How to cold email cxos

Sam Laber of Datanyze and Mark Kosoglow of Outreach discuss how to contact the top people in organizations.

While many people go for the low-hanging fruit by sending out thousands of emails and not personalizing them, others obsess over crafting a single email for a single CXO. Unfortunately, neither of these approaches work. See below for the cold email methodology you'll need to follow. Also, be sure you know how to increase your cold email response rate.

1. Keep it Short. Establish your mutual connections immediately. Leading with this helps grab your prospect's attention.
2. Trace it Back. Open your email by inducing the concept of required response. Make it clear what you're emailing about.
3. Get the Most Out of Relationship Selling. This won't ever go anywhere. If you and the CXO have a mutual connection, mention it!
4. Connect With New Contacts Through LinkedIn. The more endorsements and connections you have, the more visibility you'll be able to take advantage of. What's more, knowing who a CXO's most influential connection is can help you create leverage when reaching out.
5. Ask for Feedback. Asking for feedback allows you to open up a two-way dialogue with contacts. Remember: The feedback isn't as important as the ability to forge a closer relationship with your prospect.
6. Point Prospects to Discussions That Interest Them. This brands you as a peer and makes a response more likely. While this takes some time and effort, you'll find that once you've found an article you like, you can re-use it with multiple people on the same level.
7. Use Browser Extensions like Datanyze. These tools allow you to uncover the technologies behind any website, helping you focus your efforts!
8. Use Flattery. Even better than pointing an influencer to an article of interest, find a piece the influencer has published and mention it in your outreach. While this seems like a simple approach, it's difficult to execute. Remember to always approach it in a way that is sincere and makes sense. Picture yourself reading over the influencer's shoulder while they read your email. If you feel comfortable with that image, you've done a good job.
9. Address Pain Points. Showing that you understand an influencer's pain points can be a massive boon for anyone hoping to get their email read and replied to. As always, be genuine and ensure your story checks out and is believable.
10. Pay Attention to Your Subject Line. Make sure it matches the body of the email and provides a solid value proposition.

Templatizing Personalized Email

Many people assume that it's impossible to templatize a custom email. Fortunately, this isn't true. An example includes using a standard opening line that says the following:

"Dear X ,

Because you are the [Job Title] at [Company Name], I thought you'd be interested in [Blank]."

This calls the contact out and shows that you're paying attention, but by templatizing this email structure, you save yourself time. Be aware that, while templatized email can help make your process more expedient, it can also help you develop a consistent voice in your email outreach.

Better Email Starts Here

Without the proper approach and preparation, cold, outbound emails can sink faster than a lead balloon. Fortunately, it's easy to take a proactive approach to your outbound emails to CXOs and ensure they're as good as they could be. This will allow you to enjoy higher open, click-through, and response rates and more reliable relationships.