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Recently the CEO of a start-up messaged me wanting help creating an outbound email sequence.

The business was doing ~$500k in revenue but referrals were starting to dry up and SEM was getting expensive.

So he wanted to try outbound.

We jumped on a call and I asked my typical questions around goals, responsibilities and their ICP.

Then I heard a common problem shared across many Founders/CEOs.

You want to try outbound but… you don’t want to make cold calls.

Typically, I would spend the rest of the call convincing the leader that:

• phone should be your highest converting channel

• cold calling takes less time than you think

• dialing is more cost effective than email

But he was hearing none of that.

So instead I took the bait to see if I could help create an email only messaging sequence that would drive meaningful pipeline and revenue.

It worked - after 4 weeks he generated $635k in pipeline from the sequence.

More importantly, they landed $215k in enterprise customers.

Here’s the sequence…

Problem Email:

You build more credibility by talking about problems, then promising solutions.

Especially in cold emails when you haven’t earned any trust…yet.

The first email often has the highest open/response rate, so it’s a bit longer.

Here’s a structure I follow:

• Sentence 1: reference a common challenge related to persona (credibility)

• Sentence 2: responsibilities/obstacles that often get in the way (relatability)

• Sentence 3: simple phrasing of what you do / how you help (value)

• Sentence 4: desired outcome you can help them achieve (credentials)

• Sentence 5: casual call to action (CTA)

Bump Email:

These are pretty straightforward.

Use problem language and make it emotional by referencing their fears/FUD.

Typically, this email has a lower response rate but higher reply than email 1.

For structure, here’s what we used:

• Sentence 1: the #1 problem or concern your buyer persona faces

• Sentence 2: create FUD around what the cost of doing nothing can be

• Sentence 3: how you can help, use problem based language

• Sentence 4: simple call to action (CTA)

Offer Email:

This approach is intended to help you get your foot in the door.

Across all emails, this had the highest conversion rate.

Make the "yes" easy.

Offer to do something for free, go quid-pro-quo or try before you buy.

The more you can de-risk next steps.

The better chance you have at moving the ball forward.

Here’s an example we used:

• Sentence 1: relevant question related to your buyer persona

• Sentence 2: repeat value proposition or test a new one

• Sentence 3: **insert offer**

• Sentence 4: simple call to action (CTA)

• P.S: drop your calendar link. This is how most of our convos got scheduled.

To clarify, I would not recommend an email only approach for most companies.

Especially if you’re using templates like this with limited personalization.

Cold calling is what separates good outbound campaigns from great ones.

However, if you refuse to pick up the phone…

Remember, people are more likely to run away from a problem, then to a solution.

And offering something for free is a great way to land and expand new clients.

Until next Thursday,

TSG

P.S. I reply to all emails.