How to write the perfect cold email
Cold emailing can be one of the most effective ways to create leads in sales. Writing cold emails has helped me start countless conversations with prospects at my sales/marketing internship with Fyrii, so I wanted to share some tips on how to improve your cold emails.
Finding contacts:
Create an email list with contacts based on what you want to achieve with your cold email. Say you are in enterprise sales and are looking to sell Human Resources software. For this email campaign, I would target HR directors at companies that would likely use my HR software. Once I know which contacts to target, I would find their contact information through software such as Zoominfo and Linkedin InMail. Here is a great article on other ways to find email addresses: https://www.yesware.com/blog/find-email-addresses/
Your subject line:
Your subject line is really important because it directly determines the open rate of your emails. First, keep your email subjects under five words. When you do this the person receiving your email is much more inclined to open it, as the message you are trying to send is as clear as possible. Second, avoid “spammy” or “salesy” language. To prospects, coming across as trying to sell something can be a turnoff, and so you want to avoid this. Instead, you can ask a question, congratulate, or do something else that feels like you are providing value to the prospect. Before you write any email, imagine yourself in your prospect’s shoes. Make sure to think about what they would want to see and what would make them reply to an email. If you are sending emails to a large group of people, you might also want to test the open rates of different email subject lines.
Your body:
A great email should have five things. First, you want to make sure that your email is personalized. Do your research, use the prospect’s name, and tailor your email to the recipient’s needs. Second, provide something of value. Try to solve a problem that you know the prospect is facing or offer them something. Doing so will help the prospect justify the time they spend answering you. One way I incorporate this concept in my cold emails is by often asking questions and providing answers. Third, make sure to introduce yourself and provide validation. You need to show that you are credible and can be trusted. Fourth, make sure to be appreciative and considerate. Kindness and good wishes can go a long way. Finally, I think the most important thing is to make sure your emails are short and actionable.
Follow up:
Remember to follow up! Your prospects have a lot on their mind that isn’t you, so following up isn’t really rude. In fact, a follow up email can be a helpful reminder for your prospect, as long as you are respectful and thoughtful. You can follow up in 5-7 days, and keep doing so until they say no. Make sure you know how and when to spend your time, receiving a “no” from a prospect is better than a “maybe” if it will save you time. My final tip is to find sales software that works for you. Personally, I use Yesware, a software that tracks my email open rates and manages my email campaigns.