4 dms that got ignored by someone who got hundreds of them:
1. "would you be open to increasing your sales?"
2. an ai template with nothing about him in it. it made the whole company look like a joke
3. pitching him the thing his own company sells
4. a pitch for a job he doesnt do. hes in customer success, its on his profile
he answered 1 dm in months. it was a funny meme
the bar is so low that just reading their profile puts you ahead
4 things to fix on your linkedin profile before you dm anyone:
1. headline. who you help and with what. "i help dentists fill empty slots", not "founder | builder | dreamer"
2. photo. your face, clear, looking at the camera. not a logo
3. banner. one line on the problem you fix
4. first 3 lines of your about section. the problem, who has it, how to reach you
they check your profile before they reply. make sure it answers "why is this person messaging me?"
how to answer the 6 replies you get to cold messages:
1. "not interested"
→ "no worries. mind if i ask what you use for it now?" one question, then let it go
2. "send me more info"
→ dont send a pdf. "sure. whats the one thing youd want to know?"
3. "how much is it?"
→ give a range, then ask "what does it cost you to deal with it today?"
4. "not right now"
→ "makes sense. when should i check back?" put the date in your calendar
5. "whos this?"
→ one line on who you are, one line on why them. no pitch
6. "yes, tell me more"
→ dont write an essay. "easier to show you. free for 15 min thursday or friday?"
every reply is a door. most founders answer it with a brochure
jeremy chatelaines best cold email campaign got 69.5% positive replies
it didnt pitch anything. it asked founders if he could mention their company on his podcast
how to write a first message people want to say yes to:
1. list what your buyers would want even if they never pay you. a shout out, a free check, a short report, an intro
2. pick one you can give in under 30 minutes
3. make the yes one word
"can i mention you in my post about clinics fixing no-shows?"
4. or ask for something tiny, then give back more
"reply with 3 of your competitors and ill send you a short report on them"
5. deliver it the same day
6. then ask about the problem
"while i was looking, saw 2 of them just hired sales reps. are you growing the team too?"
7. no pitch until they answer that
8. send 10 like this before you judge it
(jeremy founded quickmail. the competitor line is the best ask hes ever seen in a cold email)
most cold emails ask for 30 minutes. the ones that get a yes give something first
4 lines for your first cold call that dont sound like a pitch:
1. ask for a minute
"i know im catching you in the middle of something. got a minute so i can tell you why im calling?"
2. name 2 problems people like them usually have
"most clinic owners i talk to are fighting no-shows or chasing reviews"
3. let them pick
"does either of those sound like you, or am i way off?"
4. ask about the one they pick. say what you do only after that
dont open with your product. open with their week
4 cold email numbers that tell you if youre failing or just early:
1. under 1 reply per 100 emails → youre probably landing in spam. fix that before you touch the words
2. 2 to 4 replies per 100 → normal. keep going
3. 20 to 40% of replies interested → fine. less → fix who you message or what you offer
4. about 1 real lead per 350 to 500 people emailed
(numbers from an agency sending 1.5m cold emails a month)
100 emails and no customer isnt failing. its not even halfway to your first lead
4 things to do when a sales call ends in no:
1. thank them in one line. no pushing back, no "just one more thing"
2. ask "whats the main reason?" and write down their exact words
3. ask "who do you know who has this problem worse than you?"
4. ask "mind if i check back in 3 months?" then put it in your calendar
every no tells you what to fix. but only if you ask why
4 signs a sales task is ready to hand to an ai agent:
1. you do it the same way every time
2. you could explain it to a new hire in 5 lines
3. a bad draft is easy to spot before it goes out
4. you already know what good looks like
needs your judgment on a real person who might buy? → keep it
hand off the repeat work. keep the relationships
how to hand your daily sales busywork to an ai agent (and just approve it):
1. write down every sales task you did this week. replies, follow ups, posts, research
2. circle the ones you do the same way every time
3. pick one. not five. follow ups or post drafts are easy first picks
4. write the rules like youd brief a new hire. "reply within a day. 3 lines max. never promise a price"
5. let the agent draft. i use grokbot for my x. nothing goes out without your yes
6. every time you edit a draft, add that fix to the rules
7. when you stop editing for a week, move to the next task
8. keep first calls and real conversations for yourself
your job goes from doing the work to saying yes or no to it
4 things to do when a lead goes quiet after a good call:
1. send a 3 line recap the same day. their problem, what you agreed, next step
2. give them one small thing to say yes to. "want me to set it up for you on monday?"
3. ask who else has to say yes. "anyone else who should see this before you decide?"
4. after a week, ask straight: "is this still a priority, or should i close it on my side?"
a good call isnt a yes. a next step with a date is
stuck writing your cold message?
close the laptop and sing something. badly, in the car, in the shower, doesnt matter
your brain stops trying to sound smart. thats usually when the plain, human first line shows up
gmails ai inbox reaches paid us workspace accounts from 26 oct. it turns emails into short summaries and to-dos before anyone reads them
if your cold email hides the ask in paragraph 3, theres nothing for it to pick up
put the one ask in line 1
listkit sold lead lists before it had any software
people built every list by hand. a couple hundred customers paid for it, and that cash funded over $200,000 of building
how to sell your product before its built:
1. write down the one result people want. not the features
2. find 20 people who have that problem and message them
3. offer to do it for them by hand. you, a spreadsheet, a deadline
"ill send you 50 checked contacts in 24 hours"
4. charge for it. small is fine. free tells you nothing
5. deliver fast. listkit promised 24 hours
6. write down every step you repeat for each order
7. ask every buyer "what would make you order again?"
8. build software only for the steps you keep repeating
(andre haykal jr, listkit founder. he says the software hit $1m a year in its first 90 days)
the software should copy what people already paid you to do by hand
10 accounts worth following if you run cold email
@NickAbraham12
@RCIllingworth
@AaronxShepherd
@coldemailchris
@MitchellKeller_
@itsalexvacca
@fivosaresti
@timscheuer
@janisoutbound
@jn_jackk
who am i missing
brad the ai sdr sent 4,000 "saw youre hiring" emails today
the job posts were from march
one went to the guy who got the job
if you run cold email for clients and youre the one who gets the 7am "why are we in spam" message, i want to know you
drop your stack below