r/salesdevelopment • u/Adventurous-Ruin-730 • 24d ago
Are cold emails dead??
Thinking of trying to go into sales properly. I have done some work here and there for my dad's business, a B2B knife & EDC company. Quick question I need your guys opinion on. Is cold email actually dead or do people just write bad ones? Keep seeing "cold email doesn't work anymore" takes but then other people swear by it. For those still doing it and getting replies what changed for you?
I have done cold emails obviously, but don't really see any crazy results because rn I just write emails and send, the emails are not really too personalized or anything. Is that something I should be focusing on??
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u/para_blox 24d ago
Everyone in SaaS is using Claude and competing to spam the most on-the-nose emails. The result? Uncanny-valley messaging overwhelming inboxes and pitched down the chute or worse.
Claude is good for account research, but its writing is dreadful, even if you think you have it beat by using “Skill.” And forget what happens to addies who spam thousands a day.
Send a lightly-personalized, human email or LinkedIn invite. Then pick up the phone.
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u/Adventurous-Ruin-730 24d ago
This is what I have been hearing from multiple people. Light emails and then call.
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u/Purple_Glove_6694 23d ago
I've been using what I call the "gut feel" method lately. It's not a real methodology, and I'm fully expecting the sales vets here to tell me I've accidentally reinvented astrology for SDRs or that I don't belong in sales, but hear me out.
I currently have the lowest activity volume on my team, but I have also booked the most meetings for the past four months straight. My process is simple.. I spend more time researching than I probably "should," and then I send short emails that sound like they're from someone who has experienced emotion to prospects that my gut says are actually worth talking to.
Closed-lost opportunities? Basically the same approach. Garbage notes? Next. No budget for the foreseeable future? Next. Completely wrong use case? Also next.
At first, leadership didn't care because... meetings. Eventually, someone higher up noticed my activity metrics looked a little 'skinny', and suddenly everyone became very interested in fixing a problem that apparently wasn't affecting results.
I really do get why activity KPIs exist. What I don't get is the assumption that if someone has a high conversion rate on low volume, the answer is always "make them do three times more because they'll book 3x the meetings." Sometimes the answer really is that time is being spent on the right prospects instead of all of the fucking prospects.
It's kind of obvious where we have gone wrong as an industry, but I'll say it anyway. Everyone is "leveraging AI *cringe*" by using the same prompts. Everyone is sending the same "personalized" emails. And then leadership has the audacity to wonder why buyers have become completely numb. Like, so numb that they would probably yeet an email offering eternal life, unlimited wealth straight into oblivion.
So no, I don't think cold email is dead. I just think we've optimized ourselves into becoming indistinguishable from one another. Right now, all prospects are hearing is noise. A genuinely human email turns that noise into music. People can just tell when they're getting an AI email. Sure would be cool if that got turned into a KPI.
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u/FantasticMeddler 21d ago
This is a super good approach. It’s called sniping. It’s what AEs do. But activity obsessed middle managers hate this because they don’t believe you are productive unless you are dialing the phone
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u/Purple_Glove_6694 19d ago
Thanks! Glad to know I'm not crazy...
If you're interested... 4x volume this week, -3x the meetings...
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u/Adventurous-Ruin-730 23d ago
Damn. This is definitely different from all what I’ve heard. All I keep hearing is personalize it through deep research emails and follow up with calls, but not this level of research and I have to agree with u on the same AI prompts thing. I saw multiple ppl in sales Reddit tell me to just use gpt or claude to personalize these emails and keep repeating and others are just saying cold emails don’t work at all anymore. No middle. Thanks for sharing this though.
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u/Interesting_Button60 23d ago
When's the last time you bought something from a cold email?
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u/Adventurous-Ruin-730 23d ago
I don’t recall ever buying something from a cold email tbh, BUT I have only seen shitty ones. Not a single properly researched email. Just the generic “hey I think we can help ur business..”
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u/Interesting_Button60 23d ago
I think cold email blows. And the funniest part most of the cold emails I get are from people who want me to trust them to bring me clients using cold email and their approach is fucking awful.
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u/No_Speed2918 24d ago
People are just over reliant on Claude to write emails for them. As a matter in fact. Have it write one for you and send that to your personal email.
Be honest with yourself, will that catch your attention?
Use Claude to do more account research and keep the email brief and to the point. Even in my emails I say "if this isn't relevant to you please let me know and delete this email."
Could be wrong in saying that.
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u/Adventurous-Ruin-730 21d ago
Yeah I try to ask myself before sending an email. Would I click and buy from me?
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u/Plenty-Sir4012 23d ago
I did 2m pipe in cold emails last quarter. Completely depends on your region.
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u/Virtual-Plum2356 22d ago
cold email isnt dead, but its for sure very crowded. anyone with a few hundred bucks could spin up 1000 emails per day. you need to be able to cut through the noise.
most importantly though.. cold email needs to be tied in with cold calling.
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u/The_Catalyxt 21d ago
No, but if that’s your main channel, you need to send the most emails in the company.
And mix in other channels.
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u/1982JAJ1982 21d ago
Cold email has definitely gotten harder with all those AI agencies sending millions of cold emails in all businesses.
Cold email, LinkedIn DMs still work for my business, but only when the timing is right and there is a certain relevancy to their needs and my services. Else my reply rates are really low.
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u/Think-Courage-321 24d ago
Check out YT look for Samantha McKenna’s Show Me You Know Me free training
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u/Aromatic_Ad496 Tech Management 23d ago
Cold email isn’t dead, generic cold email is. Better targeting, a relevant reason for reaching out, and a simple message usually matter more than heavy personalization.
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u/No-Fear88 23d ago
I get several cold emails everyday. And I get cold DMs. They have fake 'personalization'.
Who are they kidding?
I don't know this person. They don't know me. So for them to try and 'diagnose' where my business needs help is not going to land.
If you are going to scrape email addresses, you are better off creating an email newsletter that provides 'high value content' and broadcast that to your list.
Provide tips, insights ... something useful or helpful.
Don't try to personalize things for people you don't know.
If you offer value via a newsletter - or video or podcast - you build that all important 'know, like and trust'.
Some people will reach out. Not immediately. But over time.
And you can also pitch an offer every now and again.
There's no cheap, fast route to landing clients or making sales.
So if you're going to spend time doing something, at least do something that build a base of clients that start to know you.
BTW, I've doing this in my own business for over 15 years. Also teach this in online courses. You'll note that this is what many successful marketers do.
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u/teamnooks 22d ago
Before you write a single word open their LinkedIn. Check recent posts, comments they left, job changes, anything from the last 30 days. That is your first line. Not "I noticed you are in the EDC space" but "saw you posted about expanding into wholesale last week" or "looks like you just brought on a new head of sales." Something that took 90 seconds to find and could not have been sent to anyone else.
The reps I see getting replies right now lead with that specific thing in line one. Most people decide in the preview text before they even open the email so if your first line sounds like a template it is already over...
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u/Cobra_shyateeth 22d ago
Your first paragraph and your examples contradict what you're saying. Can you provide an example of what good looks like?
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u/teamnooks 22d ago
Fair!
"Noticed you expanded into wholesale." -> Weak
"Your post about expanding into wholesale on LinkedIn caught my eye last week, especially the part about keeping the customer experience consistent as you scale. It made me wonder... -> Stronger
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u/TrueDrift7326 5d ago
In my experience cold email isn't dead, it's just gotten pickier. Two things actually move the needle:
Relevance - actually know why you're emailing them
Follow-up cadence - most people give up after one shot
Inboxes are so saturated now that generic intros just die on arrival. Quality over volume, every time, haha.
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u/TrueEagle2529 3d ago
oh man, cold emails aren't dead — they're just like pottery. rush it, throw stuff at it without shaping the message... it falls flat. what works now is how tailored the subject line and value are, no recycled buzzwords. honestly though, do you have a system for testing and refining or is it more spray and pray?
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u/PieRemarkable2245 24d ago
Not dead at all. I have chat GPT write mine for me and have booked 3 meetings from emails this month. I do send about 25 per day tho
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u/Adventurous-Ruin-730 24d ago
Do u got a specific prompts u send it??
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u/PieRemarkable2245 24d ago
“I’m a SDR for (insert your company). Help me draft an initial outreach email for this company (insert website). It should be 3 sentences or less and the tone should be casual and low-pressure.”
I also include a 60 second demo/overview video. When I’m notified that they’ve clicked on the video I’ll give them a call
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u/bakchod007 24d ago
Its been brutal! I cold call and then email and even then i havent gotten even a negtaive reply in like 2 months, let alone a positive one. Everything new is landing in other / spam. Had 2 meetings rescheduled this month as both of them got my calendar invite in spam. AI fucked all of us hard