Cold emailing is a slightly different skill than writing given the target audience and the time consttraing to capture their attention. So everytime I write to someone, I feel disjointed in where I am on my learning curve and feel like I’m starting over again. This post is to track my observations and learnings here.

A good email

So, my starting point here is the following structure for a good cold email.

  • Why you - Why am I messaging you?
  • Why me - Why should you listen to me?
  • Impact - What happens if we work together?

Nailing this will hopefully solve the “bad email” problem and attribute poor response rates to the pitch itself.

Variations

Here are some variations on the components that can be mixed and matched:

  1. Why you:

    • “I noticed your company is hiring for [position]. Are you struggling to find qualified candidates?”
    • “As someone leading [department/function], I imagine you’re always looking for ways to improve your hiring process.”
    • “Given your experience in [industry], I thought you might be interested in a new approach to candidate screening.”

  2. Why me:

    • “I’ve developed an AI-powered interviewing tool that’s helping companies like yours save 80% of time spent on initial screenings.”
    • “My background in [relevant field] led me to create a solution that addresses the pain points I experienced firsthand in hiring.”
    • “Our platform has already helped [X] companies reduce their time-to-hire by [Y]%.”

  3. Impact:

    • “Would you be open to a 15-minute demo to see how we could streamline your hiring process?”
    • “I’d love to show you how our tool could help you identify top candidates faster. When would be a good time for a quick chat?”
    • “If you’re interested in cutting your screening time in half, I’d be happy to share some case studies from similar companies.”

Best Practices

  1. Personalization: Always tailor the email to the recipient’s specific role and company.
  2. Brevity: Keep the email concise, ideally no more than 3-4 short paragraphs.
  3. Clear CTA: End with a clear, low-commitment call-to-action.
  4. Follow-up: Plan for a follow-up sequence if you don’t receive a response.
  5. Value proposition: Focus on the benefit to the recipient, not just features of your product.

Remember, the goal is to start a conversation, not to make a sale in the first email.

Some templates

Adopting this to RightJoin, here are some templates for each component that I can use -

Hi {{firstName}},

[Why you] As the {{position}}, I’m sure you’re aware of the challenges with screening high-volume applications. I came across your profile on LinkedIn and felt your experience was impressive and relevant to the interviewing product I’m building.

[Why me] I am an early-stage founder building an interactive AI interviewing service, that can help HR teams screen high-volume applications. [Impact] Since you’re experienced in this space, I’d love to learn about common challenges and get your eyes on my product.

Thanks

Hi {{firstName}},

[Why you] Do you wish you had a way to find the best candidates to your job posting? [Why me] I built RightJoin to save you time by doing the interviews in your industry.

[Impact] I think you’d be impressed if you saw it work. Can I share a short demo video?

Thanks