Cold Email Template
Pick the structure that fits why you are writing, type your prospect and your offer once, and the email, three subject lines and two follow-ups fill in as you type. A word count and a send checklist keep it short, personal and honest.
How to write a cold email that gets a reply
Every template on this page follows the same four moves. Keep each one to a sentence or two.
1. A first line about them
Open with something true about the prospect or their company: what changed, who referred you, where you saw them. If the first line could go to anyone, it reads like a mass email.
2. One problem, in their words
Name the one problem you solve that people in their role actually have. One, not three. Pick the pain you hear most often on calls, not the feature you like best.
3. Your offer and one proof point
Say plainly what you do, then one result a similar customer got. A specific number from a named kind of company beats a list of adjectives.
4. One easy ask
End with one question that is easy to say yes to: a short call on two named days, or a yes or no. Two asks in one email usually get neither.
The seven templates and when to use each
Choose by the reason you have to write. If you have a trigger or a referral, use it: it is the strongest first line you will get.
- Problem first
- You know the pain people in this role have, but you have no specific trigger.
- Trigger event
- Something just changed at the company: a new office, a hire, funding, a new product.
- Referral or mutual connection
- Someone the prospect knows suggested you get in touch. Ask them first.
- Short question
- You want the easiest possible reply: a yes or a no.
- Value first (a resource)
- You have something useful to give away: a checklist, a short guide, a benchmark.
- After an event or trade show
- You saw the company at a show, a conference or a local event.
- Re-engage an old lead
- You talked months ago and it went quiet. Something new gives you a reason to write.
Follow-ups
Each template comes with two follow-ups. The first goes on day 3 as a reply in the same thread, so the prospect sees your first email underneath, and adds one new thing: a proof point, the resource, or a shorter question. The second goes on day 7 with its own subject line and closes the loop politely, which often gets the reply the first two did not.
Change the days to suit your sales cycle. If someone replies "not now", stop the sequence and set a reminder for when they said.
CAN-SPAM basics for US commercial email
In the United States, the CAN-SPAM Act covers commercial email, and the FTC's compliance guide says "the law makes no exception for business-to-business email." The guide lists what each commercial email needs:
- Accurate header information: the From, To and Reply-To lines and the routing must identify who sent it.
- A subject line that is not deceptive and matches what the email is about.
- A clear and conspicuous disclosure that the message is an ad, where it is one. The FTC says the law gives a lot of leeway in how you do this.
- Your valid physical postal address: a street address, a registered post office box or a registered private mailbox.
- A clear way to opt out of future email, and every opt-out honoured within 10 business days.
This page is a template, not legal advice. Other countries have their own rules on commercial email, and some need the recipient's consent before the first message. Check the rules where you and your prospect are.
If they call back instead of replying, have your opener ready: cold call script.
After a call or meeting the email is no longer cold. Write it from the conversation with the follow-up email generator.
More on prospecting and follow-up: cold call script, follow-up email after no response, follow-up email after a sales call.
Sources
When they reply and take the call, the notes are handled.
A cold email only earns the conversation. When the prospect takes the call, record it with ParrotNotes: you get a summary and the action items, and a follow-up email drafted from what was actually said. Free for 100 minutes of recording a month.
Get ParrotNotes freeRelated tools
- AI Follow-Up Email GeneratorPaste your notes from a sales call or meeting and get a follow-up email with a recap, next steps and a clear ask. Free with a ParrotNotes account.Open the tool
- Voicemail Script GeneratorGet ready-to-read voicemail greeting and sales voicemail scripts for your name, company and situation, with timing for each one.Open the tool
- AI Sales Pitch GeneratorDescribe what you sell and who buys it; get a 30-second pitch, a cold-call opener and an email pitch to copy. Free with a ParrotNotes account.Open the tool
- Value Proposition TemplateWrite a clear value proposition from your customer's jobs, pains and gains, with fill-in statement formats you can test in a pitch.Open the tool