The Cold Email Masterclass

Simply put: Sending cold sales outreach email with errors is suicidal.

If you’ve gone through all the lessons above, you’ve put a ton of effort into your cold emails up to this point.

• You’ve optimized your subject line, opening line and body copy
• You’ve searched out the right people to email
• You’ve personalized your content to their needs (or to the needs of their segment)

Don’t blow it all by missing errors that immediately diminish your credibility!

As Hubspot contributor Emma Brudner notes:

“Misspelling words or misusing punctuation never comes across well, but prospects are more forgiving once they’ve gotten to know you. When you’re reaching out for the first time, a single error can destroy your credibility.”

Both Emma and I recommend Grammarly as a first step in ensuring your sales emails meet your high standards. After that, I suggest having a quality control checklist you run through before you even think about hitting the ‘Send’ button.

Here are 10 questions to get you started:

10 Questions to Answer Before Sending

• Am I sending to the right person?
• Have I verified the email address I’m sending to?
• If I’m importing emails from a CSV, have I correctly mapped my fields?
• Have I personalized my message correctly?
• Do I have any spelling or grammar errors?
• Is my focus on my prospect’s needs or my own?
• Are the benefits of my product or service obvious?
• Are my sentences too long?
• Could any part of your email be considered culturally insensitive (language, salutation, etc)?
• Does my message have a CTA?

Some of these questions will be easier to answer than others. Spelling and grammar errors require just a quick check. Making sure the focus is on your prospect – not you – is more subjective.

Practice running through this list with every email you send, and you’ll soon get faster at identifying issues when they exist.

You might also find it helpful to add to this list, based on what you know about your strengths and weaknesses.

• If you struggle with personalization, add extra questions checking the way you’ve introduced and executed specific customizations.
• If you’re regularly mailing to people in multiple countries, a greater focus on cultural norms may be necessary.

Wherever you decide to focus, make this step a mandatory part of your cold emailing process. Checking your messages takes only a few minutes. Repairing damaged relationships with prospects who received improper or incorrect messages can take a lifetime.