenches - while giving the rest of us a bad name with spammy email templates that simply don't work. In this in-depth guide, you're going to learn everything you need to know to start crafting emails that convert prospects into leads, and eventually, leads into sales.
Let's not waste any time - we'll dive right into why it's so important to actually take the time to how to write a cold email for sales.
The Importance Of Learning How To Write A Cold Sales Email
When we first started writing cold emails, we dove right into the deep end. We didn't waste any time fumbling around the internet seeing what other marketers were recommending. Instead, we just wrote out emails that we believed were well-written and sure to yield results.
What a mistake that was.
The results were catastrophic - we were getting very few opens, and those who did open our emails only did so to mark us as spam or reply "leave me alone". Looking back today, the cold emails we were writing were terrible. They were long-winded, and all about me, me, me - leaving the recipient offended and irritated. Take our word for it - you're not going to close many deals if you don't take the time to actually learn how to write a cold email for sales.
Even with the best of intentions, there are a few common mistakes we see beginner email marketers make in their cold emailing efforts. That's what we're here to help you avoid. By continuing to read below, you'll do a great job of preventing the common pitfalls cold emailers make. So, let us break it all down for you!
How To Write A Cold Sales Email: Step By Step Guide To Getting Opens & Responses
While you may not know how to write a cold sales email just yet, that's about to change. Soon, you'll be equipped with the know-how necessary for turning an email address and a few words into a paying customer.
As you're about to discover, writing effective cold emails is actually not that difficult. By following the best practices, you will greatly increase your chances of success. And from there, it's just a matter of personalizing your messaging and making sure you add value before asking for anything from the recipient. Before we get into the step-by-step guide to getting opens and results through cold email, let's talk about the basics.
Starting With The Basics
If you're new to cold emailing, there are a few basic housekeeping topics we need to go over. These are the things we didn't even think about when we first started - we just got right into our inbox and started composing emails. But had we checked off these three boxes first, we may have seen better results. Even with the best cold email templates, you won't get results until you take care of these:
- Have you warmed up your domain? Many of us are eager to get started pitching our product or service to the masses. We even go as far as to build out a new domain specifically for this endeavor. But before you fire off that first batch of cold emails, you need to warm your domain up. This will ensure high deliverability and allow you to build a solid reputation in the eyes of email service providers. Fail to do this, and you'll end up in spam boxes rather than inboxes. While you're doing this, optimize your sender name to something eye-catching/captivating. This will help you stand out in a sea of emails.
- Have you qualified & validated your list of prospects? Finding a list of prospects is easy - but before you upload that list into your autoresponder, you need to validate the email addresses. This sort of goes back to warming up your domain. If you have a list of 100 email addresses you downloaded, and only 80 of them are good - you're sending 20% of your emails to invalid addresses. This will flag Gmail or any other service provider of your spammy intentions. Furthermore, you should make sure you're emailing the right people. We recommend you don't even waste your time sending a cold email to anyone who isn't a decision-maker. It's also worth doing a bit of research to determine whether or not they're a good fit for your product/service.
- Are you ready to deliver your offer to these leads? Picture this - you send out 1,000 cold emails after reading this complete guide and you get incredible results. You have 10-20 paying customers ready to start work immediately. But are you actually capable of delivering your product or service to these people? Make sure you have your offer dialed in and the capacity to deliver results before pitching your service to anyone.
Once you've taken care of these initial steps, we can move on to the fun part - teaching you how to write a cold sales email.
Step 1) Figuring Out Your Subject Line
The first step in learning how to write a cold email for sales is the subject line. This is what will ultimately persuade a user to click on your email and see what you have to say. If you fail to captivate your recipient, your offer never stands a chance. You can land in the inbox of your ideal customer - one that is actually looking for someone just like you, and willing to pay - but if the subject line doesn't do its job, what's the use?
Fortunately, we've written out a few guides on cold email subject lines. If you're looking to gain inspiration from us, take a look at some of the most creative subject lines we've come across. But in general, here are a few pieces of advice we recommend when crafting subject lines:
- Subject lines are the first place you should add personalization. This can be the recipient's name, their business, or something more creative - like a reference to their favorite sports team.
- Keep subject lines short and sweet. Long subject lines get glanced over - or worse, cut off by the inbox limitations.
- Keep your subject line congruent with what is inside the email body. Don't promise one thing in the subject line and deliver something entirely different in the email body.
- Use emojis when necessary - but don't overdo it.
Step 2) Follow Up With Enticing Intro Text
The subject line isn't the only text your recipient will see directly in their inbox - the intro text is that snippet that shows right below the subject line. And while many overlook this aspect of writing a cold email, you should avoid making the same mistake. Email intros give you more room for personalization and captivation.
We like to use the subject line and intro text as a one-two punch. Hook them in with the big, bold subject line, and then further pique their curiosity or provide some context in the intro. This will encourage them to click and find out more.
If your email service provider allows you to customize this when building your email sequence, great. If not, just know that the first line of your email body will be pulled in as the email intro.
Step 3) Hook The Recipient In With Your First Line(s)
You've done the hard part - you've crafted a winning subject line + intro text combination. Now comes the fun part - using your copywriting skills to hook the recipient in with the first line of text in your email body. As it turns out, this is where most people go wrong. The first thing they do is introduce themselves and talk about what they do. You've probably seen this in your inbox before:
"Hi, my name is (annoying) and I help email marketers write better cold emails. I've worked with companies like..."
Boring, right? While it sounds harsh, the reality is that no one really cares about you - at least, not when it comes to cold email. Talking about yourself in the first line of text is a sure-fire way to get low clicks, responses, and thus, sales.
Instead, create personalized first lines about the recipient - address them as a person or specific pain points they may have. Not only will this show you aren't just another spammy bot, but it lowers their sales guard. Maybe you can reference a recent accomplishment, or you can even keep it as simple as referencing a recent tweet they shared that inspired you. If you know for sure they are suffering from a specific pain point, you can agitate that right in your first line (after saying hello, of course).
Step 4) Craft The Cold Email Body Text To Perfection
If you've hooked the recipient in with your first line, you're well on your way to turning them from a prospect into a lead. At this point, it's time to actually write the bulk of your cold email. This is another area where we see many email marketers make a simple mistake: writing way too long of emails. So, how long should a cold email be? We've seen the best results when keeping our emails under 50-200 words.
After all, the people you're writing a cold email to are likely high-profile individuals who don't have much time on their hands. If they open your email and are greeted by a wall of text, they'll surely click back out and not waste their time. Instead, follow this strategy:
- A personalized opening line that entices the recipient to keep reading
- Paint point agitation. You can pose this as a question - "are you suffering from (insert pain point here)?".
- Call to action. We'll get to this in a moment.
Here is a really simple cold email body that adheres to all the best practices:
"Hey [recipient name], I've been following you for a while because your copywriting advice has helped me increase open and click-through rates myself. I wanted to personally thank you.
Do you find it difficult and time-consuming to build ultra-targeted, qualified email lists? I've recently been using a strategy for my clients that has transformed the way they conduct list scraping. You'll save (x amount of time) and get (x better results). Want to see if it's a good approach for you?"
Short, sweet, to the point. There's just one thing missing - a good call to action.
Step 5) Add A Frictionless Call To Action (That Benefits The Recipient)
This is where you'll make your pitch - but not in the way you may assume. Contrary to popular belief, you really shouldn't try to pitch anyone on an offer in the inbox. Shift your thinking of cold email strategy. Instead of trying to close a deal through cold email, you're trying to use cold email as a vehicle to get them on a phone call where you can learn more about their pain points and how you can solve them. Or, maybe you're encouraging them to click a link to request a demo.
Whatever the case, you'll rarely go from cold email to sale - there are additional steps in between. The sooner you accept this and optimize your email body and call to action accordingly, the sooner you'll start closing deals. Here are a few calls to action you can experiment with:
- Reply with a time this week that works for you for a call?
- Reply and let me know if this is something you're interested
- Click this link to see a demo of the product in action
- Want to send me a link to your calendar so I can find some time to talk it through to you?
Learning How To Write A Cold Email For Sales Is Just Half The Battle - Follow Up!
Keep in mind - learning how to write a cold email for sales is just half the battle. Even with a bulletproof cold email, you need to follow up. Your cold email campaign should have at least 2-3 follow-ups before you move on from a prospect.
This isn't because you're trying to pound the recipient into submission, annoying them until they throw in the towel and say "fine - here's my money!". It's because the people you're emailing are busy. Maybe they meant to reply the first time but forgot. Or, maybe their inbox is just that full that they missed it the first time. Plus, following up shows that you're relentless - a respectable trait in business. Learn all about how to follow up on a cold email in our complete guide.
Looking For Additional Help Writing Cold Emails For Sales?
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Not only will you get better results, but you'll also be able to unlock scaleability that manual writing doesn't allow. Our email writer is also highly affordable - up to 72% cheaper than the competition. So, take a look and see if it's right for you. You can try 25 lines for free.
Final Thoughts On How To Write A Cold Email For Sales
There you have it - how to write a cold sales email that actually gets opens, clicks, responses, and yes - sales. It's not as complicated as you may think. By simplifying matters and sticking to the basic principles, you'll unlock unbelievable results through cold email.
And if you're struggling to generate results, it could be that your first lines aren't cutting it. Don't beat yourself up over it - just invest in technology that will supercharge the way you write cold emails. Once you see the difference yourself, you'll be glad you took a chance!