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?
I was at the park yesterday watching my dog chase squirrels and this kid maybe 20 years old was on the phone saying email templates are for boomers. He said clients want texts or DMs now. Made me think about my whole pitching system I spent 6 months building. Has anyone else noticed younger clients ignoring polished emails and just wanting quick replies on their phone instead?
I had a lead I was chasing for a plumbing supply job in Austin. I sent 5 emails over 3 weeks, nothing. Then on my 6th try I dropped the sales pitch and just asked what their biggest headache was with their current supplier. The reply came back in 2 hours. Turns out they hated late deliveries, not price. I think a lot of us spend too much time talking about ourselves in these emails. Has anyone else had luck with ditching the template completely and just asking a direct question?
I was at Outbox in Portland last Tuesday and overheard this guy talking about how he never gets replies. Someone told him his emails read like he copied them from a textbook. I realized my own follow-ups were way too formal and long. So I rewrote one with shorter sentences and a casual tone - got a reply in 2 hours. Has anyone else noticed that being too professional actually hurts your response rate?
Three months ago a guy I'd been pitching for 6 weeks finally called me back. First thing he said was 'your emails read like you copied them off LinkedIn'. Burned a little but he wasn't wrong. I was using all these fancy templates with bold headers and bullet points and some link to book a call. Switched to plain text with short sentences and no formatting at all. Now I start every email with something specific about their building like 'saw your main line's got cast iron from the 70s'. Reply rate went from maybe 1 in 20 to about 1 in 8. Anyone else ditch the templates for just writing like a normal person?
Sent the casual one to 10 leads and got zero replies, then sent the structured one with bullet points to 10 different leads and booked 4 calls, so I guess my personality is dead now.
The playful subject line with a tree pun got a 40% open rate while the formal one barely hit 12% so I'm ditching the corporate tone for good and has anyone else seen a huge gap like that between two versions?
Honestly I always thought those email scripts were too pushy but I used the 'value recap' one from last month's thread. Sent it to a property manager in Sacramento who ghosted me for 3 weeks and they booked me for a pressure wash the next morning. Anyone else have a template that worked way better than you expected?
I was cleaning out my email drafts folder yesterday and noticed I've got 500 different templates saved for client follow-ups and pitches. That number surprised me because most of them are just tiny tweaks on maybe 10 original templates. Has anyone else hit a weird milestone like this where you realize how much junk you are holding onto?
I spent 2 hours customizing each pitch with details from their LinkedIn, only to get a reply saying 'stop pretending to know me.' Has anyone else had prospects get creeped out by over-personalized outreach?
I spent way too long overthinking a follow-up email to a client who ghosted me after a solid first call. It was just a simple check-in to see if they still needed help with their website redesign, but I kept second-guessing every word. I rewrote the subject line like 6 times before I settled on something basic like "Checking in on your project." Then I started worrying about sounding too pushy or not pushy enough, and before I knew it the whole morning was gone. I finally sent it around 2 PM and they replied back within an hour with a yes. Has anyone else wasted way too much time on a simple email that ended up not mattering that much?
I spent three weeks writing the perfect pitch to a property manager in Austin, got no reply, then sent a lazy "just circling back" note with a typo and they called me same day. Turns out they hate long emails and mine got buried, but the short one hit their phone at the right moment. Has anyone else had a half-baked email outperform the polished version for no good reason?
I sent out 200 cold emails last month using a template I tweaked from this sub and got 14 replies which is way more than my usual 3-4. What's your best follow-up timing to keep that number from dropping off?
I was sending the same old "just checking in" emails to prospects for months. Barely got any replies. Then I tried something different: I started each follow-up with a specific stat from their website or a recent post they shared. Something that showed I actually paid attention. The first time I did it with a local bakery owner in Austin I got a response in under 3 hours. Now I track every reply and my close rate went from 1 in 20 to about 1 in 8. Has anyone else tried personalizing past just using their name?
Back in 2021 someone said to just end client emails with 'Thanks, [name]' instead of all that 'Best regards' fluff and I tried it on a cold pitch to a design studio in Austin. Landed the gig within 3 days has anyone else found that casual tone actually converts better?
I was dead set against using any fancy email system for chasing leads, figured I'd just keep a notebook. After missing 3 callbacks in one month last fall I gave the free version of HubSpot a try. Has anyone else had luck with a simple template they use for follow-ups without sounding pushy?
I was at a coworking space in Austin last month and overheard this guy talking about how he closes deals with a single email. So I looked at my own follow-up sequence and realized I was using this wishy-washy template I found online. It had all this 'no pressure' and 'just checking in' language that basically told clients to ignore me. I rewrote the whole thing to be direct and give a specific deadline. First client I used it on ghosted me after the initial call. Has anyone else had to completely rework their follow-up approach because their old one was too passive?
I was digging through some old archived emails from like 2018 and found a template I used to use. It basically assumed the client was already on board and just asked for confirmation on next steps. I tried it again last week on a cold pitch for a web design project in Austin and the guy replied within 2 hours. Has anyone else used this angle or is it too pushy now?
I spent a whole Tuesday crafting personalized follow-ups for 47 leads from a conference in Austin, and by Wednesday at 5pm I hadn't heard a single word back from anyone, has anyone else ever had a day where the silence just made you want to throw your laptop out the window?
I saw this ad for a set of email templates for dog grooming businesses, claimed they were proven to book more appointments. Paid $80 on the spot without really looking at the samples. Turned out it was just 5 emails that said stuff like "ask your client about their needs" with zero actual structure or real examples. I could have written that myself in 10 minutes. Used one for a follow up to a client who ghosted me and it got no reply at all. Now I just look at free templates on here or ask other groomers what actually worked for them. Anyone else get burned by a pricey template pack that was just generic junk?
I tested two versions of my pitch emails for 3 months to local coffee shops. One started with a specific detail about their shop I found on Instagram, the other led with a concrete benefit like 'I can save you 4 hours a week on invoices'. The personal openers got way more replies at first, but the value prop ones actually got more meetings booked. What do you all think works better for cold outreach to small businesses?
I spent 3 days building this automated follow-up sequence in Mailchimp for a web design pitch last month, thinking it would impress the client with professionalism. Instead, only 12% opened the first email and the rest went straight to spam because my sending domain wasn't warmed up properly. Has anyone else had a automated sequence blow up in their face like that? What did you switch to?