21 Cold Sales Email Templates that Close More Deals


Andy Cabasso

October 30th

Struggling with your cold emails? Looking for sales email templates that can help you boost open rates and close more deals?

You know – if finding accurate contact details of your cold emailing prospects can be considered the fun part, crafting the perfect pitch email can be the stressful part. 

To help you on this journey to craft the perfect sales cold email that gets a response, we’re going to break down several different types of sales cold email formulas and show how and why they work.

What’s more, we’re going to give you actual cold sales email templates that you can use right away to start closing more deals.

Cold sales email templates.

There are many different approaches, and we are going to go in-depth on all of them.

But first, let’s cover some basic ground rules for cold emailing for your sales pitch:

First, you have to personalize it to a T.

 Avoid generic formulas like “Hi there”, vague subject lines, or a nonspecific email body that can be copy-pasted to 5 different people from 5 different niches.

Second, you have to make it short

Statistics show that the ideal length of an email should be around 50-125 words. This is not the time to tell everyone the story of your life – your email should be concise and clear. 

Oh, and funny – the third ingredient to the perfect email outreach campaign! 

Making a joke can make your email look more human and stand out, compared to the legions of bland cold sales pitches out there.

Of course, it’s important to have a balanced proposal-jokes ratio, so your pitch can be taken seriously. Don’t overdo it – well, not unless your prospect is a stand-up comedy show host! Keep your sales pitch professional.

Does Cold Email Outreach Still Work In B2B Sales? 

Short answer: Yes! 

Sending cold emails is an incredibly cost-effective way to get new potential customers, partners, and affiliates for your business. 

does cold email work

But how is that possible when thousands of sales emails get directly into your spam folders? 

Does anyone read those? 

Well, not those, of course not! 

Those situations happen for 3 possible reasons: 

  • The subject is irrelevant for the recipient
  • The emails are not well written
  • They are indeed spam emails written by auto-dialers with email integration 
  • The emails are sent in a spammy way (e.g. mass emailing at once) that gets flagged by email servers

If you want your prospects to read your emails, you’ll have to do thorough research. Anything that’s not personalized might come across as spammy. 

When you’re doing your research, you should look up things like: 

  • Prospect’s name 
  • Prospect’s company 
  • Mutual contacts (friends, LinkedIn connections)
  • Prospect’s credentials

Also, you must focus on the value you offer them, and less on the value you want. 

Here are a few examples of cold outreach templates you can use for your future sales outreach campaigns! 

AIDA Model For Your Cold Emails

AIDA stands for Attention Interest Desire Action.

Let’s break down each piece of this.

Attention: Get the reader’s attention. 

As an example, sales emails should have an attention-grabbing sentence at the beginning. This is what will keep them reading so make a great first impression!

Interest: Get the reader’s continued interest.

How is your solution to their problem relevant? 

Do you have a unique approach to their needs? Do you have a better solution to their problem than your competitors? Put yourself in your readers’ shoes and come up with good reasons why they’d be interested in your business.

Desire: Make them want whatever you’re selling. 

There are a few different tactics here. You can use scarcity, show them statistics, or make them understand that your brand is the wow! the factor that’s been missing.

Action: Get them to take action.

Insert a compelling call-to-action (CTA) that guides the reader through what they should do next. 

This could be anything from asking, “Are you free for a 5-minute call tomorrow?” or “Do any of these times work for you for a quick demo?”

Next up, let’s check out an example of a cold email formula called the AIDA model.

AIDA-Model Cold Email Template

Hi Joe,

I saw your recent article about HR tips for startups and appreciated that bit about the issues startups have compared to more established companies in retaining talent.

Related to that, I wanted to reach out to see if you were looking to save 10 hours per week with your payroll processing.

Companies like Conglomo, have collaborated with us to save more than 50 hours per month on their payroll processing.

I’d love to show you how PayrollX can help. 

Do you have 7 minutes to talk either tomorrow or Friday? 

Best Regards

Andy

The Before-After-Bridge (BAB) Formula

 Before-After-Bridge is another popular cold email formula. Here is how it works:

  • Before: Address their problems directly and explain how their problems can affect their business goals. 
  • After: Offer step-by-step solutions to their problems. 
  • Bridge: Make a point where your brand is the bridge to a faster and better solution. Your business can make a positive impact in their life by solving their problems more easily.

One perfect example of the BAB formula is a product that promotes weight loss. They show you before and after photos while making clear that the bridge between the 2 pics is their product.

BAB-Technique Cold Email Template: Before-After-Bridge

Hey Joe,

Every salesperson knows how frustrating & time-consuming it is to look for new prospects every day.

Our tool takes care of that for you, helping you save hundreds of hours each month to find and connect with qualified sales prospects.

I want to save you thousands of hours in exchange for ten minutes of your time.

I’ll show you how you can get the same results with our platform.

Do you have ten minutes this week? 

Let me know!

Best Regards

Andy

The PAS Technique: Problem-Agitate-Solve

Effective sales techniques focus on one important thing – they empathize with the reader. Agitating your prospects is another good method to engage with your prospects. 

Well, agitating sounds a bit extreme…

But, here’s the point of this formula: many potential customers don’t even know they have a problem. A problem they might have been sitting on for who knows how long. 

The PAS formula works as follows:

  • Problem: View things from your customer’s perspective and think about some real problems they might experience right now. 
  • Agitate: Talk to your prospects directly about their biggest pain. Show them all the negative outcomes they will deal with in the future if they choose to ignore the issue now. 
  • Solve: Talk about your brand as a solution and offer them a step-by-step explanation. To build even more credibility, you can show off testimonials!

PAS Cold Email Template: Pain-Agitate-Solve

Hey Joe,

I noticed that your brand’s website was a bit slow to load. I am sure you must be concerned about that, and how it affects your customers and revenue.

Like most e-commerce retailers, I understand how page load speed can affect your sales because of impatient customers, as well as due to how Google and other search engines factor page load speed into their search algorithms.

Our agency has helped companies like OnlineStore to double their page load speed, increasing their search rankings, and increasing their average visitor’s order size by 10%.

I’d love to show you how. Do you have 10 minutes this week? 

Let me know!

Best Regards

Andy

The PPP Technique: Praise-Picture-Push

The small victories are never small! That’s why a few flattering words about your clients’ latest achievements can make them more inclined to read your email.

The PPP formula stands for: 

  • Praise: Compliment your customers about a recent accomplishment or achievement. 
  • Picture: Use cause-and-effect to get the reader to see how other similar companies have had a problem or pain point that the recipient likely has and how you solved it.
  • Push: Get them to take action and move this conversation forward.

PPP Cold Email Template: Praise-Picture-Push

Hey Joe,

Just saw that you were recently promoted to outbound sales director for Conglomo – Congratulations! I wanted to reach out because I see a good fit for Conglomo to boost its outbound sales with CompanyX.

Outbound execs at brands like Salesy and Tootzy told us that they were looking for ways to generate significantly more outbound leads. That’s when they started using CompanyX to help automate and speed up their outbound prospecting.

Can I show you exactly how it works – say, like 11:30 am on Tuesday? 

Best Regards

Andy

The 3B Plan: Brevity, Blunt & Basic

Sometimes, sending a short, basic, no-fluff email is a better choice than coming up with scenarios to attract your clients’ attention. 

The 3B plan is the perfect way to demonstrate this formula: 

  • Brevity: Write a basic, short opening without making an emotional appeal to your recipient.
  • Blunt: Go straight to the point – tell your recipient – most likely a decision-maker after all, exactly why you’ve contacted them. 
  • Basic: Don’t tell stories or jokes to make your readers resonate with your perspective. 

If you’re using this formula, your email should be as short as possible so keep it below 40 words. 

The 3B Plan Cold Email Template: Brevity Blunt & Basic

Hey Joe,

I just tried calling you and left a message.

Wanted to upgrade your email outreach efforts.

Would love to showcase a demo over a video call. Do you have 10 minutes on Friday?

Best regards,

Andy

The Star-Chain-Hook Technique 

People love to see a promising headliner that can give them a lot of advantages, so start with your greatest idea right from the beginning. 

This is how this formula works: 

  • Star: Begin with your biggest idea and talk about the greatest results they can achieve.
  • Chain: Reinforce this incredible idea with relevant sources, facts, testimonials.
  • Hook: Also known as the CTA – tell your prospects how your brand can help them achieve their goals.

SCH Cold Email Template: Star-Chain-Hook 

Hey Joe,

Do you know what companies like BrandX do for marketing and to save time? They do a bunch of podcasts interviews with influential podcast hosts in the world. Their secret weapon? Postaga. 

This is how they got PR, guest posting, and podcast opportunities and saved 20 hours each month. Check out some of our case studies to see for yourself.

{{Case Study 1}}

{{Case Study 2}}

{{Case Study 3}}

If you’re interested, I can hook you up with a free trial and would be happy to also share a personal walkthrough.

Can I send that over to you?

Best regards,

Andy

The Star-Story-Solution (3S) Method

Put your brand’s personality in the spotlight by following these simple steps:

  • Star: Include your brand’s personality and engage with the prospects on an emotional level. 
  • Story: Integrate influential names relevant to your niche, a charismatic figure, or a powerful story that adds drama and highlights your brand. 
  • Solution: Make an appealing CTA and let your prospects know what they need to do next if they want to be one step closer to their success story.  

The 3S Method Cold Email Template: Star-Story-Solution

Hi Joe, 

I landed podcasts interviews with some of the most influential podcasts in the world. My secret weapon? Postaga. 

Just a few weeks ago, I was on an episode of Startups for the Rest of Us, which sent a ton of new customers our way, thanks to using Postaga to connect with podcast hosts.

Do you want to land podcast guest spots that could send a ton of new business your way?

If so, I’ll show you exactly how we do it. Let me know what you think!

Best regards

Andy

Asking for Directions

Making sure you get a valid email address and contact name is a huge part of the research process. 

ask for directions meme

But sometimes you can’t find the right information about your prospects. 

Instead of hoping that your email finds the right person, be honest and ask for the right person. 

Cold Email Template: How to Ask for Directions

Hey there,

I’m not sure if this email is getting to a human person, or a cat posing as a human. It’s hard to tell out there.

Anyway, I am trying to find the right person on your team who’s responsible for getting press coverage.

Please let me know!

All the best,

Andy

Event-Triggered Emails

If you want to demonstrate your familiarity with your sales prospects, the best way to start a conversation with potential customers is by sending an event-triggered email. 

Did something momentous recently happen? It’s a good excuse to reach out.

Here’s a quick list of events you can relate to:

  • The media wrote an article about their brand;
  • Their company raised a funding round;
  • Their business is celebrating a milestone;
  • They received a special prize or award

Event-Triggered Email Template 

Hey Joe,

Read the news about how BrandX just raised its Series A. That’s huge – congrats!

I wanted to connect to see if, now that you’ve raised this funding round and are clearly looking to grow, you wanted to find some marketing cost-effective, yet scalable marketing channels that can bring in more customers.

We’ve worked with brands like Competitor1 and Competitor2 to help them scale their growth after their Series A, and we could do the same for BrandX.

I know your schedule must be flooded now, but If you’d like to learn more, I’d be happy to discuss it. 

Let me know what you think!

Best regards,

Andy

12 More Sales Email Templates

Here are 12 more cold email templates that you can use based on a variety of different situations!

1. Following Up on a Cold Call

Statistics show that more than 90% of all converted leads are reached by the 6th call attempt, so don’t hesitate and give them a follow-up email! 

Follow Up Cold Email Template

Hi Joe,

I just left a voicemail and wanted to follow up here.

Following up, I had a few suggestions on how BrandX could save a ton of time on its payroll processing, and I wanted to share these helpful links:

  • {{insert_link_1}}
  • {{insert_link_2}}

Please let me know if you have any questions at all.

Best regards

Andy

2. They Asked for a Trial

This one is a bit more of a “warm” email than a cold email.

If someone took your product for a spin, checking out the free trial, you’ll want to connect with them to get them to upgrade.

Convert Free Trial Users to Loyal Customers Email Template

Hi Joe,

Welcome to BrandX! 

I hope your trial is going well so far.

I wanted to reach out to share a limited-time offer for you.

If you upgrade to our Pro plan this week, you can save 25% off of the regular price (insert link).

Let me know what you think, and if you have any questions at all!

Best regards

Andy

3. They’re on Your Free Plan

This one is another “warm” email rather than cold since there’s some relationship here.

Freemium will always have less helpful features for your customers, so remind them what they miss by not upgrading to a premium plan.

Convert Freemium Users to Customers Email templates

Hi Joe,

I see you’ve been using Trello for a few weeks now, built a few different workspaces, and shared your boards with your colleagues.

Are you ready to take your project management to the next level? 

I wanted to share with you some of our premium plans. Your business get access to more: 

{{insert_benefit_1}} 

{{insert_benefit_2}}

{{insert_benefit_3}}

Best regards, 

Andy

4. You Have Common Interests with Your Potential Customers 

Having a common interest (the college you’ve graduated from, a former workplace) is always a good conversation starter because it makes your customers feel more connected. This way, starting a genuine conversation will be easier. 

Example of Email Template for Prospects with Common Interests

Hi Joe,

I was looking to connect with other Stanford alumni in sales tech and came across your profile.

I’m class of ‘05 myself.

Happy to connect!

Cheers,

Andy

5. Sharing Helpful Content

Sharing helpful information about a relevant topic your prospects are interested in can be a great conversation opener. 

You can discuss other relevant topics to help their business grow while mentioning your services. 

With this strategy, it’s more of a longer-term play, since you won’t be going for the sale on Emai #1. This is about building a relationship over time.

Building a Strong Relationship Through Cold Email Template

Hi Joe,

I came across this recent article the latest Core Web Vitals changes and thought you’d be interested.

Happy to connect!

Cheers,

Andy

6. Getting in Touch With Someone From LinkedIn

You’ve got a new connection on LinkedIn? Did someone view your profile? Show them you’re active in the business community and reach out to them as soon as they connect with you on LinkedIn. 

Cold Email Template to Attract Leads from LinkedIn

Hi {{Name}},

Happy to connect with you on LinkedIn! 

Your article about {{insert_topic}} helped me achieve {{insert_results}}. 

I’m in {{insert_niche}}, and I’d love to hear more about what you do.

Thanks again, 

Andy

7. They Opened Your Email But Didn’t Respond

Just because your prospect didn’t respond, it doesn’t mean you should give up on them completely. Don’t forget –  50% of sales happen after the 5th try so send them a follow-up email! 

Trying Again to Convert Sale Email Template

Hi {{Name}}, 

Just a quick follow-up on my previous email: 

BrandX offers tools for {{insert_company_name}} that can help with {{insert_benefit}}. Here are just a few features that can help you with your social ad campaigns: 

  • {{insert_feature_1}} + explain benefits
  • {{insert_feature_2}} + explain benefits
  • {{insert_feature_3}} + explain benefits

Let me know if you have any questions on this!

All the best, 

Andy

8. Building a Rapport – Following Up

Keeping a natural, constant flow of messages is important for building a strong relationship with your prospects. 

Rapport Building Cold Email Template

Hi {{Name}}, 

A while back, you mentioned an issue you were having with scheduling your social media posts so I wanted to follow up.

I’d love to share how you can schedule your social posts with SocialBee.

Do you have a few minutes this week?

Best regards, 

Andy

9. You’re Spying on Their Content

Recent activities on other blogs are also a good conversation starter! Show them you’re genuinely interested in their content by sending an email related to their recent blog/ guest post. 

Mentioning Prospects’ Content Cold Email Template

Hi {{Name}}, 

I saw the article you’ve published on sleep cycles.

Loved how you mentioned polyphasic sleeping, which I tried a while back but didn’t have much luck with.

Have a great day!

Andy

10. They Liked Your Content

When your visitors read, like, and/or share your content it means they find your content useful. So asking them for more content ideas will help you build stronger relationships with your audience by offering exactly what they need. 

Convert Your Followers Email Template

Hi {{Name}}, 

Just saw that you liked our post on sleep hacking. 

Thanks for checking it out!

As we’re regularly working on new content in this area, I wanted to check in to see if you had any feedback.

What would you like to read about in my next post?

Thanks,

Andy

11. Mention a Mutual Connection

Some potential prospects are more willing to answer your emails if you mention a mutual contact. It means that you’re already in their friends’ circle and it increases your brand’s credibility.

Example of Using a Reference in Your Cold Email

Hi {{Name}}, 

A mutual acquaintance of ours, {{insert_reference_name}}, and I were recently talking about {{insert_topic}}. 

And I thought you might be interested as well.

Is that the case? If so, would love to chat!

Thanks, 

Andy 

12. They Went Dark After the First Contact

Sometimes prospects go dark.

It could be for any number of reasons

  • They are busy
  • Your service is not a high priority
  • Financial setbacks 
  • They have new business goals
  • They’re rethinking their business strategies

The best solution is to contact them, ask what happened, and come up with a solution that benefits your prospect. 

Old Prospects Conversion Email Template 

Hi Joe, 

I hope you’re doing well. 

I wanted to check how your CRM project is going. 

When we last spoke, you mentioned that this CRM migration was taking up a lot of your time.

Is now a good time to revisit checking out BrandX?

Let me know!

Best Regards, 

Andy

Bonus – 10 Pro Tips To Keep in Mind for Cold Email Outreach!

And now, for some additional tips for cold emailing for sales:

  1. Don’t send your email on weekends 
  2. Don’t plan your outreach campaigns just for the big names – the medium and small businesses are fine too! 
  3. Contact only relevant people for your niche 
  4. Combine more than just one technique (A/B test!) so you can see what works best for you 
  5. Don’t take it personally when people respond with negative comebacks (outreach is a numbers game, and sometimes you just catch people at the wrong time) 
  6. Increase the volume of emails gradually – don’t send them all at once 
  7. Use a different sending domain/subdomain to protect your main domain from getting marked as spam
  8. Trust the process and don’t get discouraged – outreach is a numbers game and it takes time
  9. Set the right expectations so you won’t be disappointed if you don’t see the results you expected right away (things could use tweaking or revamping if you are not seeing results early on)
  10. Double-check your emails before you send them (no wrong spelling, punctuation, or grammar). 

How to Write and Send Cold Emails Efficiently

I know all these rules and ideas can be overwhelming. 

Besides, writing all these emails individually can feel like an eternity. 

But using an automation tool can help you a lot with your cold email campaign strategy and it can improve your reply rate. 

With Postaga, for example, you can plan your cold outreach campaign and customize your messages to the smallest detail. Instead of having to create unique emails for every recipient, Postaga personalizes each email for the recipient so you don’t have to do it manually.

Follow-Up Emails 

Now that you have some ideas and drafts for your outreach emails, is that it?

There is still one thing left to do – work on follow-up emails. 

Many people who send cold emails, when they don’t get a response from prospects, they automatically assume that the prospects are not interested in what they have to say. 

And this is where they’re wrong! 

Most people are too busy or they forget to reply to your email.

Sending them around 2-3 follow-up emails sent 1 week after each other is enough to increase your open/reply rates by 20%. 

Conclusion

Now, you’ve got everything you need to draft cold emails for your sales outreach campaigns. 

We’ve got:

  • A variety of different outreach templates
  • Tips on drafting, sending, and following up
  • Recommendations on tools for helping with scalable sales email outreach

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