How to write cold emails that get 20%+ reply rates

If you want to get positive replies from your prospects and open new business opportunities, your email needs to stand out and provide value.

But how do you write cold emails that catch prospects’ attention and boost your reply rates?

The sequence sent by Pierre, Head of Growth @ Fiveoffices, got a 23%+ reply rate, with 15+ meetings booked, and a 70%+ conversion rate! 😱

Let’s see how he did it, so you can replicate the same for your business, and book more meetings.

Cold email structure that gets 23%+ reply rates

The email Pierre sent to his 246 prospects was the 3rd step of his 7-step email sequence.

Goal? Finding companies with unused office space that are willing to monetize it by sharing it with other companies.

Target? CEOs with offices in Paris and at least 2 employees.

So how did Pierre’s outreach get a high reply rate?

Let’s go through his cold email structure and copywriting together:

#1 The subject line highlights desired outcome, which motivates your prospects to open and read your email for solution.

#2 If you don’t want to be too formal or too casual with your greeting - "Hello" with prospect's name is always the safe option.

#3 Pierre catches the prospects’ attention right from the start by immediately showing what’s in it for them, without too much fluff.

#4 The intro line is hyper-personalized, pointing out the prospects’ pain points so they can relate from the start and seek the solution.

#5 The pain point is turned into a win, sharing the benefits and giving prospects a reason to reply.

#6 The next step is clear, ensuring prospects know how to get the value in the way that suits them the most.

#7 The sign-off is simple and neutral, ensuring the conversation ends in a positive tone and motivates the prospect to take action.
‍

The sequence outcome

Open rate: 66.67%+

⬇️

Reply rate: 23.58%+

⬇️

Meetings booked: 15+

⬇️

Conversion rate: 70%+

⬇️

Generated revenue

80k€+ in the pipeline

This exact email got them in-person meetings within 1 day with top-tier CEO and an endless stream of qualified sales opportunities!

Cold outreach brought us leads that other channels such as Ads, SEO, or WOM would have never attracted - Pierre Harington, Head of Growth @ Fiveoffices

Key takeaways

So, what to keep in mind if you want the same or even better results than Pierre?

• Take time to get to know your customer and their data - the more you know about your customer, the easier will be to personalize your outreach and interrupt the pattern.
• Use variables - this will help you personalize your cold outreach at scale, and show to your prospects that your emails were written especially for them, and not sent in bulk.
• Rely on behavioral psychology - the more you know how the human brain makes decisions, the more prospects’ behavior you can generate. Pierre highly recommends you read the book “Influence” by Robert Cialdini.

P.S. If you want to apply Pierre’s advice, you can do it in lemlist. In 2-weeks free trial, you can replicate all the advice by using customized elements that will make your outreach stand out and bring you 17-30% reply rates!