Not everyone is a phone person. According to a survey conducted by the RAIN Group Center for Sales Research, eight out of 10 prospects prefer talking to reps over email. However, to generate a sale, they first have to open it.
Four sales executives across Colorado agree that personalization and company research increase the chance of prospects opening their emails. Tim Patterson, head of sales development at Quantum Metric, aims to answer two potential questions from his prospect with every email: “Why you?” and, “Why now?” For Patterson, marketable insights and a call to action help generate a quick response.
Of course, tone matters too. Cold emails are the first impression with a potential customer. Richard Ortega, an executive VP of sales at Procare Solutions, said he tries to keep his voice as warm as possible.
“Honesty and relevancy should equal value and interest,” Ortega said.
If a prospect does turn cold, Cooper Wright, a business development lead at Nylas, said a blank email could revive lost contact. Read why, and more email tips, below.
Tim Patterson, a head of sales development at Quantum Metric, said the best email subject lines will grab the prospect’s attention with marketable insights. However, don’t look to one source for potential leads. LinkedIn posts and tweets from professionals in your industry could be an innovative way to start a conversation. After all, everyone likes a compliment.
What has been the most successful cold email subject line you’ve ever used?
“Your continued drive to build your brand and prove your impact.”
Why was it so successful?
The most successful cold email subject line was to a VP of marketing during my time as an SDR at Marketo. The best subject lines focus on grabbing a prospect’s attention with marketable insights. This particular prospect had just shared a post on LinkedIn regarding building his company’s brand and proving the impact on the sales pipeline along the way. Adding marketable insights to your email subject line is the quickest way to grab the attention of your target audience.
The best subject lines focus on grabbing a prospect’s attention with marketable insights.”
What’s an effective strategy you use to hook the reader in once they’ve opened your email?
Answering two simple, yet complex questions: “Why you?” and, “Why now?”
“Why you?” gives specific references to the prospect based on a trigger or priority they have. This comes from marketable insights during the research phase of outbounding. Regarding the subject line above, the marketable insight was the LinkedIn post shared about building the company’s brand. Obviously, that is a priority or passion of the prospect.
The “why now?” gives a relevant business connection to the “why you?” aspect of your outreach. It answers the question of why you reached out and how you can positively impact their priority or pain.
What’s the most effective formula or approach you’ve used for writing cold emails?
First, identify your target. Then, choose a trigger or reason for reaching out. This should be a marketable insight that answers, “why you?” From there, connect that message to your attention-grabbing answer to, “why now?” Lastly, have a direct call to action that is open-ended and specific.
This formula results in a high email open rate and better start to the sales cycle. It builds trust, gets to the point and is extremely clear in the reasons you are reaching out. Out of the more than 100 SDR emails prospects receive, you have to stand out above the noise.
Business Development Lead Cooper Wright said explaining the tech-heavy nuances of Nylas’ software may be a bit daunting to include in a cold email. Instead, he researches new prospects to determine 2-3 value-adds Nylas could contribute to their current tech stack. If he does not receive a reply, he follows up with a blank email to get back to the top of their inbox.
What has been the most successful cold email subject line you’ve ever used?
“Did I lose you?”
Why was it so successful?
Whenever a prospect or target has gone cold on you, it can seem like an uphill battle to get them re-engaged. One of the ways I’ve found to be incredibly useful is to reply to the email thread with the changed subject line to “Did I lose you?” Then I send the email without anything in the body. (Yes, you read that right.)
When the prospect opens the email, all they see is my professional persistence over the last few weeks. The response rate tends to be very high and includes some empathy toward my outreach that has been incredibly helpful in getting traction on conversations that seem lost.
I’ve found that doing as much research as possible helps prepare a good cold email.”
What’s an effective strategy you use to hook the reader in once they’ve opened your email?
I believe in taking more time to develop a personalized or witty line, rather than a generic email hook. Keep your introduction short and don’t let it distract from your overall messaging.
What’s the most effective formula or approach you’ve used for writing cold emails?
Since Nylas is a quite technical product, I’ve found that doing as much research as possible into the target company and their current technology stack helps prepare a good cold email.
I’ve tried organizing my cold emails based on industry (CRM companies vs. real estate companies) or different roles (CTO emails vs. CEO emails). However, the most effective way I’ve organized my outreach is to create a uniquely personalized email for each company because I can tailor my messaging around its specific needs or pain points. I can also get a lot more specific when sharing my research observations into their technology stack.
I always include 2-3 bullet points that share specific enhancements that I see as value-adds for the company, which paint a picture for our prospect to start envisioning the possibilities before even taking the first meeting. That’s called “leading with value.”
According to Dave Paprocki, the head of growth and strategic partnerships at customer data infrastructure company MetaRouter, personalization is the key to a high open rate. Paprocki said a cold email is like knocking on someone’s office door; sales reps need to show interest before diving into the pitch.
What has been the most successful cold email subject line you've ever used?
“Better customer data on [company website name].”
Why was it so successful?
This subject line achieved a solid 45 percent open rate for prospecting outreach. I believe it achieved such a strong open rate because it’s relatively open-ended and directly states what content the email contains.
Whenever I’m reaching out to new, relatively cold prospects, I always think about what that email would look and sound like if it just appeared in my inbox. In some ways, it’s equivalent to walking up to someone’s office door and knocking. You have to show genuine concern in their interests and pain points before launching directly into the sales pitch. The subject line serves as that initial interest and credibility builder. And I think simple, relevant and personalized subject lines support that mindset.
The subject line serves as that initial interest and credibility builder. ”
What’s an effective strategy you use to hook the reader in once they’ve opened your email?
I research the individual first and some of their work history or projects if it’s available on LinkedIn. While this may take a little more time, it leads to significantly higher engagement. In addition, I always identify how I found them. Then, I ask if that person is responsible for the topic I’m attempting to talk to them about. While it may seem somewhat basic, it works. It’s a candid, honest conversation starter that helps break initial skepticism.
We’ve experimented with our outreach on a few occasions. The difference between thoughtful, personalized emails versus outreach that contained no personalization was significant. In a calculated quest to build some momentum, the emails without personalization only achieved, on average, a 10.9 percent open rate. The outreach with personalization averaged around 38 percent.
Richard Ortega, an executive VP of sales at childcare management software Procare Solutions, places himself in the reader’s shoes when crafting emails. To make a reader take notice, he aims to grab attention and convey his products’ value and relevance. A warm demeanor doesn’t hurt either.
What has been the most successful cold email subject line you’ve ever used?
My formula is, “my company name plus their company name — reason for the email.”
An example would be as follows: “Procare Software and Primrose School – keeping parents safe with contactless technology.”
The key to cold emails is to make them as warm as possible.”
What’s an effective strategy you use to hook the reader in once they’ve opened your email?
Busy decision-makers that have a presence on the web typically get a lot of unsolicited emails. A small percentage of those emails are valuable and relevant. My goal is to try and convey that value and relevance as early as possible. In addition, as a reader, I need to know quickly in an email if I’ve already had a conversation started or an attempt. I try to resolve those issues in the first couple sentences.
What’s the most effective formula or approach you’ve used for writing cold emails?
The key to cold emails is to make them as warm as possible. A critical component of that is research. The better my research, the better my content. For example, if I learn that my prospect has opened new locations, I can reference their need to outfit those locations.
Honesty and relevancy should equal value and interest.
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