Cold Email Skill
Cold email works when it's short, clearly about them, and asks for one small thing. Most cold email
fails because it's a feature dump that's all about the sender. This skill writes a tight, personalised
email built on a real trigger or relevance hook, with a single low-friction ask — plus the follow-ups
that actually drive most replies. (For job-search / networking outreach, use outreach-message; this is B2B sales prospecting.)
Required Inputs
Ask for these only if they aren't already provided:
- Who you're emailing — role, company, and the segment/ICP.
- The relevance hook — a real reason to contact them now (a trigger event, a specific pain in their role/industry, a mutual connection).
- What you offer — the outcome you drive for people like them (not your feature list).
- Proof — a comparable customer, a result, a number.
- The ask — ideally low-friction (a 15-min call, a relevant resource, an "open to it?" reply).
Output Format
Cold Email: [offer] → [persona]
Subject lines — 3 options, short (≤6 words), specific, no clickbait or "Quick question."
The email (≤120 words):
- Opener — the relevance hook: something true about them (trigger, pain, connection). Not "I hope this finds you well."
- Value — the outcome you drive for people in their seat, with one proof point. One or two sentences.
- Ask — one clear, low-friction request, phrased to make "yes" or even "not now" easy.
- Signature — minimal.
Follow-ups — 2 short ones (send ~3–4 days apart): a value-add nudge (a resource/insight, not "just bumping this") and a graceful breakup email ("I'll close the loop — want me to circle back next quarter?"). Most replies come from these.
Note — what to personalise per prospect (the one line that proves it isn't a blast), and the one metric to watch (reply rate, not open rate).
Deeper Materials
references/reply-rate-calibration.md — line-by-line calibration of what actually moves reply rates, with honest expectations
Quality Checks
Anti-Patterns
Based On
B2B cold-email practice — relevance/trigger-led openers, one-outcome value, single low-friction ask, value-adding follow-up cadence.
1---2name: cold-email3description: Write a cold sales/B2B outreach email that earns a reply. Use when asked to write a cold email, a sales outreach email, a prospecting email, or a cold email sequence to a business prospect. Produces a short, personalised email — subject, a relevant opener, one clear value-led ask, and a low-friction CTA — plus 2 follow-ups, written to be replied to, not deleted.4---5
6# Cold Email Skill
7
8Cold email works when it's short, clearly about *them*, and asks for one small thing. Most cold email
9fails because it's a feature dump that's all about the sender. This skill writes a tight, personalised
10email built on a real trigger or relevance hook, with a single low-friction ask — plus the follow-ups
11that actually drive most replies. (For job-search / networking outreach, use [`outreach-message`](../outreach-message/SKILL.md); this is B2B sales prospecting.)
12
13## Required Inputs
14
15Ask for these only if they aren't already provided:
16
17- **Who you're emailing** — role, company, and the segment/ICP.
18- **The relevance hook** — a real reason to contact *them now* (a trigger event, a specific pain in their role/industry, a mutual connection).
19- **What you offer** — the outcome you drive for people like them (not your feature list).
20- **Proof** — a comparable customer, a result, a number.
21- **The ask** — ideally low-friction (a 15-min call, a relevant resource, an "open to it?" reply).
22
23## Output Format
24
25### Cold Email: [offer] → [persona]
26
27**Subject lines** — 3 options, short (≤6 words), specific, no clickbait or "Quick question."
28
29**The email** (≤120 words):
30- **Opener** — the relevance hook: something true about *them* (trigger, pain, connection). Not "I hope this finds you well."
31- **Value** — the outcome you drive for people in their seat, with one proof point. One or two sentences.
32- **Ask** — one clear, low-friction request, phrased to make "yes" or even "not now" easy.
33- **Signature** — minimal.
34
35**Follow-ups** — 2 short ones (send ~3–4 days apart): a value-add nudge (a resource/insight, not "just bumping this") and a graceful breakup email ("I'll close the loop — want me to circle back next quarter?"). Most replies come from these.
36
37**Note** — what to personalise per prospect (the one line that proves it isn't a blast), and the one metric to watch (reply rate, not open rate).
38
39## Deeper Materials
40
41- [`references/reply-rate-calibration.md`](references/reply-rate-calibration.md) — line-by-line calibration of what actually moves reply rates, with honest expectations
42
43## Quality Checks
44
45- [ ] Under ~120 words and skimmable on a phone
46- [ ] Opens with a real, specific relevance hook about the recipient
47- [ ] Frames value as the prospect's outcome, with one proof point
48- [ ] Exactly one low-friction ask
49- [ ] Includes 2 follow-ups (value-add + graceful breakup)
50- [ ] Subject is specific and honest (no bait)
51
52## Anti-Patterns
53
54- [ ] Do not open about yourself ("We're a leading platform…") — lead with them
55- [ ] Do not feature-dump — one outcome + one proof beats a capability list
56- [ ] Do not stack asks or ask for too much ("30-min demo" cold) — make the first yes tiny
57- [ ] Do not use fake personalisation ("loved your post!") — be specifically, verifiably relevant or don't claim it
58- [ ] Do not skip follow-ups or make them "just checking in" — each must add a reason to reply
59
60## Based On
61
62B2B cold-email practice — relevance/trigger-led openers, one-outcome value, single low-friction ask, value-adding follow-up cadence.
gabrielmoreira