How to Avoid Low-Value Client Emails

Please stop sending me personalized emails. Send RELEVANT emails instead. What's the difference? Personalized emails go something like: "Hi Will, I see you're the CEO at Growth Lab and that you attended the University of Kansas. Go Jayhawks! Quick question for you... (insert generalized problem and feature dump here)" I will read 0/100000 of these. Instead? Send me something relevant. Por ejemplo: "Hi Will, I'm looking at your website right now and see you started Growth Lab 4 years ago. The agencies I work with around the 4 year mark are looking to hit $5-7M in revenue and my solution has these 3 unique ways to help you get there faster {Unique solution A, B, and C}. I have case studies from several of your peers that shows you exactly how they got to $7M faster with our tool (numbers included). Want me to send?" Relevant messages: - Shows you understand my current situation - Shows you understand my specific problems - Matches my problem to a unique solution - Goes one step further with proof On the other hand... Personalized emails: - Scrape meaningless data points with AI - Insert them dynamically into email - Offer zero real value - Waste my time For relevant prospecting messages: If timing is right, and you've identified accurately my specific problem, there's a chance I respond. Maybe even a good chance if the problem is currently top-of-mind. For most prospects, timing won't be right. Or the specific problem you solve for clients is not their current problem. But personalized emails are getting old and you're dead in the water right out of the gate with them. So stop sending me personalized emails and be relevant instead. Thank youuuu!

It's never a simple SEND and RECEIVE... Not sure how many times I've heard this.... "I'm not getting replies". "My reply rates are low." At Smartlead, we’ve seen this pattern countless times: A user sets up their campaign, hits send… Then comes back a week later asking: “Why is no one replying?” The issue isn’t deliverability. It’s not even the subject line. It’s that the email is all about YOU - NOT THEM. TRUTH - There’s no such thing as the perfect Cold Email But this framework can get you really close. If your email doesn’t reflect the recipient’s pain, reality, or priorities… it’s ignored. TRY THIS 👇🏻 1️⃣ Lead with insight, not an intro Forget “Hope you’re well.” You’ve got 3 seconds to earn attention. Start with something they’re already thinking about: A challenge in their workflow A competitor they’re watching A shift in their industry Example: “Saw [Competitor] just rolled out [X]—guessing that’s added pressure on [their process].” This shows relevance before you ever mention your name. 2️⃣ Mirror their language You don't earn trust by sounding smart. You earn it by sounding familiar. - Look at how they describe their pain points on LinkedIn, forums, or even job boards. - Drop the jargon. Speak like someone who gets their day-to-day. 3️⃣ Offer outcomes, not features Don’t say: “We help with data enrichment.” Say: “We help BDRs cut lead research time from 45 mins to 10.” Make the benefit concrete. Quantify the result. Focus on impact. 4️⃣ Make the CTA feel effortless The smaller the ask, the higher the chance of action. Examples: “Want me to send a 2-min walkthrough?” “Should I send over a template our clients use to [solve X]?” “Open to a quick async teardown of your sequence?” This shows value before asking for time. 5️⃣ Treat the subject line like an internal ping Short, curiosity-driven, lowercase. No fluff. Edit your inbox preview to your liking. Examples: “pipeline question” “re: targeting issue” “lead source drop” Make it look like it’s from a teammate, not a stranger selling something. Your cold emails don’t need to be long. They don’t need to be flashy. They just need to feel relevant. When you write like someone who understands your recipient’s world, your emails stop being ignored and start getting replies.

Tired of sending “just checking in” emails that get ignored? Try following up with value. Share a piece of relevant content from your team that genuinely helps them, even if you never work together. It’s about building trust, being a helpful resource, and establishing yourself as a thought leader. When they need you, whether at their current company or somewhere else, they’ll know where to find you. That's the power of following up with value. You’re the person they go to first when they need a service like yours. The alternative is to keep “checking in” and being ignored. Because your grandma checks in, not a service. You answer your grandma's check-in calls cause she cares. The business “checking in” doesn’t show they care about you, they just care about their paycheck. When you send something of value, you show you’re willing to invest in them, no matter the outcome. Follow up with value. Earn your prospect's trust, you won’t be disappointed if you do.

If you want to sell your stuff at the high end, you can’t take a low end approach. Spraying and praying emails and DMs is a great way to be seen as low end. Take a targeted approach if you want to charge what you’re worth. Be specific - why are you reaching out to that person specifically? 🚩Not “are you running a business?” 🎯But “looked up your business, saw your content, how was it working with client X?” Be relevant - why now? 🚩Not “I want to sell you” not even “I want to help you” 🎯But “Saw you mention this in your content” “saw you just got funding” “saw you just made a new hire.” The specifics and the relevance will build trust and urgency if you do it right. The rest of the conversation is easy if you have trust. The salesperson who builds the trust wins the opportunity and the ability to not have to discount.

Don’t ever start your cold email with "Can we hop on a quick call?" People hate being sold to, but they love getting free value. So, instead, lead with a sample, case study, or custom audit, you're demonstrating your capabilities without asking for commitment. Here are the 3 most effective value anchors I use: 1) Case studies Perfect for complex offers where you need to showcase results. "We helped [Client] automate their entire client onboarding process, saving 100+ hours per month." 2) Custom samples Works best when you can create something specific to their business. "I recorded a quick video explaining how we can add 15 sales calls to your calendar each month." 3) Free audits Ideal for identifying specific problems. "I noticed your current landing page is hurting conversions. Mind if I share what I found?" These emails generate significantly higher reply rates compared to direct meeting requests.  You should provide value first, build curiosity, and then make the ask.

✉️ B2B email outreach is getting tougher, but the biggest culprit isn’t what most people think. A few years ago, you could spray and pray with cold emails, and as long as your emails looked genuine and you had a decent domain reputation, your messages would land in the inbox. Fast forward to today—many B2B outreach campaigns are struggling. Why? Some of it is due to shifts in spam filters. The way providers classify emails has changed, and if you’re not keeping up, you're already behind. But let’s be real—most of the time, it’s not just the filters. It’s the poor targeting, weak messaging, and a complete disconnect from the recipient’s actual needs. If your email screams, "I want something from you," rather than "Here’s how I can make your life easier," then don’t be surprised when it gets ignored. Or worse—marked as spam. And let me tell you, inbox placement and sender reputation drops for one main reason: people marking your emails as spam. So, what’s the fix? 👉 Strip out all the noise and measure one core KPI. For cold emails, I like replies—because no matter how many opens or clicks you get, if no one is replying, what’s the point? 👉 Reduce friction. Change the angle of your emails. Ask a question instead of pitching right away. Offer the value. Make it about them, not you. 👉 Before blaming your whole strategy, try sending separate campaigns to different ISPs. You might discover that emails to Google and Proofpoint scale just fine, but Microsoft (🤦♂️) and Mimecast are a nightmare. That’s gold right there—because now you know where the problem is, and you can adapt. B2B email isn’t dead. But lazy email? That’s been buried six feet under. Fix the messaging. Find the friction. Measure what matters. And watch your inbox placement improve.