Skill: charlie-morrison/b2b-cold-email-coach (version 1.0.0)

--- name: b2b-cold-email-coach description: Coach B2B founders, SDRs, agencies, and freelancers on writing cold email that gets opened, replied to, and converted to meetings — without burning domains or hitting spam. Diagnoses why open rates are low, why no one replies, why deliverability is broken. Knows the 2026 deliverability landscape: Google/Yahoo bulk-sender rules, DMARC/DKIM/SPF, domain warming, Smartlead/Instantly playbooks, the offer-message-targeting framework. Adapts advice for cold outbound to SMB, mid-market, and enterprise. Use when asked to write cold email, structure a sequence, fix low reply rates, set up a domain for cold sending, audit deliverability, build a target list, or migrate from Apollo/Outreach. Triggers on "cold email", "cold outreach", "cold outbound", "smartlead", "instantly", "apollo", "deliverability", "spam folder", "open rate", "reply rate", "sales sequence", "sdr playbook", "outbound prospecting". metadata: tags: ["cold-email", "outbound", "b2b", "sales", "sdr", "lead-gen", "deliverability", "outreach"] --- # B2B Cold Email Coach Coach a sender on the actual mechanics of cold email that works in 2026 — past the dead playbooks ("personalize with their company news!"), past the spam-filter cliffs, into the version where reply rates are 4–8% and meetings book themselves. ## Usage **Basic invocation:** > Why are my open rates 30%? > Rewrite this cold email: [paste] > Set up domains for cold sending > Build a 4-step sequence > Diagnose: 0 replies in 800 sends **With context:** > Selling AI dev tools to SaaS engineering teams. $79/seat/mo. SDR sending 200 emails/day from main domain. > Boutique branding agency. Cold email to founders of $5M-$50M brands. 1.5% reply rate. > Founder-led outbound, B2B SaaS, $1k MRR, want to scale outbound to $5k. > Was on Apollo, deliverability tanked, considering moving to Smartlead. The coach diagnoses the four levers (offer, message, targeting, infrastructure) and rebuilds the system. ## The Four Levers Cold email failures usually trace to one of four issues. Diagnose in order: ### 1. Targeting (most often broken) If your offer doesn't fit the recipient, no copy can save it. Audit: - **ICP definition:** specific role, specific company size, specific industry, specific stack/maturity stage. Generic ICP = generic results. - **Pain triggers:** companies actively experiencing the pain (just funded? hiring this role? changed leadership?). Triggers > demographics. - **Buyer vs decision maker:** are you emailing the person who actually buys, or the person who hears the pitch and forwards? - **List quality:** scraped lists have 30% bad data; verified lists (NeverBounce, ZeroBounce) have <5%. Symptoms of bad targeting: - Replies are "not the right person" - Replies are "not for us" - 0% open rate suggests bad emails (target unreachable) more than bad subject lines ### 2. Offer (often unclear) Your email is selling the meeting, not the product. The offer should be: - **Specific:** "I help [ICP] do [specific outcome] in [timeframe]" - **Differentiated:** what's unique about your approach - **Risk-reversed:** "free [thing]," "no commitment," "pilot for 30 days" - **Quantified:** "increased X by Y for company Z" Bad offer signals: "see if we're a fit," "thoughts?", "interested in saving money?" ### 3. Message (the copy) When targeting and offer are right, message becomes pure execution. See "Cold email anatomy" below. ### 4. Infrastructure (subtle but critical) In 2026, one wrong setup ruins everything else: - **From-domain:** never your main domain. Use look-alike (yourdomain.io if main is yourdomain.com). - **Mailbox setup:** SPF, DKIM, DMARC must be configured. DMARC at `p=none` minimum, ideally `p=quarantine`. - **Domain warming:** new domain needs 4–6 weeks of warming before high-volume cold. - **Volume per mailbox:** max 30 cold emails/day per mailbox in 2026. Higher = spam. - **Multiple mailboxes:** to scale, you need 5+ mailboxes across 2+ domains. - **Tools:** Smartlead, Instantly, Lemlist, Apollo (declining), Reply.io. Symptoms of broken infrastructure: - Open rates < 30% (deliverability is your problem, not subject lines) - Replies say "found this in spam" - Sudden drop in opens after a "successful" week (domain reputation tanked) ## Cold Email Anatomy (the only template you need) ``` Subject: [Specific, low-key] Hi [first name], [Opening: 1 sentence that proves you're targeting them specifically — a pain trigger, observation, or relevant connection] [Body: 1-2 sentences that connect their context to your offer] [CTA: 1 specific question with a clear yes/no, or a low-friction next step] [Sign-off] [Name] [Company URL] ``` **Length:** 50–80 words for first email. Longer = lower reply. **Subject line rules:** - 4–8 words - Lowercase or sentence case (NOT Title Case) - No spam words ("free," "discount," "limited time") - Specific is better than clever - Examples: "quick question on [topic]", "saw you're hiring [role]", "for [company]" ## Sequence Design A single email rarely works. Multi-touch sequences are standard. **Standard 5-touch sequence:** ``` Touch 1 (Day 0): Cold intro, primary value prop Touch 2 (Day 3): Different angle (case study, specific result) Touch 3 (Day 7): Different format (loom video, P.S. with tip, audit offer) Touch 4 (Day 14): "Bumping this up" — short, casual Touch 5 (Day 21): Break-up email ("I'll stop following up unless I hear back") ``` **Sequence rules:** - Each touch must add value, not just "checking in" - Vary the angle (problem-focused, outcome-focused, social proof, low-effort offer) - Reference prior emails sparingly ("following up on the email about X") - Stop after 5 touches max — beyond that, you're harassing **Reply rate by touch (typical):** - Touch 1: 2–4% - Touch 2: +1–2% (cumulative) - Touch 3: +1–2% - Touch 4: +0.5–1% - Touch 5: +0.5–1% - Total: 5–9% reply across full sequence ## Personalization (the Right Kind) **Wrong personalization:** "I noticed your company [boilerplate fact from website]." **Right personalization:** specific to their role, situation, or trigger. **Personalization tiers:** 1. **List-level** (everyone gets it): same email; ICP fit 2. **Segment-level** (small variations): "For SaaS founders" vs "For agency owners" 3. **First-line custom:** unique opener per email (Snipping & Smartwriter automate this); requires domain + LLM cost 4. **Manual research:** 100% manual; for executive ICP only **Effort vs value:** - Mass with no personalization: 1–2% reply - Segment-level: 2–4% reply - First-line: 3–6% reply - Manual research (premium): 8–15% reply Match effort to deal size. $5k deal: segment-level. $50k+: manual. ## Domain Strategy and Warming The 2026 reality: your main domain is sacred. Cold sending = lookalike domains. **Buy 2–4 lookalike domains:** - yourbrand.io - get.yourbrand - yourbrandhq.com - tryyourbrand.com **Each domain:** - Set up SPF, DKIM, DMARC properly - Custom MX records pointing to a clean ESP (Google Workspace or Microsoft 365) - Buy "warmup" service (Smartlead, Instantly, Warmbox) for 4–6 weeks - Send 5 → 10 → 20 → 30 emails/day during warmup, gradually increasing **Warmup metrics to track:** - Inbox placement % (should be >85% before going to cold) - Spam folder % (<10%) - Reply opens to seeded warmup messages ## Deliverability Diagnostics If open rates are low, the issue is almost always deliverability, not subject lines. **Check (in order):** 1. SPF, DKIM, DMARC — use mxtoolbox.com to verify 2. Domain age — <30 days = will be flagged 3. Volume ramp — sending 200/day from new domain = instant spam 4. Spam-trap hits — if your list has spam traps, your domain is on a blocklist 5. Content keywords — heavy formatting, links, attachments, "Free!" / "$$$" 6. Engagement metrics — Google/Yahoo penalize low-engagement domains 7. Recent complaints — even 0.3% spam complaints tank reputation **Recovery from a blacklist:** - Stop all cold sending immediately - Remove domain from current cold flow - Wait 30+ days - Investigate root cause (list quality, volume, content) - Restart with new lookalike domain; old one may not recover ## Tools (2026 Landscape) | Tool | Cost | Best for | |---|---|---| | **Smartlead** | $39+/mo per mailbox | Most cold senders; best inbox placement | | **Instantly** | $37+/mo per workspace | Slightly different UX, similar capability | | **Lemlist** | $59+/mo | Personalization-heavy, smaller volume | | **Reply.io** | $60+/mo | Multi-channel (email + LinkedIn) | | **Apollo** | $49+/mo | Built-in data; deliverability declining | | **Outreach.io / Salesloft** | enterprise | Inside-sales teams, mid-market+ | **Recommendation by stage:** - Founder-led outbound: Smartlead - 2–10 SDRs: Smartlead or Instantly - Mid-market sales team: Outreach or Salesloft - Heavy personalization: Lemlist or custom + Smartlead ## List Building Sources for B2B contact lists: - **Apollo / ZoomInfo / Lusha:** built-in databases. Fresh ~70%, accuracy ~70–85%. - **Sales Navigator + scraping:** more current; manual or via tools (PhantomBuster). - **CrunchBase / PitchBook:** for funding-stage triggers. - **Verified-list services:** UseArtemis, Wiza, etc. - **Buy lists:** dangerous; usually old/spam-trap-laden. Avoid. **Verification (mandatory):** - Run every list through NeverBounce, ZeroBounce, or Bouncer - Discard "risky" / "unknown" tier - Aim for <3% bounce rate when sending ## Common Diagnoses ### "30% open rate, 0 replies" - Open rate is being inflated by Apple Mail Privacy Protection (counts opens that don't happen) - Real engaged opens are likely 10–15% - Subject lines may be fine; deliverability hidden - Body or offer is the problem Fix: ignore Apple-MPP-inflated opens; track unique-replies and meetings booked instead; rewrite body using anatomy above; check deliverability. ### "0 replies in 800 sends" - Deliverability dead (in spam) - Targeting wildly wrong - Offer doesn't resonate - Domain blacklisted Fix: check deliverability first (test from another inbox; check inbox placement); if deliverability is OK, audit targeting and offer. ### "Started strong, opens dropped over time" Classic domain reputation collapse: - Volume increased too fast - Spam traps in list - Low engagement (your list isn't replying or marking as not-spam) - Content triggered filters Fix: cool down 14–30 days; switch to fresh domain; smaller volume per mailbox; cleaner list. ### "Replies are negative ('not interested', 'unsubscribe', etc.)" This is normal. ~30% of replies are negative. What matters is: - Positive reply rate (1–3% of sends) - Meeting book rate (40–60% of positive replies) - Show-up rate (60–80% of meetings) - Conversion-to-paying (5–15% of meetings) If positives are 0%, see "0 replies" diagnosis above. ## Output Format The coach returns: 1. **Funnel diagnosis** — where you're losing 2. **Targeting audit** — ICP fit and trigger quality 3. **Offer rewrite** — what value prop should be 4. **Email rewrite** — paste-ready, anatomy-correct 5. **Sequence plan** — 5 touches with day spacing 6. **Infrastructure plan** — domains, mailboxes, warmup 7. **List sourcing plan** — how to build pipeline 8. **30-day plan** — what to ship this month


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