Four Steps to Writing a Perfect Cold Email

The cold email is one of the most powerful tools for any sales and marketing executive. If done correctly, cold emails will help you schedule more meetings, which ultimately will lead to more sales. Writing a cold email may sound easy at first, but to get the best results, it's critical to construct it perfectly and I want to help you do that.

Below I’ll be highlighting some of the keys to a good cold email:

1. Breaking the ice
2. Establish credibility
3. Framing the ask
4. Stick the landing

Okay, so let's dive into it.

Step 1: BREAK THE ICE

The most important rule for a cold email is to immediately try to connect with the person you’re reaching out to on a personal level. It’s the quickest way to make a cold email feel warmer—like it’s being sent from one friend to another. The best way to do that is to show that you value what they value. You can learn more about what interests your prospect by monitoring their LinkedIn and Twitter activity, or by simply visiting their website to see what new content they are posting.

Step 2: ESTABLISH CREDIBILITY

This is an area that many forget to include, which is a huge mistake. You don't want to establish credibility by self-promoting and bragging about your accomplishments. Instead, there are some other more effective and less arrogant ways to show the person that you know your stuff. For example, provide some commentary about a post you saw from them on LinkedIn. Or reference a mutual acquaintance. Or best of all, share a client success story from someone in their industry... AND be as specific as possible.

Step 3: FRAMING THE ASK

The meat and the potatoes of a cold email should be framing the ask. Or in other words, you have to reach out with a purpose. If your ultimate goal is to sell them a product or service, don't ask for the sale in a cold email. Instead, ask them for an opportunity to show them your vision for how you can help solve a problem. A cold email is similar to a resume. You don't get the job by having the best resume in the world. A good resume simply helps oyu get invited to an interview. Treat cold emails the same way. Cold emails are a simply a tool for helping you get an opportunity to meet with your prospective client.

Step 4: STICKING THE LANDING

You've done all the hard work with the first three steps, now it's time to ask what you want. Give the person an actionable next step, and don't be pushy. For example, say "If you'd like to discuss more, it would be great to connect sometime when you're ready." Or try something like this, "I know you weren't expecting a cold email today, but based on my research about your company, I think it would be very valuable for us to meet sometime to exchange ideas." Many smart people argue that you should offer a specific meeting time in your cold email (i.e. Can we meet Tuesday at 2pm?), however, I have always found the soft approach to be more effective, and focus on "them" rather than what works best for you.

Please feel free to contact me directly on LinkedIn if I can be a resource in any way. My email is mjheck2@gmail.com, so you can also contact me that way if you'd like. Good luck with everything, and I wish you the very best in writing your next cold email! -Matt