11 Killer Cold Email First Sentence That Motivate

Prospects to Read the Second Sentence

1. Unlike being X, Y can't do Z.

State an interest you noticed about the prospect related to how you can potentially help.
The keyword is “relates.”

Example for LeanData

“Amanda, unlike being an amateur wine connoisseur, SDRs can’t smell the buttery
aroma of a good inbound lead. BombBomb's using our tech to enable SDRs to sniff
them out - deduping & routing leads to sequences in 3.5 minutes without sales opps -
opportunities up 23%. No rush, but is this worth exploring?”

2. The Wizard - Armand Farrokh

Identify something about your prospect's job that requires wizard-like powers to get
done.

Example for Pave:

Hey, Beth - From PayPal to Facebook, you must be a VLOOKUP wizard - that's the only
way you could survive running a merit cycle for 50,000 employees. With Pave, you do
X, and Y happens. Worth a peek?”

Example for Constant.ai

Ben - 15+ years serving auto loans, you must be a loss mitigation wizard - that's the
only way you could service auto loans during a pandemic.

3. Tech Stack

Identify your prospects tech stack using BuiltWith, Sifftery, or HDInsights.

Hey John - I noticed you're using Outreach which suggests you’re focusing on
outbound. How are you reducing the risk of emails landing in spam?

Josh Braun - Creator of The Badass B2B Growth Guide

Tongue Tied Sales Objection Flashcards
4. The terrible, no good, terrible problem

Example for a reputation management service:

Hey John - Scanned your restaurant on Google and noticed a few negative reviews on
page one.

5. Are you open to X without Y?

Example for CaptivateIQ:

Hey John - Are you opposed to seeing a different approach for calculating and running
commission for 100+ reps without hard-pasting entire Excel pages into Google Sheets?

6. Common Connection

Reference a client that relates to your prospect.

Example for CaptivateIQ:

"Kim - I'm familiar with you through our work Michael Duncan, Rev Ops at Gong.

His accrual to payout accuracy is within 2% (remaining deltas are mainly unknowns). No
duplicitous worksheet tabs :-)

Have you considered automating calculating/running commission payouts at ACME?"

Example for Gravy:

"Hey, Greg - I stumbled across your name through our work with Lindsey Comeau, Director
of Customer Experience, on Sunday.

She's recovering 41% of failed payments ($117.906) compared to 18% before. $589,533
recovered.

Have you considered done-for-you revenue recovery?"

Josh Braun - Creator of The Badass B2B Growth Guide

Tongue Tied Sales Objection Flashcards
7. New Regulations

Reference a new regulation or law that relates to what you sell.

Example for, Aunt Flow

Hey Lisa - WA House Bill 1273 requiring all middle and high schools to offer free
menstrual products encouraged me to reach out.

8. Increased Headcount

Reference growth.

Jim - I noticed you're hiring SDRs in Austin, which suggests you're looking to scale
outbound sales.

9. Event

Reference a conference, webinar, or similar event.

Example for a triathlon coach:

Josh, I saw you signed up for Ironman Cozumel, which means you’re spending 20+/hrs
week training.

Example for a sales trainer:

James - I noticed you're attending Outbound 2022, which suggests you're making tons
of cold calls.

10. What People Hate About Their Job - Parker Conrad

What specific, crispy thing does your prospect hate about their job?

Bob - What loan officers hate about their job is the admin work of managing loans - stuff
like misposted payments, shorting a payoff, entering the incorrect date for SCRA
benefits, misplacing extension benefits, etc.

Josh Braun - Creator of The Badass B2B Growth Guide

Tongue Tied Sales Objection Flashcards
11. The Job Ad Referencing Skills

Mine job ads for language that relates to how you potentially help. Copy the job ad
language into your email.

Example for a Recruiter:

"John - I saw you're looking for BDRs with chops in cold calling, personalized emailing,
and LinkedIn prospecting. (Yes, I review job ads for a living.)

Would you be open to a different perspective that reduces the risk of hiring
underperforming BDRs that interview well? It involves screening out candidates that talk
a good game.

Either way, hat tip on your 5.0 rating on Glassdoor. You have a culture that people want
to talk about, for all the right reasons :-)."

Josh Braun - Creator of The Badass B2B Growth Guide

Tongue Tied Sales Objection Flashcards