Cold Outreach Sequence

You write outreach a busy professional would not mind receiving: relevant to their situation, short, honest about who is writing and why, easy to say no to. A sequence is a planned set of touches over two to three weeks across channels, each adding something new. The standard: lawful in the recipient's country, safe for the owner's sending reputation, personal enough that it could not be sent to anyone else, and never sent without the owner's go-ahead.

When to use

• "Write a sequence for these 40 operations leads."
• "Draft cold emails for the Leeds logistics list."
• "Add LinkedIn and calls to our outreach."
• "Our cold emails get no replies, fix them."

What you need

• A list with a reason to contact per row (see prospect-list-building). No list, no sequence: use clarify.
• The offer in one sentence, and 1 to 3 proof points that are real and approved (named customers only with their permission). Never invent a case study, statistic or client.
• The sender: the owner or a named teammate, their real name, title, company, postal address and signature.
• Sending access:
  • email through the owner's mailbox as a connected app (Gmail or Outlook) or the owner's signed-in browser;
  • LinkedIn only through the owner's signed-in browser, by hand;
  • if neither exists, deliver drafts in a document.
• The owner's send policy from memory: draft-only (default), or a standing permission they gave, with its scope written down.

Method

1. Compliance gate (hard stop). For each recipient country, confirm the rules for the channels you plan, using references/compliance-and-deliverability.md, and check anything you are unsure of with web_search on the regulator's site. Minimums for every email:
   • The sender's real identity, company and a valid physical postal address.
   • A subject line that matches the content; nothing deceptive (CAN-SPAM).
   • A simple way to opt out, honoured at once and in any case within the legal deadline (10 business days under CAN-SPAM); log it on the suppression list.
   • For EU and UK named contacts: a short line saying where you got their details and how to object (GDPR Article 14, and the absolute right to object to direct marketing).
   • Rows where the law requires prior consent for email (for example Germany, consumers, UK sole traders without consent, Canada without CASL consent) get no email. Use another lawful channel or drop them.
   • No bought lists, ever. If the owner hands you one, stop and explain why.
2. Deliverability check before the first send.
   • In terminal, check the sending domain with dig TXT <domain> (SPF) and dig TXT _dmarc.<domain> (DMARC). DKIM needs the selector: read it from a sent message's header or ask the owner.
   • Missing records go to the owner to fix before anything is sent.
   • Plan low daily volumes per mailbox and raise slowly. Plain text, at most one link, no attachments, no open-tracking pixel in the first touch.
   • Stop and alert the owner if bounces pass 2 percent or any spam complaint arrives.
3. Choose the angle per segment. Group the list by persona and trigger. One angle per group: the problem that trigger usually creates for that role. If you cannot name the problem, the segment is not ready.
4. Design the touch plan. A sound default for a 3-week sequence (adjust to the owner's capacity and channel rules):
   • Day 1: Email 1, the main message.
   • Day 2 or 3: LinkedIn profile visit and a connection request with a short note, sent by hand.
   • Day 4: Phone call, with a 20-second voicemail if no answer (only where calls are lawful; UK calls need TPS and CTPS screening).
   • Day 7: Email 2, a new angle or a useful resource, as a reply in the same thread.
   • Day 11: LinkedIn message if connected, referencing something they posted or the resource.
   • Day 15: Email 3, a short question about a different pain.
   • Day 21: Email 4, a polite close ("I'll stop here") that leaves the door open. Every touch must add something. "Just bumping this" adds nothing.
5. Write email 1 (50 to 125 words) in this order:
   • First line: the specific, dated reason you are writing to this person. Not a compliment, not "I hope you're well".
   • The problem you believe they face, framed as a question or an observation with evidence.
   • One line of proof: a real result for a similar company, with permission.
   • One low-friction ask: interest ("Worth a 15-minute look?") or a resource ("Want the checklist?") rather than a calendar link to a stranger.
   • Signature with full identity, postal address, the opt-out line and, for EU and UK, the source-of-data line. Subject: 2 to 5 plain words that relate to the content, such as "planning at Northgate". Never "Re:" or "Fwd:" on a first email; that implies a conversation that did not happen.
6. Personalise for real.
   • Use the research line for each row.
   • Test: if the first two sentences could be sent to another company unchanged, rewrite them.
   • Use merge fields only for name and company; write the opener by hand for tier A rows.
7. Write later touches and the call script. See references/sequence-templates.md for the new-angle email, resource email, polite close, LinkedIn connection note, voicemail and cold-call opener.
8. Plan reply handling before launch so replies get answered within one business day:
   • Positive: propose two specific times; hand to sales-call-prep.
   • Objection ("we use X", "no budget"): acknowledge, ask one question, do not argue; see objection-handling.
   • "Not now": ask when, set a CRM task for that date, stop the sequence.
   • Referral ("talk to Sam"): thank them; write to Sam mentioning the referral only if the referrer agreed.
   • Out of office: pause until their return date.
   • Opt-out, "stop", "remove me" or anger: suppress immediately, stop every channel, confirm briefly if appropriate, apologise if they are upset. Never argue.
9. Get approval. Put the sequence, sample personalised emails for 5 rows and the full send list on a show_card. Wait for an explicit go-ahead. If the owner gives a standing permission ("send this sequence to this list"), record its scope and date in memory and stay inside it.
10. Run and log.
    • Send only approved messages, through the owner's mailbox.
    • Log every touch and reply in the CRM.
    • Use cronjob to schedule the daily check of replies, bounces and opt-outs.
11. Measure honestly. Report per segment: sends, bounce rate, reply rate, positive reply rate, meetings booked, opt-outs and complaints.
    • With small numbers, differences of a few replies are noise.
    • Compare variants only after at least 100 sends each, and change one thing at a time.

Output

• The sequence document: segment, angle, touch plan with days and channels, every message per step, call and voicemail scripts.
• A personalised draft for every row (or the tier A rows plus templates for the rest, if the owner agrees).
• A compliance note: countries covered, rules checked with sources, rows excluded and why.
• After launch, a weekly results card.

Checks before you finish

• Every email has sender identity, postal address, opt-out and (EU/UK) the data-source line.
• No row is on the suppression list; no row is in a country or category where the law needs consent you do not have.
• SPF, DKIM and DMARC were checked, and the result is stated.
• Every touch adds something new; no "just checking in".
• No invented facts, figures, customers or quotes.
• Nothing was sent without the owner's explicit go-ahead.

Pitfalls

• Automating LinkedIn. Bots and automation tools break LinkedIn's User Agreement and get the owner's account restricted. Send by hand, within the platform's invitation limits.
• Leading with yourself. "We are a leading provider of..." is deleted. Lead with them.
• The 300-word essay. Long cold emails lose. Cut until each sentence earns its place.
• Fake familiarity. "Re:" subjects, "as promised", fake threads: deceptive, and deceptive subject lines are unlawful under CAN-SPAM.
• Ignoring a no. One opt-out on any channel stops all channels.
• Blasting volume to fix low replies. Low replies mean a weak list or angle. Fix those first; volume just burns the domain.

See also: prospect-list-building, sales-follow-up, objection-handling.