Cold Outreach Personalizer

Generate highly personalized cold outreach messages that actually get replies. Research prospects deeply and craft custom messages—no generic templates, just genuine relevance.

What This Skill Does

This skill researches and creates:

• Deep prospect research (company + individual)
• 3 personalized message variations (A/B/C test)
• Attention-grabbing subject lines
• Specific, relevant opening lines
• Clear value proposition
• Low-friction CTA
• Personality-driven P.S.
• No generic templates or spam phrases

Target Reply Rate: 10-30% (vs. 1-3% for generic cold emails)

How to Use

1. Provide Prospect Information

• Name and company
• LinkedIn profile URL (if available)
• Role/title
• Any context you already have

1. What You're Offering

• Product or service
• Unique value proposition
• Who you typically help
• Results you drive

1. Your Angle

• Why are you reaching out?
• What trigger or relevance?
• Mutual connections?
• Recent company news?

1. Get 3 Variations

• Test different approaches
• See which resonates best
• Iterate based on results

The Anti-Spam Framework

❌ DON'T (Spam Red Flags)

• "I hope this email finds you well"
• "I wanted to reach out..."
• "As a leader in..."
• "We're the best/leading/top..."
• Generic compliments
• All caps or excessive punctuation!!!
• Walls of text
• Talking only about yourself

✅ DO (High Reply Tactics)

• Specific reference to their work
• Relevant insight or observation
• Brief and scannable
• One clear ask
• Value-first approach
• Natural, conversational tone
• Personality and humor
• Demonstrate actual research

Research Process

Company Research

• Recent News: Funding, launches, expansions, awards
• Pain Points: Industry challenges they face
• Tech Stack: Tools they use (from job posts, LinkedIn)
• Growth Signals: Hiring, new offices, momentum
• Competitive Position: How they compare in market

Individual Research

• Role & Responsibilities: What they own
• Recent Activity: LinkedIn posts, articles, tweets
• Interests: What they care about beyond work
• Career Path: Background and trajectory
• Shared Connections: Mutual contacts for warm intro

Trigger Events

Perfect timing for outreach:

• Just got promoted
• Company raised funding
• Launched new product
• Mentioned pain point publicly
• Hiring for relevant role
• Industry conference attendance

Message Variations

Variation A: Problem-Aware

Lead with their pain point

Subject: Quick question about [specific problem]

Hey [Name],

Saw you're hiring 3 SDRs—congrats on the growth!

Quick question: How are you currently onboarding them on your ICP and messaging? Most VP Sales we work with say this is their biggest bottleneck to ramp time.

We help B2B sales teams cut onboarding from 90 days to 30 days. [Customer Name] just hit quota 60 days earlier using our playbook system.

Worth a 15-minute conversation?

[Your Name]

P.S. Loved your post on SDR metrics—the "activity theater" line made me laugh.

Variation B: Solution-Aware

Lead with specific solution

Subject: Cutting SDR ramp time at [Their Company]

Hey [Name],

[Mutual Connection] mentioned you're scaling the SDR team fast right now.

I built something that might help: A playbook system that cuts SDR ramp time by 60%. Instead of 90 days of shadowing, new reps are productive in 30 days.

[Similar Company] used it to grow from 5 to 25 SDRs without hiring more managers.

5-minute demo this week?

[Your Name]

P.S. If this isn't a priority right now, no worries—happy to share the framework for free.

Variation C: Insight-Led

Lead with valuable insight

Subject: This data on SDR onboarding surprised me

Hey [Name],

We analyzed 200 B2B sales teams and found something surprising:

Companies with documented playbooks ramp SDRs 2.3x faster—but only 8% actually have them.

Given you're growing the team (saw the 3 SDR posts), thought you'd find this interesting.

Want the full report? I can also show you what the top 8% are doing differently.

10 minutes this week work?

[Your Name]

Example Outreach

Prospect: Sarah Johnson, VP Marketing at TechCorp Trigger: They just raised Series B funding Offering: Marketing analytics software

---

Version 1: News Hook

Subject: Congrats on the Series B! 🎉

Hey Sarah,

Congrats on the $20M Series B—just saw the announcement on TechCrunch!

Quick question as you scale: How are you currently proving marketing ROI to your new board members?

We help B2B marketers show exact revenue attribution. [Customer] used our dashboard in their first board meeting post-Series B and got their Q4 budget doubled.

Worth a 15-minute look?

Best, Mike

P.S. Your post about "vanity metrics" last month was spot-on. The "likes aren't leads" line is going in my next presentation.

---

Version 2: Problem-First

Subject: Re: Attribution headaches

Hi Sarah,

Raising money is exciting—then the board wants to see ROI on every dollar spent. (You just raised $20M, so I imagine this is top of mind.)

Most VPs of Marketing we talk to say attribution is their biggest board meeting stress.

We built a dashboard that shows which campaigns drive actual revenue, not just MQLs. [Customer] proved $2M in marketing-sourced revenue their first quarter using it.

15 minutes to see if it's relevant?

Mike

---

Version 3: Data Insight

Subject: 73% of Series B companies make this mistake

Sarah,

Quick stat: 73% of companies that raise Series B don't change their marketing measurement.

Then 6 months later, they're arguing with their board about budget because they can't prove ROI beyond "lead volume."

Given your recent Series B (congrats!), wanted to share what the other 27% do differently.

10-minute call to walk through it?

Mike

P.S. If you're already nailing attribution, ignore this—but happy to share the benchmark data either way.

---

The Perfect Cold Email Formula

Subject Line (35-50 characters)

• Use their company name or specific reference
• Create curiosity or urgency
• Avoid "Re:" (feels manipulative)
• Test with/without emoji

Opening (1 sentence)

• Specific, relevant observation
• Recent trigger event
• Mutual connection mention
• Never: "I hope this finds you well"

Value Prop (2-3 sentences)

• What you do
• Who you help
• One specific result

Social Proof (1 sentence)

• Similar company or person
• Specific metric
• Credibility builder

CTA (1 sentence)

• Low friction
• Specific ask
• Time-bound

P.S.

• Show you did research
• Reference their content
• Add personality

Email Length Guidelines

Optimal: 50-120 words

• Short enough to read in 30 seconds
• Long enough to provide value
• Scannable on mobile

Structure:

• 1 sentence paragraph (opening)
• 2-3 sentence paragraph (value)
• 1 sentence paragraph (CTA)
• 1 sentence P.S.

Subject Line Formulas

1. Question: "Quick question about [specific thing]"
2. News Hook: "Congrats on [recent achievement]"
3. Mutual Connection: "[Name] suggested I reach out"
4. Data/Insight: "[Number]% of [audience] struggle with [problem]"
5. Casual: "This might be relevant..."
6. Direct: "Cutting [problem] at [their company]"

Tips for High Reply Rates

Research Depth:

• Spend 5-10 minutes per prospect
• Find 2-3 specific details
• Look beyond their profile
• Check recent posts/articles

Personalization Signals:

• Use their name (obviously)
• Reference specific content
• Mention recent company news
• Show industry knowledge
• Note shared experiences

Value-First:

• Offer something useful upfront
• Share relevant insight
• Provide data or framework
• No "give me 15 minutes" without value exchange

Keep It Casual:

• Write like you're DMing a friend
• Use contractions
• Short sentences
• Personality and humor
• No corporate speak

Make It Easy:

• One clear ask
• Link to calendar
• Suggest specific times
• Offer alternative (send resource instead)

What You'll Get

For each prospect:

• Deep research summary
• Trigger events identified
• 3 message variations with different angles
• Subject line options for each
• Personalized opening lines
• Value proposition tailored to them
• Low-friction CTAs
• P.S. with specific reference
• Send time recommendations
• Follow-up sequence suggestions

Follow-Up Strategy

Most replies come from follow-ups:

Day 3: Bump with additional value "Hey [Name], following up on my email about [topic]. Just saw [recent news]—makes this even more relevant. Still worth a quick call?"

Day 7: Different angle "[Name], trying one more time! Different question: If you're not interested, who on your team owns [problem area]?"

Day 14: Break-up email "[Name], this is my last email! Clearly not the right time. Mind if I check back in Q2? Or should I close your file?"

Channels Beyond Email

This same research and personalization works for:

• LinkedIn InMail
• Twitter DMs
• Cold calls (with script)
• Text messages (for warmer leads)
• Handwritten notes (high-value prospects)

What This Is Not

• ❌ Mass email templates
• ❌ Spray and pray tactics
• ❌ Spam or manipulation
• ❌ Shortcut to avoid real work

What This Is

• ✅ Genuine, relevant outreach
• ✅ Research-backed personalization
• ✅ Multiple approaches to test
• ✅ Respectful of their time
• ✅ Value-first communication

Legal & Ethical Notes

• CAN-SPAM Compliance: Include unsubscribe option for email
• GDPR: Legitimate interest for B2B in EU
• Respect Do Not Contact: Honor unsubscribe requests immediately
• No Deception: Be honest about who you are and what you want
• Quality > Quantity: 10 great emails beat 100 generic ones