Found a goldmine email opener sitting in a coffee shop in Austin

I was killing time at a coffee shop in Austin last week, waiting out a rainstorm, and I overheard a guy talking about how he landed a big client just by starting his pitch with 'Saw your interview on the Manufacturing Today podcast.' It clicked for me right then (I had been starting all my cold emails with generic stuff like 'Hope this finds you well'). I rewrote my template that night to lead with something specific I found about the person, like a recent post or talk they gave. First try got a reply in under 3 hours from someone I'd been chasing for months. Has anyone else tried leading with a personal detail like that and seen better response rates?

3 comments

3 Comments

paige_bell816d ago

Ngl, I get why this worked for you once, but I think leaning too hard on personal details can backfire fast. People can tell when you're just Googling them to find something to mention, and it comes off as fake if you don't actually have a real connection to what they said or did. Plus, if everyone starts doing this, it'll just be the new generic opener and lose its punch. Maybe mix it in sometimes, but don't ditch the straightforward approach entirely because some folks just want the info without the small talk.

cora8136d ago

@paige_bell81 at what point do you think it crosses from thoughtful to just plain creepy with the personal stuff? Like, is it the source or how deep you dig?

mason.drew6d ago

Nah @paige_bell81, Google ain't always the problem. Sometimes folks just have a good memory.