How to Cold Email Effectively (examples included)

Hey my friend!

Today I wanted to share thoughts on a topic that I know a LOT of advisors could use some help with.

How to start sending cold emails SUPER effectively.

This topic was inspired from two situations:

First, I received a cold email this morning and immediately deleted it. Then I realized, this is the perfect email to highlight and share some perspective as to how I would improve it!

Second, on Monday, I sent out about 55 cold emails myself, and within 2 days, I received...

• >> 8 emails back saying they were interested
• >> 3 emails back saying no
• >> no responses on the oter 44 (I will be following up again, don't worry!)

I want to highlight >> getting EIGHT yes responses immediately (from 55 total emails) is a 15% conversion, which is incredibly high for cold emails. I'll even share the exact email I sent below.

But first, here's the email I received this morning (names removed for privacy sake)

Subject line: Scale like a Sailor... priority # 1 - pull the anchor mate!

Email Body:

, I saw your profile on Linkedin and found your work impressive. 

I'm a Somatic Therapist and Coach who has worked closely with many company founders over the past 25 years. These founders are amazing people for all sorts of reasons.

The problem is, they tend to struggle with interpersonal relationships, or their mental health and that something that they are struggling with is holding them back in ways that are super frustrating to them and they just want to shut down in those moments.

If they could see it, they'd fix it… 

That's when they come to me, when they're aware that there's a blindspot, something they are not seeing that is preventing them from expanding or from simply having consistent peace or space in their lives.

What I've discovered is they tend to need help but don't tend to ask for it until things get intense… 

If this is you, let's have a conversation. 

Our conversation will be akin to flushing water through a pipe, I'm offering a complimentary consultation to a limited # of folks this month who would like to explore working together to generate some flow and get things where you want them to be.

Here are my thoughts on the email:

1. First off, not including my name is a hard stop. I totally get the idea of sending mass emails -- but if your technology messes up (which happens!) there is a 0% chance I will respond. Even if your offer is AMAZING!
2. "I found your work impressive" -- I like the attempt, but it's so generic! I can TELL that this person didn't look at my work experience. Again, not great at building trust so far.
3. The section starting from "These founders...." all the way to "If this is you, let's have a conversation"  >> The INTENTION is for me to feel like she's talking to me. However, she's describing OTHER people, and doing so in a way that is about THEM, not about me. How could she have shifted this? By sharing a story and asking me questions!
4. Following with # 3 - There's an implicit assumption that I'm struggling with my interpersonal relationships or mental health. First off, I'm not >> which means I'm probably not the right target audience for her. But secondly, this is her FIRST email! I don't know her, and admitting something so vulnerable would NOT be something I would do to a stranger. Instead, she could have shared a quick story, asked me a few questions, then asked if I was open to connecting deeper.
5. There's no actual ASK! The email said "If this is you, let's have a conversation." Does that mean I need to email her back? You have got to be CLEAR in your cold emails as to what their next step is.
6. She didn't tell me WHY she was emailing me until pretty much the end of the email. This is a HUGE mistake. I started reading and the first thing I read was "I am a..." >> and quite frankly, I don't care! A cold email should tell your prospecting (1) what you wants from the email and (2) why they should care >> all within the first 2-3 lines.

Overall, the email isn't "bad" >> it's just not effective. There's no way I'll respond to this (except to ask not to be emailed again).

As promised, here's the cold email I sent out on Monday

I sent these emails to Financial Advisors in the attempt to book introductory sales calls and see if they'd be a good fit for my program, The Financial Advisor Academy.

Here's the email:

Hey X - Happy Monday!

I noticed you went to FastTrack recently – how was your experience? I went in 2019 and LOVED it!

Wanted to drop a quick note to connect & see if you’d be open to chat.

In addition to being an advisor myself, I also coach advisors, focusing exclusively on teaching next-level prospecting strategies & tactics to help them hit $400k+ without burning out.

(Examples: maximizing LinkedIn to book 3-5 approaches / week, Nesting at companies, email marketing, utilizing my “No Ask” method to get inbound leads, etc.)

Not sure if this is relevant for you, but figured I’d drop a note to connect.

If you’re interested in exploring, happy to chat for 10/15 min. Would love to learn more about you & your business & I can share more details on the above. If it helps, here are some results of other advisors I’ve worked with (plus my production #s) – testimonials here

Let me know if you’re open!

Scottie

Comments on the email

• My FIRST sentance was a note to connect with this person >> I saw they went to a conference that I went to, so I attempted to build trust RIGHT away (and show that I'm a human, too)
• My next sentence is "Wanted to drop a quick note to connect & see if you’d be open to chat" >> I'm telling this person EXACTLY why I'm emailing right away.
• I then share what I do, and then say "Not sure if this is relevant for you" so I don't make assumptions that they need this, simply to see if they're OPEN to a conversation.
• The line: "If you’re interested in exploring, happy to chat for 10/15 min. Would love to learn more about you & your business & I can share more details on the above." >> This is golden because I'm showing that I'm not here to SELL them anything. I want to learn about them (ding ding ding!!) and share details.
• I also include a link to testimonials and my production numbers so they can do a bit of digging on me FIRST if they want to (again, these people don't know me!)

Do you do cold emails? Let me know what you think!

Scottie

p.s. On Monday 5/22 at 4pm EST, I'm hosting a Free Next-Level Prospecting Brainstorm session! This is your opportunity to come and hangout, talk about next-level prospecting tactics, ask questions, and learn about my 5 to $25k/mo Method! Click here to register!

p.s. If you're an advisor and want to generate inbound leads, consistent referrals, master cold calling/emails, and hit $400k+, click here to fill out a short (<1 minute) application to see if working together would make sense!

I'll then reach out to you with a few questions!

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