Building a candidate pipeline with email

Cold email didn’t die. It just evolved. And the average didn’t evolve with it. Let’s talk about what’s actually working right now: 1. Personalisation ≠ Relevance “Hi {firstName}, saw you’re in {industry}” isn’t personal. It’s lazy. We stopped writing intros for job titles and started writing for the moment they’re in: → Just hired a BDR team? That’s a signal. → Head of Sales just left? That’s a conversation starter. → Running outbound with no reply strategy? That’s our in. A-Leads lets us find those signals fast - then Claygent turns them into intros that don’t feel like spam. 2. Follow-ups that do more than “bump” If your follow-up starts with “just checking in” - stop. We’ve tested this at scale: value-driven chasers get 3x more replies. Try this instead: • Share a relevant case study • Ask a referral question with a real colleague name • Point out a signal they might’ve missed • Offer a mini insight they can use now Keep the thread going by giving it a reason to exist. 3. Segment by Pain, not Persona Firmographics are the tip of the iceberg. We build lists based on pain. Timing. Movement. Here’s what that looks like in the wild: → A SaaS company that just raised and hasn’t hired a Head of RevOps? That’s pain. → A logistics brand hiring SDRs but no enablement manager? That’s a process gap. → A brand launching a product while slashing ad spend? That’s pipeline panic. These aren’t “leads.” They’re moments. And the best outbound plays into moments - not just job titles. — The difference? → Old cold email: “Hope you’re doing well!” → New cold email: “We noticed you’re doing X. That usually means X. Want help?” Same message. Different strategy. Better replies. Built with A-Leads. Scaled with Clay. Tested on thousands of real conversations. If you’re still relying on persona alone… it’s time to get personal in the right way.

Most recruiters are getting tools like SourceWhale wrong. Multi-touch campaigns are essential but most follow-up's aren't working. Here are 3 sales sequences that engage. First, though let me be clear... ...Overhauling your email game is essential. The amount of noise and spam out there is increasing exponentially. Email sequencing tools are powerful. But increased volume means the time people spend scanning messages is going down. Hyper-relevant, super-short messages that drive curiosity are key. Hyper-relevant = segmented to sub 50 people. (If more than 30-50 people will resonate with your message add detail) Super short = sub 50 words (Two reasons 1, short is readable,✔️ 2, short emails leave questions ✔️) ______________________📩______________________ To the sequences SEQEUNCE 1: 1 PROBLEM + 3 SYMPTOMS. [trigger: cold new business] Email 1: Overviews the problem you solve Email 2: Introduces three symptoms Email 3: Gives context to symptom A Email 4: Gives context to symptom B Email 5: Gives context to symptom C Email 6: Summarises the thread Email 7: B-bye for now SEQUENCE 2: LEAD FOLLOW-UP [trigger: client with active vacancy] Email 1: Noticed the vacancy. You might have problem a, b or c (with hiring) Email 2: Spec profile. We placed this guy/gal with competitor. Need help? Email 3: Case study: Hiring this role was tough for comp. How you fixed it. Email 4: Feedback on the ad. Is it working? Email 5: How diverse is your talent pool? We've got a plan. Worth sharing? Email 6: Guess you've made an offer. B-bye for now. Onboarding guide. SEQEUNCE 3: Classic spec [trigger: You found good fit candidate for regular (monthly) hirer] Email 1: Meeting this profile later. Could help with [X goal]. Any questions? Email 2: Met them. Want to know what they said about [x topic/project]? Email 3: Reference - This is what their former boss told me. Email 4: Could be missing the mark. Is it factor, A, B or C. Email 5: They have options. Just want to know where you stand. Email 6: Guess you're working towards X [goal] instead? Ok, so this is not a guide. It only covers sequences. There is way more too it. And there's a lot more to nailing your email outreach too. But the classic follow-up's, nudges and begging messages kill results. PS. Resonant loves SourceWhale but whichever tool you're using the message is the same. Up your follow-up game. ____________________________________________________ Fed up with shortform content? Join me on Substack. Actionable, thought out, provocative longform, content designed to change the way you think.

A framework to start adding $100k/month pipeline: (fast and consistently with cold email) 1. Deep Understanding → Know your product → Know your audience → Know their problems → Know your solution 2. Tech Setup → Infrastructure for safe volume sending → Validate domains/subdomains → Constantly rotate domains → Use email warm up tools 3. Campaign Building → Target the right people → Use the right message → Build targeted lists → Batch personas (TOOL TIPS: LinkedIn Sales Nav + Apollo [dot] io) 4. Email Crafting → 10 variations of pain/motivation/fear → Clear, concise and interesting → Encourage micro-commitments → Short, relevant subject line (AVOID: asking for 15 minutes of their time) 5. Testing & Iterating → Try new subject lines, pain points, motivations → Take worst two, create new messages → Relentlessly analyze the data TL;DR: 1. Deep Understanding 2. Tech Setup 3. Campaign Building 4. Email Crafting 5. Testing & Iterating Use this framework to scale your cold emails.