---
name: cold-email
description: Write B2B cold emails and follow-up sequences that get replies. Use when the user says "cold outreach", "prospecting email", "outbound email", "SDR email", "follow-up sequence", or "nobody's replying to my emails". Not for warm or lifecycle email: use a lifecycle-emails skill. Not for partner pitches: use co-marketing. Not for building the prospect list itself: use a prospecting skill.
license: MIT
metadata:
  author: TechTide AI (Alex Cinovoj)
  provenance: rewritten from patterns in an open SaaS marketing skills pack (MIT)
  category: Sales & RevOps
---

# Cold Email Writing

A cold email earns a reply when it reads like a sharp peer noticed something specific and shared it. Every sentence either moves the reader toward replying or gets cut.

## Workflow

1. **Load context.** If a product marketing context file exists (`.agents/product-marketing.md` or `.claude/product-marketing.md`), read it first. Then confirm: who is the recipient and why them, what outcome you want (reply, intro, meeting), what problem you solve for people like them, one proof point, and any research signal (funding, hiring, posts, tech stack change). Do not block on missing inputs, write with what exists and note what would make it stronger.
2. **Write the opening.** Personalization must connect to the problem. Test: remove the opening line, if the email still makes sense, the personalization is decoration, rewrite it.
3. **Write the body.** Pick a shape that fits (Observation-Problem-Proof-Ask, Trigger-Insight-Ask, Story-Bridge-Ask, or freeform if it flows). Lead with their world: "you/your" outnumbers "I/we". One proof point beats ten features. Calibrate to the audience: C-suite gets ultra-brief and understated, technical readers get precision and zero fluff.
4. **Write the ask.** One CTA, interest-based, answerable in one line. "Worth exploring?" beats "Do you have 30 minutes Tuesday?"
5. **Write the subject.** 2-4 words, lowercase, internal-looking ("reply rates", "hiring ops"). Its only job is the open. No fake "Re:", no urgency, no first names.
6. **Build the sequence** when asked. 3-5 emails, increasing gaps, each adding a new angle or asset, each standing alone. The breakup email is the last touch, honor it. Cadence and angle rotation live in references/sequences.md.
7. **Quality gate before presenting.** Read it aloud. Would you reply to it? Does every sentence serve the reader? Is there exactly one low-friction ask?

## Verification

Do the swap test: replace the recipient's name and company with a random peer company in the same segment. Expect the email to break, the observation or trigger should no longer make sense. If it still works verbatim, it is a template blast, not a cold email, rewrite the opening around a signal specific to this prospect.

Then count links and asks. Expect exactly one CTA and at most one link. More than that: cut.

## Good vs Bad

**Bad:** "Hi Sarah, I hope this email finds you well. My name is Jake and I work at DataCo, a leading provider of best-in-class analytics solutions. We help companies leverage their data. Do you have 30 minutes this week for a demo?"

**Good:** "Sarah, saw you're hiring three RevOps roles this quarter. That usually means reporting is breaking under growth. We helped <PEER_COMPANY> cut board-deck prep from two days to two hours. Worth exploring?"

## What to avoid

- "I hope this email finds you well", "My name is X and I work at Y"
- Jargon: synergy, leverage, circle back, best-in-class, leading provider
- Feature dumps, HTML, images, multiple links
- Fake "Re:"/"Fwd:" subjects, {{FirstName}}-only personalization
- 30-minute meeting asks in the first touch
- "Just checking in" follow-ups

## Footguns

- **Personalization that does not connect.** "Loved your podcast episode" followed by an unrelated pitch reads as mail-merge flattery. Fix: the observation must lead into why you are reaching out.
- **Sounding like marketing.** If it reads like a landing page, replies die. Fix: read aloud, use contractions, write like a colleague.
- **Follow-ups with nothing new.** Each touch without a new angle trains the prospect to ignore you. Fix: rotate angles per references/sequences.md.
- **Multiple asks.** Two CTAs halve the reply rate of each. Fix: one ask, one line to say yes.

## Completion checklist

- [ ] Context checked, recipient and desired outcome confirmed
- [ ] Swap test fails (email is prospect-specific)
- [ ] One CTA, low friction, one link max
- [ ] Subject is 2-4 words, internal-looking
- [ ] Sequence emails each add something new (if sequence requested)

Any box unchecked: not done. Fix or say so.