Do you want more leads and customers? There are many proven strategies to help you get them. But few are as direct as cold outreach. All you need are a few solid B2B sales email templates and you can begin supercharging your lead generation efforts immediately.

That’s what we plan to help you out with today. In this article, we’ll teach you what cold outreach is and why it’s important. Then we’ll share with you three customizable B2B sales email templates that you can use to score more leads.

Sound like a plan? Let’s jump right in!

What is Cold Outreach?

Cold outreach is the practice of contacting strangers within a specific niche, and engaging them in a business-oriented conversation.

For example, let’s pretend that I own and operate a commercial cleaning company. To drum up sales, I decide to email every other business within a thirty mile radius and offer them my services. These companies didn’t ask to be contacted by me. Instead, I found their email addresses online and I sent them an unsolicited message.

Cold outreach isn’t a new concept. But modern technology has made it easier to do than ever before. Just as I outlined in my example, you can also take to the internet, find the contact information of folks in your niche, and send them cold outreach emails.

Why Cold Outreach is Beneficial?

Sure, the fact that anyone can find an email address online and send it messages isn’t at all earth shattering. The question is: why would anyone want to do that? The main reason is because it works. There’s no better way to drum up business quickly than cold outreach.

Inbound marketing has received a lot of hype in the past few years, with good reason. Developing a system that draws leads to your company without you having to chase after them is obviously beneficial. But this strategy takes time.

When you need leads now rather than later, cold outreach is the perfect approach because it’s proactive. You don’t have to wait on anyone. You simply craft your messages and send them out to as many people as you can. With a little luck (and the B2B sales email templates we’ve prepared for you below) you’ll be able to drum up business in a matter of days, if not hours.

3 B2B Sales Email Templates

Now that we have a common understanding of what cold outreach is and why it can be so beneficial to your company, we can get into the really good stuff: B2B sales email templates! Customize the three templates below and watch your lead generation efforts take off.

1. The Helpful Approach

Let’s start with the Helpful Approach. Below you’ll find a strong cold email template that we first discovered on the Single Grain website. Then you’ll see the template version that you can use for your own purposes below that.

Original Email:

Template:

Subject: idea to {Value You Provide}

Hi {First Name},

Can I share a quick idea with you that’s helped {Other Clients/Customers} {Result You Helped Achieve}? The concept is fairly simple and has powerful results.

When can we have a call so that I can explain?

Thanks,
{Your Name}

Why This Template Works

So why does this template work? First off, it’s short and to the point. Second, it’s written in a very respectful manner. You aren’t forcing your agenda down the recipients throat. You’re simply asking them if you can help.

And that’s another thing, you’re trying to help! For B2B cold email templates to be successful, they have to provide value. If they don’t, they’re dead in the water.

Lastly, the templates ends with a good call-to-action. By ending your emails with a question, you’ll improve your response rate. We humans are trained since birth to answer the things asked of us. You can use this fact to your advantage.

2. The Results-Oriented Approach

Sometimes the best way to get through to a potential lead is to simply use a tried and true formula. The following email was originally found on the Yesware website and uses AIDA, which stands for Awareness, Interest, Desire, Action. Observe:

Original Email:

Template:

Subject: {First Name} your thoughts on this?

Hi {First Name},

Are you interested in {Result Your Company Provides}?

Companies like {Your Clients} are doing just that by enabling/using {Your Product}.

In addition to {Result}, our clients also report {Other Impressive Results}.

I’d love to schedule a time to chat and show you how {Your Product} can better your company. Do you have 15 minutes to connect this week?

Thanks,
{Your Name}

Why This Template Works

I absolutely love the subject line on this template! It will definitely grab your reader’s attention and pique their curiosity. Then the body copy hits the reader with the awesome results your product provides and the company’s you’ve already worked with, building interest and desire.

The CTA is also a winner because it asks a question. Remember what we said about ending your B2B sales templates with a question?

But this version is even better, in my opinion, because it’s more specific. It suggests a timeframe (this week) and lets the reader know that you won’t eat up their entire day with your sales call. You’re only asking for 15 minutes.

3. The Personable Approach

This last template definitely takes a different approach than the first two. It’s longer and has quite a unique personality. We nabbed it from the Nutshell website but it was originally written by expert email marketer Laura Lopuch.

Original Email:

Template:

Subject: Apologies in advance

Greetings {First Name},

You’ve never heard of me. (Hi, I’m {Your Name}!) I got your details from a list *gasp*. But hey—you’re list worthy. That’s gotta be something, right? :-)

Ok. Let’s get down to brass tacks. I’m writing to you from the office of {Your Company}, where we {What You Do}.

For over {Number of Years} we’ve {What Your Company Does}. It’s a wonderful feeling to know that we’re not ripping clients off and producing the best work of our lives.

We’re looking to win new clients over to our side and away from those evil (ok, maybe not evil… but not as good) other companies.

If you let me have a chat with you about your {How You Can Help} or bedroom tidying needs, I will buy you lunch/coffee/tequila shots and promise to be somewhat entertaining. If you’re lucky, I may even wear a top hat. First off, I’d like to provide you with some ideas you are free to steal.

I’ve included sticker containing a picture of {Something Appropriately Funny}. I trust this will charm you into submission.

I’ll be in touch on email when you least expect it… Dun Dunn Dunn!

I await your profanity filled response.

Have a splendid day,
{Your Name}

Why This Template Works

Unlike our other two B2B sales email templates, this script isn’t what we’d call to the point. But have you ever read a more creative and hilarious business-oriented email in your life? Humor can get you far in your cold outreach efforts if it fits your company brand and target audience.

We also love how conversational and easy to consume the text is. It doesn’t feel stuffy or stock at all and truly is a joy to read.

Given all this, we’re not surprised in the slightest that this email was responsible for $20,000 in new work for Laura’s company. Use her words as a framework, make the template your own, and go score your own new clients!

Cold Outreach Best Practices

Quality B2B sales email templates will do wonders for your lead generation strategy. They’ll allow you to get your foot in the door, so to speak, with many other companies and potential clients. But to really supercharge your efforts, keep these best practices in mind:

1. Timing is Important

When you send your messages is almost as important as the B2B sales email templates that you use. Don’t believe me? Then take a look at the research:

  • Emails sent between 5am and 6am receive 37% open rate and an 8% response rate on average. Not bad!
  • Emails sent in the evening hours do even better and receive 48% open rate and an 8% response rate on average.

Your results will vary of course. The kind of prospect you’re attempting to contact, the offer you’re presenting them with, their current schedule, and more all play a factor in whether or not you’ll receive a response.

But why not give yourself the best possible chance at engaging your potential leads? To do that, message them either earlier in the morning between 5am and 6am or later in the evening between 7pm and 9pm.

2. Personalization Wins

The reason we’ve shared B2B sales emails templates and not just word-for-word messages for you to copy and paste into your email provider is because personalization is the name of the game. In fact, studies show that personalized messages deliver 6x higher transaction rates.

But here’s the thing: quality personalization takes more than simply including your recipient’s name in the salutation. You need to do your homework to get this right. Here’s how:

  • Learn About Their Position: What job title do they hold and what does it entail? This information will allow you to offer them the services and products they need and not waste anyone’s time with irrelevant solutions they’ll never purchase.
  • Consume Their Content: These days, just about everyone has a LinkedIn and Facebook profile. Most people have Instagram and Twitter accounts too. We suggest that you follow them on these platforms and get a feel for their personality, the things that interest them, and the daily challenges they face.

Once you have these kinds of details on your potential leads, you can insert them into your B2B sales email templates. Will it take extra work? Yes. Is it worth it? YES!

To help make the recipient research phase easier, we recommend Lusha for Chrome. This tool, makes it incredibly easy to get important details on your leads. You just type in their email and Lusha will scour the web to find their company details, social media profiles, and more.

To help make the recipient research phase easier, we recommend the Lusha plugin for LinkedIn. This tool makes it easy to learn the contact details of any prospect you discover via LinkedIn Sales Navigator. You simply find the lead, click a button, and Lusha does the rest!

We should also mention that Lusha integrates has Salesforce data enrichment. Which means, if you happen to collect poor data via your web forms, Lusha will auto enrich the details in Salesforce so that you can still personalize your email templates.

3. Watch Your Email’s Length

Did you notice that two of the three B2B sales email templates above was brief? That’s not a coincidence. Short messages almost always perform better than long ones when it comes to cold outreach. How short? Try to stick between two and four sentences — five at the absolute most.

Put yourself in your recipient’s shoes. They’re busy, getting pulled in a million different directions. They don’t have the time to sit down and read a novel about your life, your company, and the 27 unique features your product has.

To have success with cold outreach, you need to get to the point as quickly as possible. Tell your potential leads how you can help them. Then sign off.

4. Always Follow Up

Success with cold outreach rarely happens in the first email. If you only message folks one time, you’re leaving a ton of potential revenue on the table. In our experience, the real money is in the follow up, which is good news. Let us explain:

If you’re willing to take the time and follow up with potential leads, you’ll put yourself miles ahead of your competitors. Most people give up when their first email goes unanswered. Others call it quits after the second or third.

But the numbers don’t lie: 80% of sales take five follow ups to close. So the real question is not if you should follow up, but how often? Should you message your leads every day? What about once a week or twice a month? Here’s what we suggest:

  • If you don’t hear back after your first email, wait 48 hours and message them again, reminding your prospect that you reached out before while providing them with a small nugget of new information or additional value.
  • If the second email goes unanswered as well, wait another 48 hours and then send a third email that clarifies why you’ve been reaching out and reiterates the value you hope to provide to the prospect.
  • At this point, if you still haven’t heard back, we recommend that you ease off the throttle a little bit and assume a weekly cadence of follow up emails. Each message should remind the prospect of who you are and provide them with value, i.e. a quick tip that they’ll find useful, a free download of some sort, etc.
  • The total number of follow up emails you send is up to you. But if you haven’t heard back after 10 messages, you probably won’t. Now is the right time to move the prospect to some kind of nurture list and to try and re-engage them down the road.

All of this following up may seem like a ton of work, but it’s not quite as difficult as it first sounds. Software like SalesLoft will allow you to automate numerous email follow ups before you even send your first message!

5. Optimize Your Messages

After customizing the B2B sales email templates above and sending them to a few dozen folks, you’ll start to collect data. If you know what’s good for you, you’ll use it.

Take a look at the responses you’re getting (or the lack of responses in some cases) and discover ways to improve.

Are your messages not getting opened? You may need to write a new subject line. Maybe your emails always get opened but your response rate is lower than you’d like it to be. You should probably tweak your message so that it’s more engaging. What if both your open and response rates are stellar, but every email you receive back is of the “thanks, but no thanks” variety? Sounds like you might be targeting the wrong audience.

By analyzing the results of your cold outreach efforts and making improvements based on the things you learn, you’ll be able to optimize your messages and make the most of every email you send to potential leads.

The only other suggestion we have in this regard is to not give up too soon. A 0% percent response rate is meaningless if you’ve only sent five emails. Give your B2B sales email templates a chance and contact at least a few dozen people before making changes.

Here are a few industry benchmarks for email marketing. Use these figures as a guide:

  • Average open rates vary between 15.22% and 28.46% depending on industry. If you’re receiving significant lower opens than normal, try making adjustments.
  • Optimizing your subject line via A/B tests can increase open rates by 49%. Give yourself a break and test multiple subject lines to boost opens.
  • Email personalization can boost response rates by as much as 100%. If you’re not yet personalizing your messages, what are you waiting for?

Crush Your Cold Outreach Efforts

Armed with the B2B sales email templates and the cold outreach best practices that we shared in this article, you’re now ready to quickly score more leads. We encourage you to get started today — don’t wait! If you want a little more help crafting an email template, we have a free sales generator to create a script personalized to your needs. And sending emails to your prospects is easier than ever with Lusha. You can build out your prospecting lists using our platform or extension and add them to an automated email sequence in Engage.  

If you just send your messages at the right time, personalize them as much as possible, ensure they aren’t too long, develop a follow up strategy, and optimize your emails, we’re confident you’ll find success. Best of luck to you!

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