Crafting Messages That Highlight Relevant Solutions

Most reps start cold outreach with: "I saw your company..." Then wonder why they get ignored. I’ve reviewed 1000+ cold outreach messages. The ones that worked all followed the same pattern: INSIGHT → PAIN → QUESTION Most cold outreach fails because you lead with YOUR agenda: "I'd love to show you our solution..." "I think we could help you with..." Prospects immediately think: "Another sales pitch." Delete. The framework that gets 15-20% response rates: Step 1: INSIGHT Lead with something they don't know about their situation. Share an industry trend or benchmark. "Most VPs we work with don't realize that 60% of their pipeline stalls because..." Why insights work: They position you as an expert, not a salesperson. They create curiosity instead of resistance. Step 2: PAIN Connect that insight to a potential problem they might be experiencing. "...which means you're probably dealing with longer sales cycles and more 'no decisions'..." The key word is "probably." This feels consultative, not presumptuous. Step 3: QUESTION Ask if they're seeing something similar. Not if they want a demo. "Are you seeing similar patterns in your pipeline?" Why questions work better: Questions start conversations. Asks trigger resistance. Full example: "Hi [Name], Most sales VPs don't realize that 73% of deals stall because reps are selling to champions instead of decision makers. This usually shows up as lots of 'positive feedback' but deals dying in committee. Are you seeing similar patterns where reps have great conversations but struggle to get deals across the finish line? Best, [Your name]" What this accomplishes: ✅You sound different from every other rep ✅You lead with value instead of ask ✅You focus on their problem, not your solution The psychological shift: Instead of "This rep wants something from me," they think "This person might understand my situation." Common mistakes to avoid: ✅Don't make the insight too generic ✅Don't make the pain too assumptive ✅Don't end with a meeting ask The result: 15-20% response rates because you sound like a consultant, not a vendor. Stop pitching. Start consulting. — AEs! Check out the 3 questions that break through price objections here: https://lnkd.in/gbBjgxxS Sales Leaders: Want to install a revenue system that your reps can follow? DM me.

Sales folks, take note! Spamming a target company's employees with your services and requests for meetings will result in your company making its way onto a buyer's blocklist. As a buyer in the localization industry, I receive dozens of emails and LinkedIn requests every single day from vendors looking to showcase translation, AI, QA services, and more. It's not humanly possible to give personal replies to every outreach. When vendors can't get through to me, they often reach out to everyone on my team... and sometimes to many others across my company. I'd love for this practice to stop. It wastes valuable company time and makes a vendor appear desperate and non-strategic. Here's what to do instead: 1. Appeal to ego! Invite a target company’s decision-maker to a panel, or start a vlog series and ask buyers to appear and discuss industry topics. It’s also a great opportunity to reposition your company as a thought leader. 2. Offer genuine insight, not just services. Share a case study, white paper, or benchmarking data that’s actually useful to the buyer’s role, and do it without a sales pitch. 3. Build a reputation before you build a pipeline. Comment thoughtfully on posts. Contribute to community conversations. If you consistently show up with value, you’re far more likely to get noticed. 4. Target smarter, not broader. Don’t shotgun your message to an entire company. Learn the org. Understand the buyer’s scope. Then send one well-researched, personalized note that shows you actually did your homework. 5. Focus on mutual value. Can you help solve a known pain point or offer perspective on something changing in the market? Frame your outreach around collaboration, not consumption. 6. Use timing to your advantage. Keep tabs on when companies are hiring for roles associated with your offerings, launching in new markets, or attending conferences. That’s when buyers are more receptive to new solutions. 7. Lead with generosity. Offer a no-strings-attached resource, intro, or suggestion that doesn’t benefit you directly. Reciprocity is a powerful trust builder. And please! Don't ever ever call me on the phone! ;)

Fact: Outbound sales is broken. Incentives and strategies are misaligned. Tools like Salesloft and Outreach didn’t cause it. They amplified it. Now marketing and sales need to work together to fix it. The real issue is that sales managers push SDRs to prioritize volume over quality, leading to generic outreach that no one wants to read. Fixing this starts with focus. Give SDRs a small set of accounts, 30 per quarter, and tier them into A, B, and C priorities (using tools like Clay, Tofu, Unify). This makes it clear who they’re targeting and allows them to spend their time understanding the industries, companies, and people they’re reaching out to. Instead of chasing volume, they can dive deep into the problems their prospects are trying to solve. With the right tools, resources and 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴, SDRs can educate themselves on the pain points, motivations, and challenges of their target audience. They can craft outreach that adds value and speaks directly to what matters most. Take me as an example. If you’re reaching out to someone like me at MoEngage, don’t send lazy, cookie-cutter emails like: “Does getting more pipeline keep you up at night” “Would you be interested in getting more qualified meetings” “Do you want customer lists of your competitors?” “Are you still interested?” “I haven’t heard back. I’ll assume this isn’t a priority.” These don’t work. They’re noise. If you want my attention, show me you’ve done your homework. Understand that I’m focused on growing in North America. Recognize the challenges of expanding into a crowded market. Tell me something valuable about how companies like mine are navigating those problems and how you can help. This approach may lead to fewer meetings overall, but the meetings you get will be better. SDRs and AEs will know their audience. They’ll understand the pain points. They’ll deliver messaging that lands because it’s relevant and thoughtful. And this isn’t just a sales problem. Marketing has to help. Marketing should train SDRs and AEs with insights about the market, the ICP, and the problems worth solving. Outbound sales works best when sales and marketing are aligned, working together to get the right message in front of the right people. Stop trying to get more meetings. Focus on getting better ones.

When it comes to outbound emails, Personalization is not what gets replies (sorry GTM gurus). RELEVANCE gets replies. Relevance > Personalization. 🟡 Personalization is about making the email feel specific to the person. 🟢 Relevance is about making the email matter to the person. HUGE difference. The problem with many personalized emails is that they focus on superficial details that have nothing to do with the prospect’s actual challenges or goals. Saying, “Hey, I saw you went to [University]!” (or were on XYZ podcast or have a specific job title or are connected to so and so) - none of this creates value. It just shows you (er, your subscription to Clay) can copy and paste information found on the world wide web. Cool 👍 On the other hand, relevance is about tying your message directly to the problems your prospect is trying to solve or the outcomes they’re trying to achieve. It’s about showing you understand what they’re dealing with and positioning yourself as someone who can help. For example, attached is one I got this morning. The problem? It's personalized, but not relevant to me. How could this email have been put together differently to factor in both personalization, AND relevancy? Here is an example (of course it could be MUCH better than what I wrote, if I was actually in this industry and had more relevant info to share): "Hi Jeff, I know as a small business CEO, you’re likely balancing big goals with tight budgets and lean marketing resources. One challenge we often hear from leaders of bootstrapped companies is that finding cost-effective ways to get in front of their ICP with a message that resonates is hard. Podcasts can be a great solution for (XYZ reason). And our company helps with this! I just listed to your episode on (podcast name here) and thought it was great. Do you have the desire to do more, and ultimately use podcasts to drive qualified pipeline? If so, I’d love to explore how a simple podcasting strategy could help Sales Assembly connect with more revenue leaders while keeping costs low. Does that sound like something worth discussing?" _____ See the difference? This version isn’t just personalized—it’s relevant. It acknowledges my reality as a small business CEO, ties their solution directly to my potential challenges, and frames their offer in a way that feels actionable and aligned with my priorities. _____ The best emails don’t just sound like they’re written for someone—they sound like they’re written for a problem. And that’s the difference between getting ignored and getting a reply.

The inbox is a battlefield. Your email’s enemy? The ‘Delete’ button. Between promotions, spam, and auto-blasted sales pitches, your email has seconds—seconds—to stand out and survive. So how do you write an email that doesn’t get sent to the trash right away? You make it personal and valuable. Here are 5 battle-tested tips to craft personalized, high-converting outreach emails: 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆, 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘀. Ditch the “Hi, my name is…” opener. Show them you’ve done your homework. → “I saw your recent post about [specific topic]—your perspective on [insight] really stood out.” Lead with them, and they’ll be more inclined to care about you. 𝗕𝗲 𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗰 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘃𝗮𝗹𝘂𝗲. Generic promises like “We’ll save you time and money” won’t cut it. 𝗙𝗼𝗰𝘂𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝘂𝗻𝗶𝗾𝘂𝗲 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱𝘀: → “I noticed [pain point]. We helped [similar company] achieve [specific result]. Here’s how we can help you too.” 𝗞𝗲𝗲𝗽 𝗶𝘁 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝗿𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝗸𝗶𝗺𝗺𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲. Your email isn’t a novel. Busy people don’t have time to read paragraphs. → Use short sentences. → Break up text. → End with a clear ask (no more than one action). 𝗦𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱 𝗵𝘂𝗺𝗮𝗻—𝗱𝗶𝘁𝗰𝗵 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗼𝘁 𝘁𝗼𝗻𝗲. If it reads like a template, it is a template. Write how you speak. 𝗕𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗮𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲: → “Hope this finds you well—saw your team’s new project, and I’m seriously impressed.” Make the ask easy to say “yes” to. Don’t overwhelm them with a big ask. 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝘀𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲: → “Do you have 15 minutes next week to explore this? I’ll make it worth your time.” Remember this: A great email isn’t about selling—it’s about starting a conversation. Show you understand their world, add value, and respect their time. --- Follow Michael Cleary 🏳️🌈 for more tips like this. ♻️ Share with someone who needs help with their emails #sales #emails #marketing