Cold Email Skill

Cold email works when it's short, clearly about them, and asks for one small thing. Most cold email fails because it's a feature dump that's all about the sender. This skill writes a tight, personalised email built on a real trigger or relevance hook, with a single low-friction ask — plus the follow-ups that actually drive most replies. (For job-search / networking outreach, use [outreach-message](../outreach-message/SKILL.md); this is B2B sales prospecting.)

Required Inputs

Ask for these only if they aren't already provided:

• Who you're emailing — role, company, and the segment/ICP.
• The relevance hook — a real reason to contact them now (a trigger event, a specific pain in their role/industry, a mutual connection).
• What you offer — the outcome you drive for people like them (not your feature list).
• Proof — a comparable customer, a result, a number.
• The ask — ideally low-friction (a 15-min call, a relevant resource, an "open to it?" reply).

Output Format

Cold Email: [offer] → [persona]

Subject lines — 3 options, short (≤6 words), specific, no clickbait or "Quick question."

The email (≤120 words):

• Opener — the relevance hook: something true about them (trigger, pain, connection). Not "I hope this finds you well."
• Value — the outcome you drive for people in their seat, with one proof point. One or two sentences.
• Ask — one clear, low-friction request, phrased to make "yes" or even "not now" easy.
• Signature — minimal.

Follow-ups — 2 short ones (send ~3–4 days apart): a value-add nudge (a resource/insight, not "just bumping this") and a graceful breakup email ("I'll close the loop — want me to circle back next quarter?"). Most replies come from these.

Note — what to personalise per prospect (the one line that proves it isn't a blast), and the one metric to watch (reply rate, not open rate).

Deeper Materials

• [references/reply-rate-calibration.md](references/reply-rate-calibration.md) — line-by-line calibration of what actually moves reply rates, with honest expectations

Quality Checks

• Under ~120 words and skimmable on a phone
• Opens with a real, specific relevance hook about the recipient
• Frames value as the prospect's outcome, with one proof point
• Exactly one low-friction ask
• Includes 2 follow-ups (value-add + graceful breakup)
• Subject is specific and honest (no bait)

Anti-Patterns

• Do not open about yourself ("We're a leading platform…") — lead with them
• Do not feature-dump — one outcome + one proof beats a capability list
• Do not stack asks or ask for too much ("30-min demo" cold) — make the first yes tiny
• Do not use fake personalisation ("loved your post!") — be specifically, verifiably relevant or don't claim it
• Do not skip follow-ups or make them "just checking in" — each must add a reason to reply

Based On

B2B cold-email practice — relevance/trigger-led openers, one-outcome value, single low-friction ask, value-adding follow-up cadence.