Making the first move is never an easy feat. This is true whether you’re a teenager asking your crush to prom or a rookie sales professional tasked with cold emailing prospective customers.
Fortunately, the worst that tends to happen in the latter case is an email goes unopened — and even then, it doesn’t mean the door is closed forever. With practice, persistence and a smart strategic approach it’s possible to make cold emailing an engaging and valuable part of the job.
Sales professionals who have honed a talent for cold emailing often point to customization as the most important differentiator between effective outreach and emails that get lost in the shuffle. When prospective customers can tell the sender has done their homework about their interests and their business’ needs, they are more likely to respond positively.
Also crucial? Striking the right tone — preferably one that’s friendly, professional and makes it clear there’s another person on the other end of the email chain.
“The best thing you can do is make sure the words your customers are reading are both personable and human,” says Sarah Abusoud, a senior enterprise business development representative at Upwork. “They should read as a conversation, not as a cold sell.”
Built In Austin caught up with Abusoud and Stack Overflow Enterprise Account Executive Angela Kanavas to get their tips on mastering the art of the cold email.
Upwork is a freelancing platform that connects companies with independent talent.
Tell us about one of the most successful cold emails you've sent. What was the subject line? What was the response?
"Cookies & Getting Work Done" caught a customer's attention and prompted him to respond to my email, noting he didn't receive any cookies but was very much open to connecting.
The unique subject line was inspired by a visit Upwork made to the headquarters of one of our enterprise customers. Because not all of the company’s employees were able to stop by and see us, I wanted to make sure I was inviting leaders at the company to enjoy some treats on Upwork and see how they could leverage our work marketplace to get work done.
To find leaders at the company, I built a lead list on LinkedIn based on their location and reached out to them. This approach helped to raise awareness and promote adoption of the Upwork platform to people who may not have been familiar with our services.
In the end, the customer connected with our program team, who helped him find highly-skilled talent for their projects — and he definitely got cookies!
What is your strategy for writing cold emails? What kind of research do you do leading up to the send?
I always ask myself the ultimate goal and purpose of my outreach. You can think of it as the five “W”s: who, what, when, where, why, and also how. What specific observation, challenge or relevancy can I deliver to the receiver to stand out amongst the hundreds of emails in their inbox? How can I uncover their problems or at least pique their interest?
Personalization can take you a long way. Leverage intent data, use LinkedIn — so many hidden gems — or browse their company’s website to find information that will help you customize and tailor your outreach so it’s unique to your prospective customer.
Success often only comes after trying and failing. What are some rookie mistakes you've made — or that you see other people making — in cold emails? How can people avoid these mistakes?
It’s easy to sound generic when you need to hit your daily outreach KPIs, but you can avoid this by building a solid template that allows you to customize the intro, body or conclusion of the email to make it more relevant to your customer.
The shorter the email, the better. Your customers are looking at emails on their phones or they’re sifting through hundreds of other emails waiting to be opened. The shorter the email is, the more likely they’ll be able to give it their undivided attention.
The shorter the email is, the more likely they’ll be able to give it their undivided attention.
Next, make sure your emails are cohesive. Ensure that each touchpoint builds on the previous one and tells a story. This gives you an edge because you aren’t jumping from different value propositions, but instead blending them together to keep the story moving.
Stack Overflow is an online community and go-to resource for developers and technologists.
Tell us about one of the most successful cold emails you've sent. What was the subject line? What was the response?
The best subject line I’ve used was “Josh, Company Name + Stack (Also, is Ironman Coeur d'Alene on your radar?).”
This might seem confusing at first, but I’ll explain: I always try to personalize my outreach with the individual’s first name and then get straight to the point. I did quite a bit of research on this person before reaching out. He was a huge cyclist and Ironman triathlete. I like to pretend I’m even remotely on his level (I am not) and found an Ironman in his area and referenced it to grab his attention. It broke the ice and made him feel like I wasn’t just spamming his inbox. I took the time to learn about his interests and connect with him personally.
What is your strategy for writing cold emails? What kind of research do you do leading up to the send?
First and foremost, I look at what’s currently happening with the company and what they’re working on. Looking at relevant information such as 10-K financial reports, new product lines or recent business initiatives are all helpful.
I took the time to learn about his interests and connect with him personally.
I don’t know if it’s luck, but I’ve always been able to find something relatable, which makes it fun. For example, I’ve hit the jackpot with customers who are into hiking or cycling. I also enjoy these hobbies, so I can relate to these customers on a personal level as well as a professional one.
Granted, this is not always the case, but it is an added bonus when it works out that way.
Success often only comes after trying and failing. What are some rookie mistakes you've made — or that you see other people making — in cold emails? How can people avoid these mistakes?
Oh boy, I’ve got plenty. I would say “spray and pray” is not a good approach. Using sequences can be helpful from a process standpoint, but you have to make sure you take the time to personalize and review every email.
It may seem tedious and over the top, but two things I’ve found to be incredibly helpful are time-blocking your calendar and using an account-based selling approach.
