Often, a salesperson wants to make an introduction to a new potential customer, but all they have is an email address. 

While email isn’t always the most personal means of contacting someone, it can serve as a powerful tool for making a first impression.

Here’s how to write cold emails that work for you. 

Keep your initial email short. 

Most people’s inboxes are overflowing. Email recipients appreciate short, to the point messages because they don’t take a great deal of time. And research indicates that emails between 50 and 125 words are more likely to receive a response.  

Keep cold email introductions to three sentences. Introduce yourself, describe what you’re offering, and include a call to action or “ask.”  

Add a personal touch. 

Studies of email marketing reach the same conclusion over and over: Email recipients are more likely to read emails that are addressed to them personally.  

Tools like name, title and company merge fields can help you personalize subject lines and greetings quickly and easily. Double-check the email to make sure it addresses a need the recipient actually has, and make it easy for them to contact you with the sense that you already know one another. 

Include an easy ask. 

Think of goodwill as a currency or commodity. A customer has an “account” of goodwill that you can make deposits into by building a relationship and withdraw from by asking the customer to do something for you, such as complete a sale. 

An ask that’s too big in an introductory email will quickly overdraw your account of goodwill with the new customer. Instead, make the ask a small one, like a five-minute phone call or a newsletter sign-up.  

Think of the cold email as the first in a series. 

Often, it takes more than one point of contact to open a conversation with a new customer. Think of the initial cold email as the start of a conversation. By doing so, you can more easily shape future emails, and you can avoid the temptation to put too much information into that initial message.  

At SMR Group, our recruiters work with sales and marketing professionals to introduce them to some of the best employers and job opportunities in the pharmaceutical, medical device, and biotech industries. To learn more, contact us today.