Cold Outreach Engine

---
name: cold-outreach-engine
description: >
  Write cold emails, LinkedIn messages, and B2B outreach sequences that actually get replies. Use
  when the user wants to reach out to prospects, investors, partners, or clients cold: writing a
  cold email, a LinkedIn connection note, a follow-up sequence, a sales outreach cadence, or when
  they paste a weak outreach draft and want it fixed. Triggers on "write a cold email to", "reach
  out to this investor", "LinkedIn message for a prospect", "follow-up sequence", "my outreach isn't
  getting replies", "sales email for my SaaS", or "how do I pitch this partner". Focuses on
  research-driven personalization, tight copy, and a clear ask - not spray-and-pray templates.
---

# Cold Outreach Engine

Write B2B outreach that gets replies. Cold outreach fails for predictable reasons: it's about the
sender not the recipient, it's too long, the ask is vague, and it's obviously a template blasted to
500 people. This skill fixes all four.

---

## The reply-rate fundamentals

A cold message gets a reply when it passes three tests in the recipient's head, in order:

1. **"Is this about me?"** - The opening line must show you know something specific about them or
   their company. Not "I came across your profile."
2. **"Is this worth my time?"** - The value must be clear and relevant to a problem they actually have.
3. **"What do you want?"** - One specific, low-friction ask. Not "let's hop on a call sometime."

If any test fails, they delete it. Most outreach fails test 1 in the first sentence.

---

## Workflow

### Step 1: Understand the target and the goal

Before writing, establish:
- Who is the recipient (role, company, what they care about)?
- What's the goal of this outreach (meeting, demo, intro, partnership, investment)?
- What does the sender genuinely offer that's relevant to this specific person?
- Any real connection point (mutual contact, their recent post, company news, shared background)?

If the user hasn't given you a specific personalization hook, push for one or research it. Generic
outreach isn't worth sending. The single highest-leverage input is a real, specific reason you're
contacting *this* person.

### Step 2: Write tight

Structure for a cold email:

```
Subject: [4-6 words, specific, no clickbait, no "Quick question"]

Line 1 - The hook: something specific about THEM (their post, their product, company news)
Line 2 - The bridge: connect that to what you do / why you're reaching out
Line 3 - The value: what's in it for them, concretely
Line 4 - The ask: one specific, easy-to-say-yes-to request
[Sign off]
```

Length target: under 100 words for a first cold email. Every extra sentence lowers reply rate.
Long emails signal you'll be high-maintenance.

### Step 3: Match the channel

- **Cold email:** Slightly more room, but still tight. Subject line does 50% of the work.
- **LinkedIn connection note:** 300 char limit. One line of personalization + one line of why connect.
- **LinkedIn message (after connecting):** Conversational, even shorter. No pitch dump.
- **Twitter/X DM:** Extremely casual and brief. Reference their content.

See references/channel-playbooks.md for specifics.

### Step 4: Build the follow-up sequence

Most replies come from follow-ups, not the first email. Build a sequence, not a one-shot:

```
Email 1 (Day 0):  The initial value-led message
Email 2 (Day 3):  Short bump - add one new angle or piece of value, don't just "following up"
Email 3 (Day 7):  Different angle entirely - a case study, a relevant resource, social proof
Email 4 (Day 14): The breakup - "I'll assume the timing isn't right, I'll close the loop"
```

The breakup email often gets the most replies - loss aversion works.

---

## Copy rules that raise reply rates

- **Lead with them, not you.** The word "I" should not start your first sentence.
- **Cut every sentence that doesn't earn its place.** Read it aloud - if you'd skim it, cut it.
- **No corporate filler.** Kill "I hope this email finds you well," "I wanted to reach out,"
  "circle back," "synergies," "revolutionary," "game-changing."
- **One ask only.** Multiple asks = no action.
- **Make the ask tiny.** "Worth a 15-min call Thursday?" beats "let's schedule a meeting to discuss."
- **Specific > impressive.** "We cut [similar company]'s onboarding time 40%" beats "we're the leading platform."
- **Write like a human.** Contractions, short sentences, a real voice. Formal = ignored.

---

## For different outreach goals

**Selling a product/service:** Lead with a problem you know their type of company has, and proof
you've solved it for someone like them.

**Raising investment:** Lead with traction or an insight, not the ask. Investors get 100 pitches a
day. What's the one number or fact that makes them curious? Keep it to that.

**Partnership:** Lead with what's in it for their users/business, not yours. Make the win mutual and obvious.

**Getting an intro/advice:** Make it flattering but specific, and make the ask genuinely small.
People help when it's easy and they feel uniquely qualified.

---

## Review mode

When the user pastes a draft:

```
## Will this get a reply? [Honest yes/probably not/no]

## The problems
[Specific issues - opens with "I", too long, vague ask, generic, etc. Quote the lines.]

## Rewrite
[A tighter version that fixes them]

## Why the rewrite works
[Brief - what changed and the principle behind it]
```

Be blunt. A polite review that leaves a bad email intact wastes the user's send.

---

## Hard rules

- Never write deceptive outreach (fake mutual connections, false urgency, impersonation, made-up
  claims about results).
- Don't help with spam-scale unsolicited blasting that violates anti-spam norms - focus on
  targeted, personalized, low-volume-high-quality outreach.
- Respect that the recipient is a busy human. Outreach that wastes their time is bad outreach.

---

## Reference files

- `references/channel-playbooks.md` - Specific tactics for email, LinkedIn, Twitter, and by goal
- `references/subject-lines.md` - What makes subject lines get opened, with examples