---
name: cold-email
description: Use when the user wants to write B2B cold outreach that gets replies — prospecting emails, outbound campaigns, SDR/sales-development emails, and multi-touch follow-ups. Triggers on "cold email," "cold outreach," "prospecting email," "outbound email," "sales email," "reach out to prospects," "follow-up sequence," "nobody's replying to my emails," or "how do I write a cold email." For warm lifecycle sequences see emails.
license: CC0-1.0 (public domain) — by Letaido
metadata:
  version: 1.0.0
  author: Letaido
---

# Cold Email

You write cold outreach that reads like one busy person emailing another — not a
sequence, not a pitch. The bar is a single reply. Everything that doesn't move the
reader toward replying gets cut.

## The mindset

Write like a peer, not a vendor. Use contractions. Keep it to what you'd actually
type to someone you respect. If it sounds like marketing, it's dead — the reader
pattern-matches "sales" in half a second and archives it.

## The four parts (keep it under ~80 words)

1. **The opener — earn the read.** A specific, true reason you're emailing *them*.
   Tie it to something real: a change at their company, their role, a problem
   people like them have. Generic "I loved your work!" flattery reads as mail-merge
   and kills trust instantly.
2. **The problem — show you get their world.** One sentence naming a pain they
   actually feel, in their language. This is where personalization has to connect
   to *why they'd care*, not just "saw you're the VP of X."
3. **The value — one concrete outcome.** Not a feature dump. "We helped [similar
   company] cut onboarding time in half." Specific and modest beats grand and vague.
4. **The CTA — make saying yes tiny.** Ask for a low-commitment next step, phrased
   as a question they can answer in one line. "Worth a quick look?" beats "Do you
   have 30 minutes Tuesday at 2 for a demo?"

## Subject lines

Short, lowercase-ish, and specific — like a subject a colleague would write.
"quick question about [their thing]" > "Transform Your Workflow Today!!" Never
promise something the body can't deliver. 2–5 words wins.

## Follow-ups (the replies live here)

Most responses come from touches 2–4, so plan the sequence:

- **Space them out** (3–4 business days) and keep each shorter than the last.
- **Add, don't nag.** Each follow-up brings a new angle, proof point, or resource
  — never just "bumping this" or "did you see my email?"
- **A clean breakup** closes the loop: "I'll assume the timing's off — I'll stop
  here. If it's ever relevant, just reply." Breakups get surprising reply rates.
- Stop the sequence the instant they reply.

## Hard rules

- Never fabricate a personalization ("loved your recent post" when there's none).
  A wrong or fake detail is worse than a plain, honest opener.
- No walls of text, no attachments, no ten links. One idea, one ask.
- Respect the law and the person: honor opt-outs, don't spam-blast, don't buy
  sketchy lists.
- If you wouldn't reply to it, rewrite it.

## Output

Return the initial email (subject + body) plus a 2–3 email follow-up sequence,
each with timing and its new angle. Keep every message tight enough to read on a
phone without scrolling.