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Cold emails are a
challenge for many sales teams, and often come with a bad reputation,
BUT, done right, they can yield INCREDIBLE results...
The number of
business-related emails sent per day is forecast to exceed 347 billion by
the end of 2023, so the cold emails you send have to stand out.
Today we've sourced
9 cold email templates tried and tested to help you and your sales teams
start getting MORE replies, leading to more opportunities, more pipeline
and ultimately more sales.
How to
write the perfect cold email
The main goal of a
cold email is to get your prospect to open and read it.
Each sentence
should have a purpose and draw the reader in. Without making the email
too lengthy, any cold email template should include three crucial
elements:
·
An opening line.
Something that will catch the reader’s attention like “Quick question?”
·
A value
proposal. Clearly explain what the email is about and what’s in it for
them.
·
A
call-to-action. Do you want them to reply to the email? Book a call? Make
it clear.
It’s essential these
elements push the status quo. Any cold email should share these four
characteristics:
Personalization: You need to show that you
understand and can relate to what interests them by referencing it in a
conversant way.
Validation: Remember, the person reading
your email has never met you. Show them who you are and why you should
matter to your email recipient.
Touch on
the reader’s pain points: Your
reader is busy. Why should they spend their time reading and responding
to your email? If you show them you can fix a problem they're having, it
gives you a better chance of making a connection.
Short,
easy, and actionable:
Nobody has time to read 1,000-word emails, especially if they’re
receiving 100+ a day. Make your email short and easy to respond or take action
on.
Show your
appreciation:
If someone bothers to open and get to the bottom of your cold email, sign
off with “thanks”. You could even include a link to some recent, relevant
content as a postscript to reward people who go to the end.
Including all of
the above ingredients might seem like a lengthy process, but sales reps
now have tools to help. With the emergence of email marketing software,
the level of personalization and nurturing required to build
relationships with prospects can be automated using templates.
With a CRM like Pipedrive,
sales reps can automatically
send emails to prospects when they enter their sales funnel. Using
pre-made cold templates, the emails will already be personalized using
merge fields, so prospect details like their company name and industry
will fill in the gaps. You can try Pipedrive for 30-days completely free here
Automating cold
emails gives you the best of both worlds: reaching out to prospects with
an email that ticks all the boxes, without having to write every line
from scratch.
Nine
cold email templates to generate a response
While pushing
generic cold email templates to prospects may have worked twenty years
ago, today’s customers want to know you understand their problems.
That’s why you need
more than one cold email template. In fact, you need a library of them,
all meant for specific stages of your sales funnel.
1. The
introduction email
Let’s start with a
cold email that’s primary purpose is to introduce you and your company to
a new prospect.
The email should
begin with both you and your prospect’s basic information (your names and
companies), showcase a touch of your research and then inquire if they’re
interested in learning more.
Hi [name],
My name is
[your name] with [your company name].
I came across
[company name] on G2, and I was super impressed by your customer reviews.
We help
companies like yours in [industry] free up time increase revenue by [%].
I wanted to learn what [industry] tools you’re currently using and
discuss how you could make some changes to get the same revenue results
for your business.
Are you
available for a brief call next week?
Thanks,
[Your name]
Remember that an
introduction template is a starting point for your discussion and you
don’t want to overwhelm your prospect with too much information early on.
Instead, show them something of value. In the above template, it’s the
revenue percentage that your product or service can bring to the table.
Show the prospect that, above all, you just want to help them achieve their
goals.
2. The
personalized email
The aim of a
personalized email template is to let the reader know that you follow
their industry trends, have studied their company and know exactly why
your product can help them.
Emails don’t need
to be hyper-personalized, but they do need to give enough information to
show the reader that they aren’t receiving a generic blast. A
personalized cold email template should do a lot of the heavy lifting of
breaking the ice with a prospect, by adding:
·
The names of
products and people at the company
·
Discussing what
the prospect’s company does and what their goals are
·
Flagging any
problems, concerns or risks they’re battling (i.e. changes in their
industry)
Including any
specific details you’ve kept on file like a recent LinkedIn comment or
blog post
Here’s what you
could end up with:
Hi [name]
I just came
across your [blog post/comment/status] on [platform] and thought the
points you made were very insightful and I agree with a lot of your
views.
It also made me
want to reach out so I could talk to you about how [their company] could
benefit from our software that totally takes care of the issue you raised
about [issue].
I’m free on
Tuesday afternoon if that suits for a quick 10-minute chat
Thanks a lot,
[Your name]
3. The
before-after-bridge email
The
before-after-bridge email is a way to tell a story by weaving your
product into the narrative.
The clue is in the
title:
Before: Here’s where your company
stands now (i.e. highlighting the problem)
After: If the problem was solved,
this is what it would look like
Bridge: How to get there (i.e. your
product/solution)
The key to setting
up this email correctly is describing a problem that the prospect is
facing and presenting the path beyond it. The reason why this approach is
successful boils down to basic human behaviors. According to behavioral
psychologists, the human mind is spurred to action based on two feelings:
pleasure and pain. This cold email template targets both, and triggers a
response.
This example ticks
all the boxes:
Hi [name],
I noticed that
your [blog/site] isn’t optimized for mobile. This might be causing you to
lose many potential customers.
What if I told
you there was a [tool/service/plugin] which could optimize the experience
of your website on mobile devices?
That’s exactly
what [your product] helps you do.
Would you be
interested in learning more?
Thanks,
[Your name]
Rather than just
talking about the product, the email flips the problem back onto the
prospect. The result is the prospect feels empowered by your outreach and
solution rather than agitated by an overly pushy sales pitch.
4. The
useful content email
Not all cold emails
have to be about selling.
One of the best
ways to build a relationship, especially when you’re cold emailing, is by
adding value to your prospect’s inbox. Your aim should be to provide
value every time a prospect opens one of your emails. Instead of pitching
your product right off the bat, send them a valuable resource instead.
Keep it short, and
to the point:
Hi [name],
I read your
latest article over on [website], and you piqued my interest in [topic].
Particularly on your points about [sub-topic].
During my
search, I came across this article on [subject title] that may be helpful
to you and your team and further add to your piece about [topic]:
[article URL]
Hope you find it useful. Keep up the awesome work!
[Your name]
Content emails work
largely because you’re not asking the prospect for anything. You’re not
trying to book a meeting or see if they’re interested in your product.
The only aim here is to provide the prospect with a piece of content that
will be useful to them and their team.
However, it’s
essential to not just push your own content onto them. Share the most
useful, actionable and valuable content you can find on the topic matter.
5. The
mutual-connection email
Plugging a mutual
connection into a cold email is an ideal way to defrost it.
If the prospect
recognizes that they have a mutual connection with you, it builds an
instant level of trust that adds to the relationship-building process.
That doesn’t mean
you should talk about yourself. As with all cold emails, you must put the
focus on your prospect and their pain-points. Use your commonalities to
open the email, then quickly move on to why you’re emailing:
Hi [name],
As a fellow
[your college name] alumni, I thought I’d reach out!
I noticed on
LinkedIn you’re hiring for a sales manager. At [your company], we help
salespeople generate more prospects through social selling, and I’d love
to ask you a couple of questions about your experiences at [company].
Would you be
open to a quick call next Tuesday or Thursday afternoon? Let me know a
time that’s good for you.
Thanks.
[Your name]
Highlighting a
mutual connection is one of the best ways to leverage social proof, so if
you have connections mention them.
Salespeople
generally send cold emails to prospects they’re yet to have contact with.
The main alternative is making a cold call, but usually a cold call and a
cold email have different uses, so the question of cold call vs. email is
normally decided for you.
However, sometimes
you’ll be asked to send an email instead while on a cold call. Here’s a
video explaining how to deal with this objection.
6. The
social media email
A prospect’s social
media channels can be a goldmine.
They offer insight
into their thoughts, company and interests. It makes sense to use them as
a research tool for your cold email outreach. They can also help your
email stand out in a crowded inbox. If everybody is emailing your
prospect about an offer or a discount but you’re mentioning one of their
Twitter posts about blogging it can pique their curiosity.
Here’s an example
cold email template of how this could play out:
Hi [name],
I caught your
recent tweet on how to drive revenue using SEO-based blog content, and it
got me thinking.
[Ask a question
about their position/argument on the topic]
While we're on
the subject, other companies like [a client of yours] and [another client
of yours] have started to use [your company/product] to [drive
revenue/sales/traffic].
It would be
great to see if we could talk about this more and see how this could help
[their company]. How are you for time on [insert day]?
I am looking
forward to more Twitter content!
Thanks,
[Your name]
Pro-tip: Don’t pick
the most recent post on their social media feed (that could be perceived
as lazy). Instead, take a few minutes to see if there is a recurring
theme or product mention within their posts. If so, choose one that
discusses this overarching point or product.
If you can intrigue
them with their own subject matter, it will only increase the chances of
them replying to you.
7. The
competitor email
Going after
prospects who use your competitor’s products is a proven age-old tactic,
so you should definitely have a cold email template to cover this as
well.
The thing about
pitching your competition’s customers is you must walk a fine line. You
don’t want to accidentally throw your competitors under the bus and risk
your reputation. Instead, your aim needs to be getting the prospect to
draw their own conclusion that your product is a better fit.
Here’s how to
position your product against a competitor’s:
Hi [name],
I noticed
you’re using [your competitor] to take care of [solution/activity]. How
are you finding their [capabilities]?
We help
salespeople like you to [do things that competitor products or solutions
can’t do].
Many of our
customers have switched from [your competitor] to handle this critical
task.
If you’re
looking for this particular solution, I’d love to show you how we do it
at [your company]. Would this be of interest?
Thanks,
[Your name]
This cold email is
unique because you already know the prospect has a need for your product.
After all, they’re using one of your competitors. This means you don’t
have to put in the groundwork proving how useful it will be to their
business.
Instead, you can
use the email as an opportunity to show them your product’s USP and
highlight your customer’s achievements since they made the switch to your
company.
8. The
results email
This cold email
shows your prospect, in real numbers, how well your product and service
works. The data points might highlight the revenue you’ve added to a
customer’s business or their increased customer count, for example.
This email is all
about driving the message home that your product gets the job done:
Hi [name],
I was checking
out [industry] software on G2 and, after reading some of your reviews,
thought you’d find this of interest.
We help
companies like [customer names] generate more customers by using proven
website optimization techniques.
For example,
we’ve helped [client] achieve [result] in [time frame]. I’d love to share
how we did it.
Would you be
interested in learning more?
Thanks,
[Your name]
This cold email
template works because it mixes content with results. It acts as a small
case study, showing how companies similar to your prospects have achieved
an outcome using your solution.
9. The
demo email
Use this cold email
template to explain concisely what your product/service is, outline
exactly what you have to offer and show how it can help your prospect. If
you have a short demo video, sharing it is often a great way to do this.
Hi [name],
I have worked
with organizations like [customer names] who have had the same problem
with [common challenge].
With [describe
product/service] they were able to solve it and [show a relevant
statistic demonstrating an increase in production]. Here is an example of
a project I produced for [customer name]: [insert link].
Would you be
interested in something similar?
I made a demo
for you to show you what it could look like in less than two minutes:
[link].
[Embed video]
Is this
something you would be interested in?
Thanks,
[Your name]
Top tips
for cold emails:
Start with
the subject line:
The aim is to grab the reader’s attention and ensure they open the cold
email. Do that, and you’re on your way. Be exceedingly clear and concise
– as it’s worth taking time to perfect the best cold email subject lines.
Be succinct
and direct:
Introduce yourself clearly upfront or “be short and relevant,” says the
chief commercial officer at a leading investment broker. People are busy:
read your email out loud, if it’s longer than a minute, it’s too long.
Try writing like you talk – introduce yourself, be nice, connect.
Get
personal:
Connect with an engaging hook or “make it look like someone I know has
suggested you,” according to an executive at a digital sports platform.
“Do your research. Make it relevant. Keep it short. Offer me something of
value that you know I’m interested in” another panelist said. You can
also mention a competitor if you feel like it would help.
Be credible: “The EUREKA moment for a
prospect is when they immediately see how the seller can make their life
easier, manage workflow, see the wood for the trees, and improve their
commercial gravitas,” says a board director of an internationally famous
brand.
Call to
action:
This is the equivalent of the home stretch and, arguably, the most
important part of your pitch. You won’t get one if you don’t ask, so if
you want a 15-minute meeting or a call, be sure to include this at the
end of the email.
Cold
email templates: Wrapping up
Successful cold
emailing is an investigative task that requires reps to add
personalization and depth to cold outreach.
Every prospect that
enters your sales funnel is unique, so you should pitch them with the
cold email template that has the best chance of converting them into a
customer.
Once you get the
formula right, your cold email templates will become your secret weapon
when connecting with prospects and turning conversations into sales.
Pipedrive’s
Advanced and Professional plans include a range of cold email templates
which will increase the number of emails you send while maintaining that
personal touch. Sign up here
for a free trial.
We've
talked about the best cold emails for salespeople, now let's
talk about the BEST CRM
for sales teams...
This article is
supported by Pipedrive,
one of the world's best CRM's used by over 100,000+ companies
in 179 countries. You can try it for
free right here. The best sales managers
choose Pipedrive because it is DESIGNED for sales teams and has
been voted the easiest to use CRM.
They normally offer
14-day free trial but if you follow one of our links in this newsletter
you'll be able to get an extended 30-day free trial and as a
bonus, if you choose to use Pipedrive after
your trial, you'll get 20% discount on your first year (that's
a pretty amazing offer if we're honest!).
If you're
potentially interested in trying Pipedrive out, we have a few extra
resources that might help:
VIDEO - The 5 best
features of Pipedrive CRM
ATICLE - 10 reasons
salespeople LOVE Pipedrive CRM
VIDEO - Import prospect
details instantly from LinkedIn using Pipedrive
ARTICLE - Why salespeople
are switching from their current CRM to Pipedrive CRM
This article was
created by Pipedrive
and can be viewed here
as well.
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