The Cold Email Manifesto
Cold email gold for agencies. Price right, demand high, specific offers win.
marketingHere are two ways to end your cold emails: The basic: Interested? Let me know and I can send over a few times to chat. And the advanced: Are you interested in {{benefit you provide}} for {{company name}}? Let me know and I can send over a few times to chat.
AQ's take: Vague CTAs flopped. '{{Benefit}} for {{Company}}'? Books calls.
Aug 21, 2022First, your lead generator should be able to locate 200 leads every day. A lead includes: First Name, Last Name, Title, Company Name, Website and Email Address.
AQ's take: Scraped 20 leads daily. Snail. 200? Pipeline floods.
Aug 21, 2022For your custom compliment writer, this is a little bit trickier, so I would suggest 3-5 minutes for each first line is a reasonable benchmark. And the cold email sender should achieve a meeting book rate between 4-8%. Next, your meeting booker should be able to basically fill your calendar with meetings. If you get this going effectively, you will be so busy that you won’t have time to breathe! And, finally, your sales closer should be getting between 10-25% close rate from cold leads, depending on the size of your deal and 80% for warm marketing qualified leads.
AQ's take: VAs dragged on lines. 3-5 mins? 8% bookings mine.
Aug 21, 2022So three days after the first email, you haven't heard back from the client. At this point, you send a very simple follow-up. NOTE: All of these follow-ups should be in the same thread as the previous email. No new subject line is needed. 4 Days Later: Hey Jason, I’m sure you’re busy and wanted to bump this up!
AQ's take: One-shot emails died. Thread bumps? Dead leads revived.
Aug 21, 2022Okay, that might not work either! So now you move into the third email, which I describe as the ‘big win’ email. You tell them about another case study that you have, and you announce it to them as if it’s a huge news item. Hey Jason, We just helped Sony break 100K on their God of War campaign! Would still love to help your Twitter grow. Let me know and I can send over some times. Thanks, Alex Then the final email can be described as a breakup email. And it will go with something like this: Hey Jason, At this point, I'll assume that growing Focusrite’s Twitter account is not a priority for this year. Please let me know if that changes. Thanks, Alex
AQ's take: Case studies as 'news'? Sony flex hooked my replies.
Aug 21, 2022The reason that the breakup email works so well, is that most people in business are accustomed to having salespeople hound them mercilessly. This gives them a bit of breathing room and provides them with the opportunity to respond. It also gives the psychological impression that this opportunity is slipping away and that can be really compelling. So don't neglect this part of the process, even if you believe the client will never respond, as this last email works way more often than you think it should. Of course, you can’t hook every fish, but always go through the process. Getting a solid “yes” or “no” is the goal - we don’t want clients hanging out in limbo.
AQ's take: Hounded prospects fled. Breakup? They chased me back.
Aug 21, 2022Note that just because a prospect asks a question does not mean you need to answer it in the email. The goal is to book calls, so ask for calls.
AQ's take: Answered every Q, endless chat. Call-first? Closed quicker.
Aug 21, 2022Instead, I would view the proposal call as similar to a doctor’s diagnosis. When you go to see a doctor, they don't immediately start pushing solutions on you, and tell you how great they will be for your health. They ask you questions, they discuss symptoms, they might run a couple of tests, and only then do they provide you with a potential solution.
AQ's take: Pitched blind fixes. Doctor questions? Clients trusted, bought.
Aug 21, 2022Notice how highly specific they are to the service they offer. Yours should be just as specific to your offer. Questions: ● Can you tell me more about your company and your role within the organization? What's your main value proposition? Who are your ideal customers? What work do you personally oversee? ● What areas of growth are you focusing on for (current year)? What actions on the site are most important to you (white paper download, demo, free trial, etc) KPIs? Any dollar amounts you assign to these conversions? ● What issues are you having with your organic search marketing strategy? ● When you responded to the email I sent, could you tell me about what came to mind when you thought about us working together? ● What would be a slam dunk? ● How much are you currently spending on SEO?
AQ's take: Generic Qs missed pain. '{{Year}} growth'? Real needs surfaced.
Aug 21, 2022Another important thing to note is that you're being affirmative with the client. You're telling them that they are correct, and that you've experienced this previously in the past. And you’re then offering them the solution to the problem that they have expressed.
AQ's take: Argued problems, lost sales. 'You're right + fix'? Instant wins.
Aug 21, 2022That's the way any company doing cold emails should pitch. Instead of telling the client that they do copywriting, tell them specifically who you work with as a copywriting firm, tell them that you have achieved outstanding results, and then offer to do the same for them.
AQ's take: 'Copywriting' yawned. Lawyers IG? My niche crushed generics.
Aug 21, 2022Notice how specific these offers are. We aren’t selling “social media”, we sell “Instagram growth for lawyers.” It’s not “web & mobile design”, it’s “tax collection software for City Treasury Departments.” The point is that you need to squeeze your case studies into one sentence pitches in order to get ready for sending cold emails. And make them hyper-specific.
AQ's take: Broad stories bored. Lawyers IG pitch? One-sentence killer.
Aug 21, 2022A good offer is specific and is tied to a monetary goal. This means that somebody hearing your offer for the first time will immediately know that it’s going to make them more money, or help them look good in their job. Ideally, money is better,
AQ's take: Vague offers ignored. '$X growth'? They bit hard.
Aug 21, 2022This will allow you to create a no-brainer offer. Something so valuable to the company that they would be stupid to decline. And they believe you because you can demonstrate that you succeeded in the past. An excellent example of a no-brainer offer would be: I will write three newsletters and if you don't make more money than you spent hiring me, I'll give you the money back.
AQ's take: Risky closes scared me. 'Refund if no profit'? No-brainers sold.
Aug 21, 2022Here’s the exact cold email we used to generate $600,000 in annual revenue in 30 days and then millions in revenue for our agency and clients: Subject: Quick question Hi Jackson, Been following Fuzz for a while and love your work, awesome job with Rockefeller Center! I specialize in finding new clients for web and app developers. Recently, we helped Dom and Tom, an NYC based developer, bring on McDonald’s and close an extra $1,000,000 in 6 months. Can you take on more clients at Fuzz? Let me know and I can send over a few times to chat. Thanks, Alex
AQ's take: This email blueprint cashed $600k checks. My old pitches bombed. Time to copy-paste success.
Aug 21, 2022To reiterate, a great cold email consists of five parts: ● Subject line ● Compliment ● Case study ● Call to action ● Email signature
AQ's take: Five-part formula? Simple. My scattershot emails vanished into spam. This blueprint fixes that.
Aug 21, 2022After you grab the attention of your potential client, the next thing you need to do is convey authority. This can be achieved by delivering great value upfront, cutting through all of the noise and doubts that will no doubt be reverberating around the mind of this customer. Your job with cold email is to eliminate these doubts, and make the client believe that they simply have to get in contact with you. Not all of these initial contacts will turn into sales, but if you can deliver the percentages that we've discussed elsewhere in the book, you are definitely going to generate a lot more business.
AQ's take: Authority kills doubts fast. I've lost deals to my own over-explaining. Value first wins.
Aug 21, 2022Hi Jack, Huge fan of Acme Inc and your forward thinking approach to marketing! Recently I’ve helped several companies build VR applications in order to drive more awareness to their brands and I’d love to do the same for you. Mind if I send over a few times for a quick call? Thanks, Alex
AQ's take: Short, fanboy opener hooked me. I've written novels no one read. Brevity slays.
Aug 21, 2022Subject line: Quick question Hi Greg, Hope your day is going well so far - just came across Acme so thought I’d reach out. Recently helped Globonet, a technology company, use email, LinkedIn advertising, and content marketing to advertise their product, which resulted in 500+ leads and $2M in revenue within a year. Would love to help you do something similar for Acme - mind if I send over a few times to chat? Thanks, Alex
AQ's take: Quick question subject pulled $2M leads. My wordy lines got ignored. Curiosity clicks.
Aug 21, 2022Hi Jackson, Came across Acme recently and fell in love with <specific product>! Recently finished the website and marketing materials for Globonet, where they saw a 97% annual increase in mobile traffic. Would love to do the same and help take the Acme brand to the next level. Mind if I send over some available times for a call next week? Best Regards, Alex
AQ's take: Personalized love for their product? Genius. My generic blasts died unread.
Aug 21, 2022Your subject line shouldn't be more than five words, and ideally two words. It needs to prick the curiosity of the recipient so that they absolutely have to click it. This is one area in which it’s fine to be clickbait! You want them to think about what it could be, but not be able to know without opening the email.
AQ's take: Five-word subjects prick curiosity. My essays got trashed. Clickbait works here.
Aug 21, 2022But to make this as easy as possible for you, I'm going to give you our 10 top subject lines right now that have proven to be successful: ● Quick Question ● [Name], Quick Question ● Quick Question, [Company Name] ● <Relevant emoji> ● Question? ● Something for you, [Name] ● Interview Invite ● I’ve got a Story for You ● [Name] Recommended I Get in Touch ● Intro “Quick Question” is without a doubt the most effective subject line.
AQ's take: These subject lines are gold. 'Quick Question' beats my clever fails every time.
Aug 21, 2022The second part of the process is to create an excellent personalized first line. Again, the aim here is to compel the recipient to respond. As mentioned previously, this is based around a custom compliment. This isn't always the easiest thing to write, and it can even feel a little cringy. But it’s simply the most effective way of connecting with clients.
AQ's take: Personalized opener feels real. My copy-paste crap screamed spam. This connects.
Aug 21, 2022Hey Dennis, huge fan of what you're doing at x.ai - we use it all the time internally.
AQ's take: Huge fan line using their tool? Smart. I've stalked wrong details before.
Aug 21, 2022Hey Hayley, found you on LinkedIn and love what you're doing - amazing that you point out how critical listening is, I believe the same thing.
AQ's take: Congrats on hiring? Spot-on. My blind compliments rang fake. News hooks real.
Aug 21, 2022Hey Hayley, saw you were hiring a business analyst, and wanted to reach out and say congrats on the growth!
AQ's take: Too many compliments overload. I've creepy-fanned before. One perfect line wins.
Aug 21, 2022Okay, so now you get the general idea. That was way too many compliments, but now you have an example of nearly every type of compliment you can write. You can compliment the recipient on company news, department news, their career, revenue, stock price, anything specific, as long as it has been reported on recently. Just don't go too far. A well-written first line will have just enough information to indicate that you've personalized it, but not so much that you appear to be a stalker! Keep that in mind - the shorter, the better. One sentence is enough.
AQ's take: Case study builds trust instantly. My vague boasts flopped. Proof sells.
Aug 21, 2022A case study is not just about flaunting numbers. Every word of the case study is engineered. And every word of the case study is important. It’s about demonstrating experience, instantly building authority, and curating the appropriate reaction from the recipient.
AQ's take: People buy trust, not likes. My charm offensive bombed. Results rule.
Aug 21, 2022Interestingly, the common assertion that people need to know you and like you in order to purchase from you is actually bullshit! It’s completely false. People don't need to like you; they simply need to trust you and know that you're going to deliver.
AQ's take: Simple ask CTA? Easy yes. My pushy closes scared them off.
Aug 21, 2022The first example of a call to action that works is the ‘simple ask’. “Interested? Let me know and I can send over a few times to chat.” And the other we refer to as the ‘specific benefit’. This one is a little more advanced. “Can you take on more clients? Let me know. And I can send over a few times to chat.” The reason that the second one is more advanced is because of the first few words, which are customized to your exact offer, rather than copy pasting the same sentence as everyone else.
AQ's take: Follow up forever? Relentless. I've quit after one no. Persistence pays.
Aug 21, 2022Usually after initial positive feedback, I will follow up until I get a “yes” or “no”, even if it takes months or years.
AQ's take: Warm up inbox or spam hell. Learned this after blacklisting myself.
Aug 21, 2022You must warm up your email inbox for at least two weeks before sending, otherwise you will be marked as spam, and you'll have to start all over again.
AQ's take: Ramp to 100 emails daily? Scale smart. My bursts burned out.
Aug 21, 2022Now, let's move onto scaling emails. During the first week, you should send 10 cold emails per day. You can then increase that by 10 emails every day for the first month, until you’re averaging 100 customized emails per day. All the time that you're doing this, you should be keeping track of the total number of emails that you've sent, including follow-ups. This will enable you to avoid hitting any maximum email limits imposed by Gmail or Outlook.
AQ's take: Morning/end-of-day timing? Peak inbox. My random sends vanished.
Aug 21, 2022People tend to check their work emails at certain times of the day and week. So first thing in the morning and at the end of the working day are the best times to send emails, because these are the most likely times that people will check their email inboxes.
AQ's take: Tuesday sends crush my Monday email black holes.
Aug 21, 2022It's also best to aim for Tuesday or Wednesday as your sending day, as just before the weekend, or first thing on Monday morning, doesn't really work. People don't care about emails ahead of the weekend! And they have too much to do on Monday morning.
AQ's take: That 'Bumping this up!' script ended my ghosted lead nightmares.
Aug 21, 2022So let me give you a few scripts that we've used to book these meetings. Hey Mike, Sure thing. I'm free next week on Thursday and Friday between 12-1pm PST. Would either of those work for you? Thanks, Alex And then you can continue to follow up if you don't hear from them again. There are various ways to deal with this, but one of my favorite responses is just: Bumping this up!
AQ's take: Boomers hate Calendly; slots booked my first exec call.
Aug 21, 2022Another tip here is that although there are calendar booking tools available, you might find that many high-level executives are over 50, and have a hard time with modern technology. My experience is that offering time slots is better than providing calendar invites.
AQ's take: Clear invites saved me from endless no-show excuses.
Aug 21, 2022First, you need to send a clear invite, and ensure that all of the details involved are correct. Make sure that it’s crystal clear where the meeting is taking place and also that the person you’re meeting with knows exactly what they need to do in order to join. And you should follow up on this by sending an email before the meeting that reminds them of the time and place, and provide a video chat link. Then the next part of the process is to send an email five minutes before the meeting, reminding the recipient that they're speaking with you. My email for this simply says the following: Mark, Talk to you in five minutes! Here’s the link: <> Thanks, Alex By doing this, you are ensuring that everyone you contact sees your invitation three separate times.
AQ's take: My 2% meetings? Subject lines bleeding me dry.
Aug 21, 2022Your open rate should be 80%, your response rate should be at least 15%, and your meeting booking rate should be between 4% and 8%. The subject line and the quality of your leads will be the most important factors in achieving these benchmarks, so that's the first place to look if you don't hit your targets.
AQ's take: High replies, zero books: my follow-ups are trash.
Aug 21, 2022Response rate is the key benchmark. If you're getting responses then you're well on the way to success. However, if you have a strong response rate, but you're not managing to book meetings, you need to review your follow-up strategy and appointment setting approach. Remember that you should be aiming for 6+ meetings per 100 emails sent.
AQ's take: 5-min replies? My delays murdered deals.
Aug 21, 2022The easiest way to book more meetings is to reduce the amount of time between their response and your follow-up. So if someone indicates interest, get back to them within 5 minutes and watch your meeting book rate soar!
AQ's take: Tailored case studies turned skeptics into sign-ups.
Aug 21, 2022But how do you build trust?! The first way is to deliver a strong and extremely relevant case study that speaks directly to the recipients. The stronger that case study is, and the more relevant that they are to the specific industry that you're targeting, and the more that they speak to the particular person that you're contacting, the greater the amount of trust that you are going to build. The ideal scenario would be a case study involving work with a competitor, because then you have social proof of something in common with the target. That equals instant trust building, and that’s money in the bank.
AQ's take: Aggression booked my biggest client after nice-guy fails.
Aug 21, 2022With sales, you have to be aggressive. It's a wild world, and you can't afford to stand still. If you do, you won't succeed.
AQ's take: That bad hire stole my million-dollar pipeline.
Aug 21, 2022That last bad hire didn’t cost you nothing - you paid him $0 in commission because he cost you millions.
AQ's take: Owning screw-ups fixed my client blame game.
Aug 21, 2022If you make that distinction then you're the person in control. It doesn't matter if someone else screws up, it doesn't matter if your client did everything wrong, you are the one that allowed this to happen. And you can then ensure that it doesn't happen again.
AQ's take: Clients hated my 'great' work; results slapped me.
Aug 21, 2022It doesn’t matter if you think you’re doing a great job, if people who want to buy from you disagree!
AQ's take: Cash bonuses fired up my team like raises never did.
Aug 21, 2022One of my mentors, Tom Tancredi, actually told me that people value a cash bonus more than a salary increase. They’d rather have a $2,000 cash bonus than a $500 monthly pay increase. This sounds insane, but it actually plays into a basic aspect of human psychology; people get used to salary increases over time. They never get used to random cash bonuses. This means cash bonuses cost you less and make your team happier.
Aug 21, 2022First, when you're selling via e-mail you need to ensure that your product or service is priced correctly. As a general rule, I don’t believe that cold email is the best way to go if your software project, product, or service is under $2,000, otherwise the time spent won’t be worth it. But you can use this to sell anything from $2,000 up to millions or even billions of dollars.
AQ's take: Burned years chasing $500 deals. Time sink. $2k+? Life changer.
Aug 19, 2022Second, you need to ensure that you're selling something that is in extremely high demand.
AQ's take: Pushed meh demand. Crickets forever. High demand? Emails convert.
Aug 19, 2022A business can succeed like that, but to really thrive, for each cold email, you need a specific offer and a specific customer.
AQ's take: Generic blasts bombed my pipeline. Specific? Deals stack up.
Aug 19, 2022The successful version of this is to phrase your offer in a hyper-specific way. Instead of saying “we build websites” say “we do Kubernetes consulting for startups that have over 2 million active users per month.” If you can lock in your offer and get hyper-specific, you can find millions of dollars in deals and you will massively outperform any business that attempts to do everything for everybody. You cannot be all things to all people. You must target clients the right way and hone in on the specific niche for your business and you will hugely magnify your success.
AQ's take: 'Websites' got ignored. Kubernetes niche? Millions unlocked for me.
Aug 19, 2022Then measure your results. If your open rate is disappointing, send another 20 with a different subject line. If you’re happy with your open rate, but received no responses, keep your subject line, rewrite the body, and iterate over and over and over again, until you hit your benchmark stats. If you do this effectively, you should be able to achieve 4-8 meetings on your calendar for every hundred emails, and at the same time ramp up the number of emails you send.
AQ's take: Guessed lines, zero opens. Tested 20? My stats exploded.
Aug 19, 2022You will be contacting 50 people that you believe will buy and will be interested in your services, and conducting customized research in order to build what I refer to as the ‘custom first line’. This is essentially a compliment, something like: “Hey, Mark, I love what you guys at Sony are doing with the PlayStation 5”. Something specific that demonstrates that you understand what the company is involved with. And you don't need to invest a huge amount of research in acquiring this information; it is usually no more complicated than accessing the company website.
AQ's take: Boring intros ghosted. 'PS5 love'? They replied instantly.
Aug 19, 2022