Email Outreach Techniques

Don’t overthink conversion. Qualified prospects only ever drop out for 3 reasons: 1. Comprehension: They don’t understand what you do 2. Urgency: They understand but don’t care 3. Trust: They get it, they care, but they don’t believe you. (And it’s always in that order.) Here’s how to diagnose and fix each of those 3 gaps: 𝗚𝗮𝗽 𝟭: 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗵𝗲𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗗𝗶𝗮𝗴𝗻𝗼𝘀𝗲: Show your headline to a prospect for 5 seconds. Ask them “What does that mean?” If they can’t explain it back clearly, you’ve found your problem. 𝗙𝗶𝘅: You’ve got 5 words + one image to show you understand their desired outcome. If your headline talks about your product, you’re asking them to guess. If your headline talks about their goal, you’re on the right track. 𝗚𝗮𝗽 𝟮: Urgency 𝗗𝗶𝗮𝗴𝗻𝗼𝘀𝗲: If prospects say “I’m too busy,” that means you’re not a top-3 priority. That’s an urgency problem. 𝗙𝗶𝘅: You can try simple tactics like time-limited discounts, and “problem agitation” copy that pokes at their pain. But here’s the real opportunity: Ask prospects what is on their top-3 list, and reposition or pivot to address a top 3 priority. 𝗚𝗮𝗽 𝟯: Trust 𝗗𝗶𝗮𝗴𝗻𝗼𝘀𝗲: Ask recent signups “what almost stopped you from signing up?” Their answers will reveal your trust gaps. 𝗙𝗶𝘅: It’s a mistake to view trust as an amorphous concept like “brand.” Trust is rooted in specific concerns like “What will my team think?” “Will I actually use it?” or “Are your providers vetted?” Your action plan: 1. Run the 5-second test on your headline 2. Interview prospects to discover their top 3 priorities 3. Address specific trust issues (not general “brand building”) 💡 Want the whole playbook? We’ve recorded “The 15 Minute Landing Page” workshop - I’ll drop a link to the replay in the comments. Know somebody who’s struggling with conversion? Tag ‘em 👇

Want to pitch someone on LinkedIn? Read this before you hit “send.” Every week, I get messages that go something like this: “Hi, I’m [Name]. I’ve built this incredible thing. It’s doing amazing work. Here’s why it matters. Can you help me/share it/connect me?” It’s not that I don’t care. I do. But these messages usually miss the mark and here’s why: They center the sender. Not the receiver. Here’s the truth: When you approach someone for the first time, you (and your project, product, or platform) are not the hero of the story. THEY are. If you want someone to care, start by showing that you care about what they do, what they stand for, what they’re building. Read their posts. Watch their interviews. Figure out what they’re trying to solve. Then ask yourself: how does what I’m doing help them win? Make your message less “I need,” and more “Here’s what I see in your work and how I can add value.” Additional tips: 💬 Keep it short. Long-winded intros are overwhelming. You’re not writing your bio, you’re opening a door! Three concise paragraphs is plenty (even less if you can). 🎯 Be specific. Instead of saying, “Let’s collaborate,” say: “I’d love to explore how we could align my youth platform with your mission to build stronger leadership pipelines.” People respond better when they know exactly what you’re asking. What’s your call to action? 🧠 Show you’ve done your homework. A thoughtful compliment goes a long way. “Your post on LinkedIn really made me think.” “I noticed you’ve been working on Y and I’m building something that could support that.” It shows you care enough to listen first. 🤝 Give before you ask. Share a helpful resource. Offer a useful intro. Tell them about an opportunity they might benefit from. Relationships are built on generosity. 📆 Respect their time. Instead of jumping into a call request, consider asking: “Would it be okay if I shared a 1-pager for you to skim in your own time?” People are more open when they don’t feel pressured. Please don’t immediately ask for a call. 💡 Think of it as planting, not picking. Your goal isn’t to “get” something, it’s to begin something. Not all outreach will lead to a project right away, but if done well, it can spark long-term relationships, ideas, and even unexpected opportunities. ✨ Bonus hack: I often ask my clients to count how many times they say “I” vs. “you” when they write to, present to or speak to their stakeholders. If the “I”s win, revise. It’s not listener-centric enough. Connection starts with empathy, not ego. Lead with curiosity. Offer service. That’s how collaborations are born. If these tips are helpful, check out Storytelling and Leadership for more. #Storytelling #AuthenticConnections #LinkedInTips #Leadership #PurposefulWork

I just deleted 147 cold emails without reading them. Here’s what they all got wrong: Every morning, my inbox looks the same. A flood of pitches from people trying to sell me something. Most days, I just mass delete them. But this morning, I decided to actually read through them first. Within 5 minutes, I spotted a pattern. Everyone was making the exact same mistake. They were all trying to close the deal. ALL IN THE FIRST MESSAGE 🥵 Let me show you what I mean (with two small examples): APPROACH A: "The Wall of Text" Send 100 cold emails with full pitch, calendar link, and case studies. • 3 people open • 0 responses • 0 intros This looks exactly like the 147 emails I just deleted "Hi [Name], I noticed your company is scaling fast! We help companies like yours optimize their marketing stack through our proprietary AI technology. Our clients see 300% ROI within 90 days. Here's my Calendly link to book a 15-min chat: [LINK]. Looking forward to connecting! Best, [Name]" BORING!!! APPROACH B: "Micro Conversations" Same 100 prospects, broken down into micro-convo's. Email 1: "Do you know [mutual connection]?" • Send 100 • ~40 open • ~20 respond Email 2: "They mentioned you're scaling your marketing team. I'd love to connect about [specific thing]." • Send to 20 who responded • ~15 continue engaging Email 3: "Would you mind if they made an intro?" • Ask 15 engaged prospects • ~10 intros Final score: • Approach A: No intros • Approach B: 10 intros How to Apply These Lessons (Tactical Summary): 1. Focus on Micro-Conversations: Break your cold outreach into smaller, manageable steps. Build rapport before making any asks. 2. Personalize Everything: Reference mutual connections, specific company milestones, or shared interests in every message. 3. Play the Long Game: Aim for replies in the first message.. not conversions. If you’ve been struggling with cold outreach, you might just need a new approach. Give this one a try and lmk how it goes.

Hiring managers remember the questions you ask. 8 questions that show you're serious about the role: ➤ "What would success look like in this role in the first 6 months?" - Shows you're focused on delivering value - Sets clear expectations from day one - Demonstrates immediate impact planning ➤ "Could you share more about the team's biggest challenge right now, and how this role would help address it?" - Demonstrates proactive problem-solving mindset - Shows your interest in making an impact - Reveals your solution-oriented approach to problems ➤ "How does this team's work align with the company's 5-year vision?" - Shows strategic thinking - Signals long-term commitment - Demonstrates big-picture understanding ➤ "Can you tell me more about the team's decision-making process for major projects?" - Reveals interest in team dynamics - Shows you're thinking about collaboration - Helps you understand team structure ➤ "What professional development opportunities are available for someone in this role?" - Demonstrates ambition - Shows commitment to growing within the company - Reveals your dedication to continuous learning ➤ "Could you share an example of how constructive feedback is typically delivered within the team?" - Shows emotional intelligence - Highlights interest in team communication - Demonstrates maturity in handling feedback ➤ "How might [recent company announcement/initiative] impact this team's priorities?" - Shows you've done your research - These questions are better than standard questions - Positions you as someone who thinks about business context (Example: "How might the recent expansion into the EMEA market affect this team's product roadmap?") ➤ "What are the next steps in the interview process and what timeline do you anticipate?" - Always ask if it’s not mentioned - Ensures clear follow-up expectations - Gives you an idea on when to send a follow-up email if you haven’t heard back The questions you ask can be just as impactful as the answers you give. Save this post for your next second interview! What questions would you add to this list?  Share below! 👇

This might be an unpopular opinion but too much information can kill your pitch. In this video, I share how to create presentations that cut through the noise with clarity and purpose. Often, we fall into the trap of endless details, but a powerful pitch is about getting straight to the heart of your message. You have just 60 seconds to deliver a story—a clear problem, a compelling solution, and why it matters. Make every second count. > Start with one key insight to set the tone. > Simplify the data—share only what’s essential. > Use powerful visuals to make ideas memorable. When you respect your audience’s time and prioritize meaning over volume, you inspire action that numbers alone can’t achieve. How do you make your presentations impactful without overloading your audience?

Your emails say more about you than you think. 👇 Here’s how to make every email polished and professional. Acknowledge Delays Gracefully ✘ "Sorry for the late response." ✔ "Thank you for your patience." Be Clear with Requests ✘ "Let me know what works for you." ✔ "Could you confirm if this works for you?" Own Your Mistakes ✘ "Sorry, I missed that." ✔ "Thanks for pointing that out—I’ll fix it right away." Close Emails Effectively ✘ "Let me know if you need anything." ✔ "Feel free to reach out if you have any questions." Make Follow-Ups Professional ✘ "Just following up on this." ✔ "When can I expect an update on this?" Show Respect for Their Time ✘ "Can we talk about this soon?" ✔ "Would you have 15 minutes this week to discuss this?" Be Confident, Not Tentative ✘ "I think we should consider…" ✔ "Here’s what I propose we do." Avoid Wordy Explanations ✘ "I spent a lot of time rewriting this to make it perfect." ✔ "This email outlines the key points—we can discuss more in person." Offer Solutions, Not Problems ✘ "I’m not sure what to do here." ✔ "Here’s what I suggest as the next step—what are your thoughts?" Set Clear Expectations ✘ "Does this make sense?" ✔ "Let me know if this aligns with your expectations." Be Polite When Asking for Help ✘ "I need this ASAP." ✔ "Would you be able to assist me with this by [specific deadline]?" Keep It Professional When Scheduling ✘ "What time works for you?" ✔ "Are you available at [specific time and date]? If not, let me know what works instead." Emails reflect your professionalism. Get them right, and you’ll always leave a great impression. ➞ Start today by refining your communication style. -- Think this could help someone? Share it to improve the way they communicate. ♻️

How it started: 4,000 cold emails sent. 1 lead generated. How it’s going: $4M+ ARR. Top 1% Agency Award. 30-person team. 6 lessons that turned my outreach campaigns from crickets to conversions: 1/ The list is the strategy Putting your message in front of the right person matters more than anything else. Many spend little time building their lead list, and a lot of time figuring out what to say. Do the opposite. Hint: You want to identify people/companies struggling with a problem you can solve. For example, we ran campaigns for an HR SaaS that helped with employee churn. We looked at Glassdoor reviews, and the average employee tenure. If employees stayed less than 18 months on average, + reviews were bad… we hypothesized the companies were a fit. 2/ Be as valuable as possible Most cold outreach try to get. “can I have 15 min of your time?” “can I pick your brain on… ?” But the best outreach gives. How to do that? Think about the first thing you would do for them if you signed them as clients. And do it already… for free. For example, I ran an outreach campaign targeting recruitment firms. I figured that the first thing I’d do for them, would be to build a list of Talent Acquisition Directors in companies hiring for 10+ roles. So I built the list. Sent it to them. Along with a tutorial of how I built it. It worked. 3/ Write for 1 person, then scale. Most try to build the biggest list possible and come up with a message that’ll appeal to everyone. But appealing to everyone = appealing to no one. When I start a new outreach campaign, I manually write 25 messages, 1 by 1, by looking at my prospect LinkedIn profiles. The beauty of doing it this way, is that you uncover patterns, that you can later on scale with the help of tech & AI. 4/ Fix your deliverability Good deliverability doesn’t guarantee you’ll succeed. But bad deliverability guarantees you’ll fail. Make sure to follow ‘best practices’ - < 50 emails per day per mailbox - SPF, DKIM, DMARC Setup - No open rate tracking - Secondary domains - Email warm-up … and send emails you’d want to receive. 5/ Pair cold email with other channels Cold email is a great channel to start with. It’s cheaper than paid ads, faster to get results than with content. But when you send cold emails, people check you out. Guess who’ll they trust more between your competitor who’s a ghost online vs. you who’s been posting valuable content on a consistent basis? 6/ Use the best Sales Software The outbound landscape keeps on changing. The best tools stay on top of the market, and ship new features constantly. In the cold email world, no one ships faster than Instantly.ai… (and I’m not saying that because they gave me this beautiful golden plaque, they’re simply the best) P.S: We wrote a 14-page guide that includes how our $4M ARR outbound agency books meetings using AI & Tech. Interested? Let me know below and I’ll make sure you get it :) P.S 2: Thanks Ada for the pic 📸

I attend 30+ data and AI conferences every year, and for the longest time, outreach was complete chaos. Spreadsheets everywhere, notes scattered across tools, follow-ups slipping through, and the worst part was sending generic emails that got ignored. It did not matter how many events I attended, the system just did not scale. So I rebuilt everything inside Airtable. I created a simple but structured system with conferences, sponsors, and contacts all connected in one place. Now I could actually see who I met, where, and what needed to happen next. That alone made things cleaner, but it still required a lot of manual work. The real shift happened when I connected it with Claude. Now I start my workflow in Claude. It pulls context directly from my Airtable base, understands the sponsors I am targeting, the events I am attending, and the history of interactions. Then it goes out, does research on each company, looks at what they have recently announced, and brings back insights that actually matter. From there, it writes everything back into Airtable. New sponsor ideas get added. Outreach emails are drafted with real context. Follow-ups are created automatically based on status. Everything stays structured, tracked, and easy to act on. The biggest change for me is I am no longer jumping between tools or starting from scratch every time. I think in Claude, execute in Airtable, and then go back to Claude to refine messaging or strategy. That back and forth is what makes this powerful. This is how I now manage conference partnerships at scale. Not by adding more tools, but by connecting the right ones in a way that actually works. Learn more about it here – https://lnkd.in/gFCDbR7T #airtablepartner #data #ai #claude #theravitshow

In 27 months, we grew Retention.com from $1M-$13M ARR with only 1 salesperson (me) doing 1,000's of sales calls. Here are my 10 biggest pieces of advice for any startup who wants to book and close more sales calls: 1. Ask for 15 mins, but book 30 When booking a meeting outbound, you have a better shot at getting a meeting by asking for 15 mins than 30. You may have piqued their interest but with a busy schedule, they are going to weigh learning about your business vs their time. Ask for 15 but send a meeting invite for 30.  If they can’t do the full 30, they will let you know, but from my experience, this rarely happens. 2. Tell your story People remember a story more than a product  Figure out your short story that you can tell prior to getting into the product pitch. How does your story connect to your business / product? 3. 5X5 Pitch Keep your product deck for your initial call to 5 slides / 5 minutes and make sure you answer any of the common questions you get from prospects. You can always book a follow up call to share more detail once you hook their interest. 4. Always Be Pitching Take control of the call and the sales cycle. You will only learn what does and doesn’t work by actually pitching.  5. Tell a customer story Again, people remember stories more than they do stats. Tell a story of a customer before implementing your product and the business outcome after implementing it. Don’t just talk numbers. Talk about how people felt, what they said, etc. 6. Create Urgency Attach an incentive if the deal is done by the end of the week or month.  (Example: 20% more credits or a 15% discount)  This also sets you up well for follow up as it now makes them feel like you are on their team to try and help them get the deal in for their benefit. 7. Land and expand We all want to close the big ACV deals, but the truth is most buyers don’t want to make a big commitment without seeing how your product works. Find a way to get them on for a small $ amount, with the plan to expand if the product meets their expectations. 8. Opt-Out Period Reduce buyer friction by offering a 90 day opt out period if you are trying to close 12 month agreements. It shows confidence that your product will drive the results you say it will. 9. Deck Recap Create a 1-2 pager highlighting the most important parts of your sales deck that you can send via email after every call (even if they don’t ask for it). The prospect won’t remember all details from the call, so this gives them something to look back on and will help sell internally if other stakeholders are involved. 10. Video for FAQs Create short form talking head video answering all FAQs. This will add value in your follow up, show you listened to the questions they had and that you care about making sure they understand the answers. It also helps internally as others will likely have the same questions as the person on the phone. Have questions about how to book/close more calls? AMA anything 👇