There’s no doubt that success in life depends in large part on who you know. For that reason, knowing how to reach out and make a “cold” contact (that is, without any prior introductions or interactions) is a very important skill. Some of my most valued long-term professional relationships began with just such an exchange, and countless people have joined StackAdapt because either I reached out directly to them or they first initiated contact with me. Some people, it seems, are “naturals” at making cold contacts, and they intuitively understand how to do it. However, for most of us (myself included), it’s an acquired skill that isn’t taught in school.
I can by no means claim to be an expert, but I have learned a thing or two over the course of my career, and today I want to share a few secrets about how to craft an email (or a LinkedIn message) that is more likely to get a response from a “cold” contact. There isn’t just one way to do this that works for everyone, but there definitely are strategies that will improve your response rate.
As an example, consider the email I sent out when I was connecting to CEOs in Toronto to learn about how to nurture company culture (find the backstory here). Whether it was, in fact, a “perfect” email, I’m not sure. But, I do know that it was surprisingly successful:
Let’s break this email down and look for clues to its success:
Title
There are a few things to note here:
I intentionally create titles that don’t feel mass-produced or that sound like they came from a marketing team. In this case, I didn’t capitalize the first word: it immediately catches your eye because few people write titles like this.
The title gets straight to the point and sets up the reader for my “ask”.
I make it clear that I want to know their answer for my own sake. Notice how different it would read if I had used “question about managing culture” alone as a title. That could be seen as the title to a sales email where I ask the question and then propose a solution with some product or service. Instead, I make it clear here that this email is entirely for my own benefit, by using the phrase “as we scale”.
Introduction
I offer an initial sentence identifying myself to the reader. And notice, too, that I try to quickly state something we have in common: in this case that we both are in Toronto. A great strategy is to reference something the recipient has recently posted on social media that sparked your interest. If you do that, immediately follow it with a sentence explaining why their post was relevant to you. Don’t simply say “because it was interesting”; elaborate why what they shared is relevant to the rest of your email, and talk about specifics. (So, actually take the time to read their post!) In my example, I could have said something like this: “I read the article you shared yesterday on LinkedIn on the topic of building a company culture. The point that stood out to me was X, and it led me to reflect on how this applies to the company culture I am trying to build here in my own company”.
Opening
At this point, I don’t just present more details about who I am. Instead, I focus on a very important thing, which in my view is the most important thing: my story. I earn credibility here by sharing the story of our accomplishments to date—we have raised VC funding and have grown the team to 45 people. The important part of this is not that I have these accomplishments under my belt but that I will continue doing these things whether or not I hear back from the recipient. In other words, their response is not a limiting factor in my success: I will chase success regardless. This is a very powerful mindset. Over the years, I have received countless messages asking me to join someone for coffee so that they can talk about their startup idea and about the industry. I have almost always declined them—not because I am arrogant or too busy, but because I want to focus my energy on people who I know are serious about their goals. Even if you can’t share any measurable successes to date, show your reader that you are serious about the topic you want to talk about. What is your vision, and what steps have you taken to bring yourself closer to that vision? Share these in one or two sentences.
Here I have tried to show that I am humble and eager to learn.
Some light humour can go a long way. A smiley face is neither necessary nor recommended, but I must confess that I like them :) Throughout the entire email you want to show your authentic self.
Your Goals
The body of the email is for you to share the goals you are working on. You will want to be as concise and crisp as possible about your goals, and quantify them whenever possible. Here, I even went as far as presenting my goal in boldface so that even if the email is just glanced at, it is likely that the reader will notice it. Looking back, one other way I could have made it even more powerful would have been by adding a sense of urgency and setting a specific deadline by which I was trying to reach my goal.
The “Ask”
This is where you deliver the “ask”, and it’s the second-most important part of the email after the Opening. Here are a few things I’ve learned about crafting an effective “ask”:
Make it clear how much of their time you will need.
While I am asking for help, I insert the word “interested” as a way to convey that this is not just me asking for help: it can be an opportunity for them to meet an up-and-coming entrepreneur and perhaps even satisfy their inner drive for mentorship.
Give lots of options for them to choose from. Here I gave four, which might be an overkill, but you’ll want to offer at least two options for meeting, with at least one being virtual.
I typically don’t add any other closing remarks but just leave it with a question so there will be no distractions to slow their response.
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I invite you to give this approach a try the next time you reach out to someone for networking purposes! And as always, I look forward to hearing from you :)