Cold Emails That Get Replies: 7 Methods to Boost Your Responses

The times when people would pick up a call and happily chat with the salesperson on the other end of the line seem like ancient history. These days, 77% of people won't even answer a sales call, and most of the 23% who do answer won't make a purchase.

In response to this shift, B2B sales teams are switching over to email. As an addition to cold calling, email can be an effective tool—it feels less like a telemarketer trying to scam you and more like a businessperson reaching out to connect. Still, getting replies to emails is much easier said than done.

Do you want to learn how to write and send cold emails that get responses? If so, keep reading for seven actionable steps you can take to improve your cold emailing strategy and start getting clients today.

1. Make Sure Your Offer Is Valuable

Every business believes the goods or services they offer are worth buying. However, your offer shouldn't just be valuable in theory—it should be exactly what your potential clients are looking for.

Before you go live with cold emails, do some research on your ideal clients. What are their pain points? What are their values and how do they approach serving their own customers?

If you find that your offer doesn't line up with what your ideal customer is looking for, refine it before you start emailing.

2. Personalize Your Content

If you want to get responses, every email you send should be personalized.

Find the name of the person you're reaching out to and address them directly. Reference what the company does well and how your offer can help them better serve their clients.

While it's easy to get carried away with personalization, make sure to keep things concise. Many readers will instantly disengage when faced with a large block of text online. Maybe it's because we read 25% slower on a screen, but no matter the reason, making your content scannable increases your chances of getting a reply.

3. Optimize Your Subject Lines and CTA

The body of your email is important, but it's only the line in the "hook, line, and sinker" equation. If you want people to open your emails, play around with interesting subject lines. Try adding in your contact's name and the company name, but make sure the email doesn't end up looking like spam.

Once they've opened the email, the content's job is to direct them to a CTA at the end. Whether that's to schedule a call, book a demo, or download a lead magnet, it should be both compelling and easy to find. Test a few different subject/CTA combinations to find out which ones resonate the most.

4. Send a Lot of Cold Emails

No matter how well-optimized your message is, cold emailing will always be a bit of a numbers game. You have no way of accurately predicting which contacts check their email regularly, which have filters set up to ignore non-office messages, and which might read what you have to say.

To compensate, remember that quantity is almost as important as quality when it comes to how to send cold emails. For best results, send at least a few dozen per week—more if you can. Keep a running list of potential leads and whether they've been contacted to make this process easier.

5. Track Your Numbers

When you're sending off dozens or hundreds of cold emails every week, it can feel like you're shouting into the void. The best way to tell if your message is making an impact is to track specific metrics for every email you send.

Some of the most important numbers to track include:

• Open rates
• Click-through rates
• Replies
• Conversions
• Return on investment

Once you've gathered these numbers for your first batch of emails, analyze them to find areas you can improve. Comparing metrics to each other—like how many people clicked through of the ones who opened your email—gives you more valuable insight than the numbers by themselves. Use the data you gather to run A/B tests and improve your results.

6. Use a Framework, Not a Template

If you're sending out the numbers of cold emails we recommend, you won't have time to write them all from scratch. It's tempting to save time by using a template and only changing a few keywords for each lead.

Don't give in to that temptation.

The businesses you're reaching out to are savvy. They'll be able to smell a template from a mile away and might even delete it before they've finished reading. Plus, sending out large batches of template emails increases the chances of accidentally leaving keywords that apply to the last business you emailed.

Instead, make a general framework your emails can follow.

Decide on a format and a few key points you want to include every time. These could include a greeting, the pain point you're addressing, and a specific CTA. Fill in the rest with content that's specific to each lead.

7. Don't Give Up

The biggest trap you can fall into while cold emailing is giving up too soon.

Cold emailing is a trial and error process. There are plenty of strategies that will increase your chances of success from the get-go, but even the most prepared entrepreneurs are going to fail—and fail a lot.

If you've just started your cold emailing journey and the numbers aren't looking promising, don't throw in the towel. Take the time to evaluate where you might have gone wrong.

Did you get a few nasty replies? Don't take them personally—instead, use them to identify areas for growth. Re-evaluate the tone of your emails to make sure you aren't coming off as rude, untrustworthy, or aggressively "salesy".

Are your open and reply rates close to zero? Look closely at your subject lines to see if you can make them more enticing. It's also a good idea to ensure you're reaching out to the right people—if you're pitching services businesses don't need or can't afford, you won't find much success.

Every failure is a chance to learn and improve, so don't let it get you down. Dust yourself off and keep editing your approach until you find the clients you're looking for.

Use These Tips to Get Replies to Emails That Turn Into Clients

Cold emailing is a daunting process, but it's one of the best ways to build connections in the B2B marketing world. If getting replies to emails is something your sales team struggles with, give these tips a try.

Do you need a bit of support to get your sales off the ground? ProSales Connection can help. We specialize in sales development, outbound calls, and multiple types of marketing—all the things you need to start seeing your numbers climb.

If you're ready to start generating more hot leads, getting sales appointments, and closing customers, schedule a 15-minute call with us today.