Cold email dos & don'ts: Selling software with outreach [Cold Email Teardown]

What is the best way to go when it comes to selling software?

There are plenty of strategies that you can try, but there is one efficient method that you shouldn’t overlook: cold outreach. However, there's a twist. You can’t just send out generic emails and hope for the best.

So how can you make your emails stand out in your prospect’s inbox and increase your revenue?

Let's see how Matas Povilauskas, the CEO of SALT Sales Agency, would rewrite a bad cold email example.

Cold email mistakes to avoid if you want to book more meetings

Here's a cold email that promotes an event management platform to event managers at start-ups👇

‍Now, based on Matas expertise, we put together a list of dos and don’ts that you can try on your next cold outreach email and boost your response rates.

Mistake #1: No questions were made

No question mark → No call to action → No replies.

Without asking your prospects any questions, you don’t give them the opportunity to engage with your email. Instead, they will passively read your email, leaving you to wonder why your reply rates are going down.

Moreover, by asking a relevant question, you show your prospect that you understand their pain points and goals. And that you can offer them valuable information or solutions.

Mistake #2: Looks like a mass email

Without adding custom variables and personalizing your cold emails, they will look like they were sent in bulk. This shows to your prospects that you didn’t do proper research about them. Without any personal or company name, they might wonder if they were supposed to receive this email or if it was a mistake.

Not only will this make them skip reading your emails, but they might unsubscribe or report the email as spam.

Mistake #3: It’s self-focused

“I admit”, “I hope”, and “We are” are patterns of self-centered emails that won’t push your prospects to reply as there’s nothing in it about and for them.

This is definitely a cold email mistake that you should avoid if you want to get more replies.

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How to write a cold email for a high conversion rate

Here’s how Matas would rewrite this cold email for higher reply chances:

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What tips can you replicate from this email for more replies?

Tip #1: Interrupt the pattern

Matas advises that you should replace the usual greeting forms with an immediate introduction. This way, you can catch your prospects’ attention straight from the inbox and differentiate yourself from the countless messages. By breaking the monotony of their inbox, you create an opportunity for your email to pique their curiosity.

By doing so, you increase the likelihood of engagement and response.

Tip #2: Use personalization & segmentation

Use as many custom variables as it makes sense to show that your email was specially crafted for a specific lead.

You can address your prospect by name, reference a previous interaction, or acknowledge a specific detail about their business or industry.

Personalization adds to your cold email outreach a human touch which helps you to create a relationship with your prospect.

Segmentation, such as mentioning the technology they use, will prove you know your prospects and make your offer more relevant.

The truth is you should include both personalization and segmentation in your cold email outreach for selling software.

Tip #3: Use “light” call to action

Without asking prospects to book a meeting and sending them a calendar, you can focus on confirming their interest first. This will help you form a more genuine connection and hop on the selling software part more easily later.

Tip #4: Make it short enough to fit a mobile screen

Short emails like this one take less than 15 seconds and make it easily readable on the go. Short (but valuable) emails minimize the effort needed from prospects and increase your chances of getting a reply.

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Cold email template to replicate for more replies

Just reviewed {{Company.Name}}’s “{{Event.Name}}” recording. Hands down top-notch content you have cooking over there, {{First.Name}}.

Looks like you chose {{Technology}} to host the event. Word’s on the market that their ROI calculation side could use a boost.
Would you agree?

Cheers,

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The key takeaways

Follow these Matas' key tips if you want to get more replies to your cold emails & sell your software:

-> Break the pattern to stand out from the crowd

-> Use researched personalization to grab prospects' attention
-> Confirm the interest before pushing a sale
-> Craft concise mobile-friendly emails

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You can watch Matas's full cold email teardown here!

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PS: Want more tips? Request outbound experts to review your cold emails here.