How To (almost) Always Get a Reply to Your Emails

I get emails/LinkedIn DMs like this all the time.

As you can see by my annotations, I’m not a huge fan 😩

A cold-DM I received recently

Read until the end if you want to see my remix of this cold email based on the principles I outline below 😎

Here’s a 5-Step strategy, inspired by and adapted from the GOAT sales coach Josh Braun, that I now use to reach out to people with much better success.

Step 1: What Sucks? 😩

Reality check: literally no-one cares about what your product/service does; they only care about how it can help them.

So instead of telling me that your SEO software reverses engineers Google’s algorithms bla bla bla like the message above does, tell me what sucks that your product/service can solve.

Here’s what it would be for Uber:

You know when it’s rush hour on Friday out and you can’t get a taxi?

Here’s what it would be for Google:

You know how long it takes to find that information you need in the Yellow Pages?

Here’s what it would be for the person who DM’d me to help UniRise’s SEO:

You know that feeling when someone searches “university application help” on Google but they can’t find UniRise?

Step 2: Make them think 🧐

Now it’s time to shine a light on something that makes them think differently about their current solution.

What do you know that they don’t know?

For Uber, it might be:

How are you supposed to get a ride within 3 minutes with one click of a button?

For UniRise, it might be:

How are you planning on ensuring all your students write high-quality university applications without increasing teachers’ workload?

Suddenly, we’ve piqued the curiosity of the reader. We’re only two sentences in, but we’ve got them wondering:

Hmm, I suppose that would be kind of cool 🤨

Notice I’ve written nothing about any features our service/provides.

Step 3: Social proof 👀

Humans are social animals. We love following the crowd.

You’re far more likely to recycle your boxes if I tell you that 90% of other people on your street do it, rather than telling you that it’s “good for the planet”.

So let’s apply this to our emails: let the reader know that other people are using your product/service, and ideally that they’re loving it. For example:

Over 60 schools have worked with UniRise to help their students get into top uni’s without taking up teachers’ time. You can see some of their testimonials here [insert link to video testimonials].

Step 4: Low-commitment ask 📆

Don’t beg for their time. You’re worth more than that.

Don’t try to force someone to get on a call with you.

Instead, have a low commitment ask:

No rush, but are you open to learning how they did it?

Step 5: Finish well 📈

I almost always finish emails with something like this:

Totally understand if not — keep on smashing it with [insert something they’re working on/they’ve posted about recently].

There’s something about giving people an easy way out that ironically makes them more likely to respond to you, particularly if they realise that you’ve actually taken the time to look them up and see what they’re thinking/writing about.

There we have it: a 5-step process to write the perfect cold email.

Let’s now take that original message I received and transform it with our new approach:

My remix 🎤

Ah, much better 😎

Finally, 2 bonus tips:

Bonus #1: Be Funny

Humour goes so far in building trust.

I got this cheeky DM the other week and I couldn’t help but respond.

Bonus #2: Deliver value on the spot.

Chris Orcutt delivering value in a cold-email 💪

I received this excellent email from Chris, where he took the time to make me a personalised video giving me feedback on our website. It was awesome, and extremely useful.

How could I not respond!?

Summary

Remember, literally no-one cares about what you do; they care about what you can do for them.

If you effectively illuminate something you know that they don’t, help them realise what sucks about their current approach and don’t get too pushy on trying to “make a sale” or “secure a call”, you’ll way ahead of most people.

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