Cold email subject lines that get opened

What are the steps

1. Name a triggerAn award, a funding round, a new job or a post they wrote.
2. Connect two namesOld company to new company, or their company to yours.
3. Keep it to a few wordsShort lines read like internal mail.
4. Match the bodyThe first line must deliver what the subject promised.
5. Never fake itNo Re on a first email and no voicemail unless you called.

How do the options compare

Which real examples show it

Ideal Candidate

1. Use a public award as the trigger

The subject line is about the reader, so it gets opened. The trigger gives a believable reason for the email right now. Josh Braun notes it still lacked a follow up.

1. Watch for awards, funding or press about the prospect
2. Put the congratulations in the subject line
3. Connect the event to a likely need
4. Name customers like them
5. Follow up, which this sender did not

Full breakdown · Source

30 Minutes to President's Club

2. Write three lines for three jobs

It is short enough to read on a phone, starts from the reader's world, and the ask is easy to say yes to.

1. Write a problem line from what you know about them
2. Explain your fix in one or two lines
3. Ask an interest question, not for a meeting
4. Keep each block to three lines on mobile
5. Avoid commas and long words

Full breakdown · Source

30 Minutes to President's Club

3. Email past customers who changed jobs

Former customers already trust you. Pushing the meeting out shows you respect that they are new in the job.

1. Track champions who change jobs
2. Subject line: old company to new company
3. Congratulate first
4. Remind them why they bought before
5. Ask for time a few weeks out

Full breakdown · Source

30 Minutes to President's Club

4. End a sequence with a polite breakup

Tentative wording and an easy way to say no often draw the truth, and the PS asks for a referral.

1. Acknowledge you have not heard back
2. Restate the reason you reached out
3. Invite them to correct you
4. Say you will stop for now
5. Ask if someone else owns it

Full breakdown · Source

Josh Braun

5. Give a quiet prospect multiple choice answers

Replying takes one keystroke, and option C gives permission to say no, which makes any answer easier than silence.

1. Call first and leave a voicemail about the outcome
2. Use voicemail as the subject only if you left one
3. Restate the result they wanted
4. Offer lettered options including a clear no
5. Keep the tone light and human

Full breakdown · Source

Beyond the Chaos

6. Follow up once in the same thread

A short bump in the same thread keeps the context in view. Josh Braun's teardown also shows how much shorter the first email could have been.

1. Open with a sincere compliment
2. Name one benefit for them
3. Ask one clear question
4. Wait about a week
5. Bump in the same thread with the same ask in one line

Full breakdown · Source

What else do people ask

Related answers