attend a specific event

company raise funds

department head count growth

target has a new role / new company

company is recruiting for a specific role

Uses a complementary / competitor tool

Bad reviews of competitor (g2, capterra, etc.)

linkedin company (or competitor) page followers

Same investors as your company

competitors of your clients

industry trends

downloads some of your content (ebook, etc.)

new legislation

company expansion, entering new markets, M&a

good / bad quarter results

happy users that have changed company

icebreakers

liquid syntax

custom video

custom images

custom GIF

custom landing page

physical object (via mail)

Tips on their current process

ebook about problem X

checklist about problem X

free course about problem X

event about problem X

case study very similar to them

warm each email address up for at least 1 month

use a deliverability booster after the warmup phase

keep open rate above 45%*, and bounce rate below 5%

Send less than 100 emails / day / email address

Use less 10 emails addresses / domain

use only 1 domain / google workspace

Avoid html, files, spam words in emails

check you’re not on a blacklist

fill out your gmail profile

personalize all emails

only Target people that will be interested

use a dedicated domain name for outbound

set your DKIM, SPF, MX Record, CTD and dmarc up

increase sending volume slowly & consistently

Verify all email addresses, no matter their source

keep a healthy ratio between emails received / sent

check if your domain is on a blacklist

make sure DKIM, SPF, MX Record, Custom tracking

domain and dmarc are set up properly

make sure your google profile is filled out

stop sending any kind of email, even transactional

put each email address into lemwarm

deliverability cheat sheet P.1

check after 2-3 months if the burned domain shows

signs of recovery

In most cases, it’s impossible to recover a burned

domain. This is why deliverability should be a high

priority from the start.

Assuming your leads care about who you are

Sending a message right after they accept your

linkedin connection request

Adding personalization just for the sake of it

trying to sell from the cold email

asking for a call in the first message

not reaching out based on triggers

not targeting the right leads

following up without bringing value

Focusing on the sale instead of the relationship

Talking more about you than your lead

following up less than 4-6 times

Having a generic approach that everybody uses

ignoring deliverability rules

Not A/B testing your approaches

If you don’t think you can help a lead, be honest

put your lead’s needs above yours

sales is about relationships

sales is about listening

sales is about helping your leads make the

right decision

compete on value, not price

if what you sell is confusing, nobody will buy

give value with 0 expectations

ask “why” - try to find the motivations

tell your prospect the price, and then shut up

be comfortable in conversation blanks

feel comfortable when speaking about pricing

the less you care about sales, the more you make

rephrase what they want as what you are selling

keeping things simple

never lie, take the time to research

what can hold them back

end user / decision maker

communities they hang out in

professional / personal goals

value proposition you have for them

Stage of awareness of their pain

how important and urgent is their pain

innovator / early adopter / early majority / etc.

life time value on your product / service

take the “defining your targets p.1” cheat sheet

map out your existing customers

(not all your existing customers are ideal users)

for each of them, map out the decision makers and

the end users

order all of them into at least 3 tiers

customers that bring the most revenue

customers in between

customers that bring the less revenue

use this tier list to determine your actions

use this tier list to prioritize your actions

map the profiles of targets you don’t want

Communicate them with the rest of the company

allocate 2-hour blocks where you only do that

find the best timing to call your target

keep the bair minimum on your desk and laptop

have all the phone numbers ready before starting

turn off all distractions

record all your sessions to improve

know that your first calls will be rusty

put your leads in campaigns before calling

change the pain mentioned based on the target

research your leads before calling

find personalization for each lead before the call

Prepare a glass of water

know what to say if you need to leave a voice msg

prepare open-ended questions

Prepare for objections

have your agenda ready to reschedule the call

focus on getting an interest & setting a meeting

know what you are going to say

match your lead’s energy (e.g. tone)

smile during the whole call

never get on your nerves

cap each call at 3-5 minutes

have a positive mindset

train infront a mirror before starting

be clear with your call to action

take notes during the call

don’t give up after the first objection

Stand out from all the other calls they receive

don’t overwhelm your leads with information

ask interesting & relevant questions

repeat the last part of their answer if you want

them to elaborate

open rate

- below 50% → not good

- above 50% → good

- above 80% → great

positive reply / meetings booked rate

- below 3% → not good

- above 4% → good

- above 10% → great

- above 30% → amazing

100-150 new leads contacted / sdr / week

don’t be a spammer

include between 6 to 14 steps

space every step by a couple of days (4, 6, 8)

bring value at every step

rotate between more and less engaging steps

- more eng. = linkedin message / email

- less eng. = Linkedin invite / profile visit / like

feel free to add humour

include original steps (e.g. linkedin vocal)

change the subject line every couple of emails

push the lead into another campaign

- only after 2-3 months

- use a completely different approach / problem

- produce linkedin content in the mean time

Focus on another target within the same company

Follow linkedin invitation request limits

- normal account: max 100 / week

- premium account: max 180 / week

- be consistent

keep your pending invitation requests below 250

removing pending requests

don’t scrape over 1,000 profiles per day

avoid activity peaks (includes comments, likes, etc.)

don’t message people right after they accept you

create valuable content to attract your targets

and give you more credibility when reaching out

turn off “view similar” in your setting to avoid

having competitor profile suggested on yours

turn most chrome extensions off after using them

they might trigger ln to restrict your account

“Wanted to connect because I noticed your role.”

“I understand you are extremely occupied but...”

“I'm sure you’ve got a lot on your plate.”

“Just wanted to follow-up.”

“your company being a possible fit, we’d like to...”

“here are the services we provide: ...”

“just an introduction, we are...”

“Linkedin suggested your profile to me”

“I noticed that our interests are quite similar so...”

“So I thought it would make sense to...”

“Hope this message finds you well.”

“would love to tell you a little about what I do...”

“Please don't think of this as a sales pitch. I am...”

“Being from the same industry I think...”

“I just came across your profile through our

mutual connections and...”

bring value

add personalization

keep your signature simple

focus on building a relationship

make 99% of the copy about the lead

Make the call to action crystal clear

don’t talk about my product / services

make the copy friendly, short and clear

make the “what’s in it for them” obvious

remove all fluff (e.g. I hope you are okay)

focus on the reply to validate the interest

use grammarly to avoid awkward situations

Stand out from all the other emails they receive

send a sample on your phone to preview it properly

use simple words that people will understand

No caps

keep it short

make it casual

don’t be misleading

be different

don’t sound like a marketing email

have a neutral tone

make it boring

make people curious

make it feel like it was a friend reaching out

use keywords that will interest them

A/B test with personalization

Tease value

don’t make it appear salesy

give a compliment

{{random industry words}} (e.g. sales workflow)

{{first_name}} told me about you, {{first_name}}

loved {{product_name}}, but...

# ideas for {{pain_point}}

re: {{project name}}

are you coming?

{{icebreaker}}

(No subject)

as promised

You’re in?

{{industry}} question

I made it easy for you

are you coming to {{event_name}}

feedback about {{product_name}}

{{first_name}} <> {{your_first_name}}

found this about {{company_name}} on youtube

{{goal}} achieved

{{goal}} unlocked

{{topic}} update

{{topic}} insights

{{topic}} tips

{{topic}} method

{{topic}} framework

{{topic}} progress

{{topic}} milestone

{{product}} launch

{{product}} milestone

{{Problem}} quick fix

{{problem}} status

{{industry}} insights

{{industry}} question

{{industry}} strategy

{{project}} approved

{{problem}} expert

{{problem}} report

{{Problem}} catch-up

{{topic}} experts

{{topic}} report

{{topic}} catch-up

{{topic}} 1:1

{{topic}} Reschedule

{{topic}} optimization

{{topic}} results

{{topic}} fails

{{topic}} method

{{industry}} progress

Next week?

quick win

focus on:

- the same type of targets

- the same time of the year

- the same sample size

use a sample size of minimum 100 per test

test 1 thing at a time

- add humor

- use very short copy

- go multichannel

- test subject lines

- test the value proposition

- test the type of call to action

- change the step order

- test personalization type (icebreaker, custom iMG

custom landing page, ect. / density

- change the type of target in the company

- test campaign goals (e.g. sales, networking calls)

websites (e.g. nathan latka saas list)