Arnaud Renoux

The Scalelab | Scalelist

5 KEY LEARNINGS
FROM SENDING OVER
100K COLD EMAILS
EVERY YEAR SINCE 2021
Arnaud Renoux
The Scalelab | Scalelist

Cold emails that convert have

these in common:

1. Short & Mobile optimized

(~ 50 words)

2. Relevant and personalized

3. Clear value for the prospect

4. Credibility

5. Soft but clear CTA

Let’s dig into each point

Arnaud Renoux
The Scalelab | Scalelist

#1. Short & Mobile optimized

(~ 50 words)

-> 361.6 billion emails are sent daily

-> 1 person receives on average 121

emails/day

-> Nobody wants to read a super long

and detailed email

-> Especially from someone they don’t

know.
Arnaud Renoux
The Scalelab | Scalelist

- 80% of the emails are read on

phones first.

- If your email needs a scroll. It’s too

long.

- Your cold emails should be ~ 50

words

(use https://wordcounter.net/ to
respect this rule)

- It should be appealing to the eyes

(Space the text out)
 Arnaud Renoux
The Scalelab | Scalelist

EXAMPLE: (55 WORDS)

Buyer persona: CEO of Fintech (20-50
people)based in APAC

Hello {{firstName}},
1. COMMON OBSERVATION
I noted you have {{number}} salespeople at
{{companyName}} ({{name1}}, {{name2}}, etc...)
2. UNDERSTANDING OF THE SITUATION
Curious if you had any success generating leads
doing outbound (cold emails/calls).
3. CREDIBILITY
Since 2019, 25+ Fintechs like Aspire, Thunes, and
Triple-A in APAC have used our outbound service
to fuel their HubSpot with 2+ new SQLs/week.
4. SHORT CTA
Worth a chat?
Arnaud
Arnaud Renoux
The Scalelab | Scalelist

On average, your readers only scan

your email for 11 seconds

- Emails that are short and mobile-

optimized see 83% more replies.

- Under 75 words is best (aim for < 50

words).

(source: Lavender)
Arnaud Renoux
The Scalelab | Scalelist

#2. Relevant and personalized

Too many BDR/SDR personalized

their emails for the sake of it.

They’ve heard: “Your first cold email

sentence should be an icebreaker
etc…”

One time I received:

”Hey Arnaud, Saw you live in

Singapore. You live in summer all
year long, etc…”

LOL, yes I live in Singapore, but...

It doesn’t bring value to the email

Arnaud Renoux
The Scalelab | Scalelist

- How relevant is it?

- What’s in there for me?

A personalized sentence needs to be

relevant to

1/ Trigger your prospect's mind

2/ Create an “Oh yeah” effect

3/ For them to reply to you.

Sending Sending
relevant cold > personalized cold
emails emails
Arnaud Renoux
The Scalelab | Scalelist

N.B. If you have a personalized

element that you really want to add
to your cold email.

Write a personalized P.S. It works

well.
Arnaud Renoux
The Scalelab | Scalelist

#3 Value for the prospect

1 simple rule in sales:

Give before receiving.

Your prospects care about:

- Saving time

- Making money

- or both at the same time

Use a “you”-approach

Explain what problem you help them

solve.
Arnaud Renoux
The Scalelab | Scalelist

E.G.

Wrong approach:
We do [Feature 1], [Feature 2],
[Feature 3].

Right approach:
We do your outbound lead
generation for your SDRs to only
spend time selling and maximize their
time on what matters the most.
Arnaud Renoux
The Scalelab | Scalelist

#4 Credibility:

So many salespeople think sales is

transactional.

- I sell a solution to solve [A]

- Your problem is [A]

- Here we go

Yes that’s the summary of a deal

closed between a salesperson and the
prospect

The practice is different

Arnaud Renoux
The Scalelab | Scalelist

Sales is about trust.

Show you’re serious to your prospects

in 1 sentence

Show the results you have generated

for similar companies

Don’t be shy

E.G.
In [Timeline], we’ve generated
[Results] for [CompanyName]
Arnaud Renoux
The Scalelab | Scalelist

#5 Soft but clear CTA:

2020 is over Asking:

“Can we jump on a coffee chat at 2

pm on Thursday?

doesn’t work anymore

Your prospects receive many (sales)

emails/day

They are all asking for something:

- “pick your brain”
- “Coffee chat”
- “Zoom call : [Calendly URL]

Let your prospects breathe

Arnaud Renoux
The Scalelab | Scalelist

Let them think and choose if it makes

sense for them to allocate time.

CTA rules:

-1 CTA/email

- Frictionless CTA.

It can be answered with a “yes” or a

“no”
Arnaud Renoux
The Scalelab | Scalelist

E.G.

- Worth a chat?

- Open exploring?

- Worth a discussion?

- Is it a fit?

- Open to learn more?

Arnaud Renoux
The Scalelab | Scalelist

Cold emailing is far from

dead if relevant for the
receiver.

Live in your prospects’

shoes.
Arnaud Renoux
The Scalelab | Scalelist

TL;DV

1. Short & Mobile optimized

(~ 50 words)

2. Relevant and personalized

3. Clear value for the prospect

4. Credibility

5. Soft but clear CTA

Arnaud Renoux
The Scalelab | Scalelist

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