As a market intelligence tool, we’ve worked with a number of companies in this space right from recruitment AI companies to assessment platforms to staffing companies. In this article, we will discuss 5 cold prospecting email templates that are guaranteed to get you a response.
We’ve had the opportunity to closely watch what intel has worked for each of them to get an impressive response and demo rates. This article aims to draw insights from all those ‘success stories’, if you will, and present to you some sales templates you could experiment with.
Of course, some elements of how successful your campaigns turn out could be very specific to your company; still, there’s merit in looking at what’s worked for others and adopting some into your own outreach.
Looking for hacks to sell into the HR function? Check out this article first.
Few Pointers to Help Maximize Open, Response, and Demo Rates:
The ‘Sandwich Approach’ could add immensely to your visibility
Cold emailing is but one channel to reach your prospect and it is influenced by whether or not you have caught their attention on other channels. As a sales rep, it makes sense to make your presence felt across the board – be it on Linkedin, Twitter, Medium, Youtube, Instagram, or Facebook. We’ve found that the mere act of adding someone on Linkedin before sending out email jacks up the open and response rates.
Your subject line is critical
It matters not how great your template is if your subject line is not enticing enough to cause your prospects to open the email. Trust us on this one – we learned it the hard way. We would spend endless hours on writing the best ever copy of the template the planet has seen and would wonder why our response rates were at the rock bottom. After much experimentation, we lucked into a subject line that had at least 70-80% of our prospects opening the email and then saw the response rates shoot up too.
Be innovative while drafting your email templates
Use GIFs. Use screenshots. Use images to communicate rather than word-heavy descriptions. An image is truly worth a thousand words. But don’t forget your email etiquette.
Now, coming specifically to writing to HR decision makers and influencers. Two important points about the HR space: firstly, it’s overcrowded in terms of the number of organizations wanting to sell to the same set of people. Secondly, the number of tools that provide lead and account-level intel aren’t as many. This means that the HR decision makers are constantly bombarded with emails without much customization. Standing out has never been more important!
Finally, here is a set of templates we’ve seen work well. We have highlighted the intel used that might capture a prospect’s interest:
Initial Outreach Email Templates
Template 1
Intel Used: Open reqs in the company and customers in their space who’ve adopted your product
Hi {!Name},
I was looking for the best person to get in touch with at {!Company} for initiatives that significantly improve recruitment processes. I noticed that you are the {!Designation} and thought you might be the right person to write to.
{!Company} has {!Number} open positions currently, going by the careers page. {!Your Company} is software automation for recruitment – it speeds up hiring by 3x. With your large hiring targets in mind, I think we could be of tremendous help.
Thank you reading this far. In case this interests you, I’d love to give you a live demo and see if there is a fit for our solution with your team.
Just let me know a good day/time and I can set us up a call!
Thanks,
{!Your name}
PS: Feel free to explore our website. Our customers include X,Y,Z amongst {!Number of customers} others.
Template 2 (This is one of the powerful email templates)
Intel Used: Applicant Tracking System used by the prospect’s organization
{!Name},
Just noticed that your team uses {!ATS name} as the primary ATS to help close {!Open Reqs} open requisitions. We help companies like X,Y, and others with an onboarding automation platform that integrates with your ATS.
Would love to understand your hiring priorities for for the year and discuss more about how we can help save time for your TA folks! Let me know what time works best.
Thanks
{!Your name}
Follow-Up Email Templates
1st Follow-Up Email
Template 1:
Intel used: Open requisitions in the company and external stats to justify statement
Hi {!Name},
I’d written to you a few days ago and I’m sure you’ve had your hands full.
I gather from the careers page that {!Company} is looking to fill {!Number} positions in the US alone. We figure it takes about 8 interviews per req so that is about {!Interviews} which involves a lot of scheduling, back and forth and following up, taking at least {!Hours} hours of time every month ( here is an article with the stats).
I’m enclosing a short overview of {!Your Company} can help. In case this looks interesting, I’d love to have a chat. Is there a time that works for you this week?
Best,
{!Your name}
Template 2:
Intel used: Fiscal year
{!Name}
I see that you are approaching the end of your fiscal year. I was wondering if you were looking to equip your team with tools that can automate your recruitment processes?
Our platform does {!Task} faster and more reliably than a human. It saves a tremendous amount of time, provides a better candidate experience, and can lead to hiring 3x faster.
Let me know!
Best,
{!Your name}
2nd Follow-Up Email
Template 1:
Intel used: Customer names from the prospect’s industry to add credibility
Hi {!Name},
I haven’t heard back from you yet – hence trying one more time to make sure this doesn’t get stuck in a junk folder.
We work with X,Y,Z amongst others. I would highly appreciate a few minutes of your time to see if there’s a fit for our solution with your team as well.
Is there a convenient time over the next few weeks for us to speak?
Thanks in advance,
{!Your name}
Template 2:
Intel used: Quarterly financialsHi {!Name},
I noticed that {!Company} has done pretty well this quarter clocking in {!Revenue} in revenues! Congrats!
Do you think it is a good time for you to invest in tools that assist with automating mundane recruitment tasks so that your team can focus on high value-add activities? If yes, I’d love to introduce our platform to you and tell you how we help improve source to hire times and bring increased efficiency of 200% to the process.
Best,
{!Your name}
3rd Follow-Up Email
Template 1:
Intel used: None. A one-liner follow up to grab attention.Hi {!Name},
I don’t intend to bother you with reminder emails, but could you please let me know your thoughts on this?
Thanks,
{!Your name}
Template 2:
Intel used: None. A short overview of how your company can help.
{!Name}
I’d written to you a few days ago; I’m sure you’ve had your hands full. Here’s a quick, 30-sec demo of our platform.
In case this looks interesting, I’d love to have a chat. Let me know!
Best,
{!Your name}
Happy Selling!
Do try these out and/or let us know your thoughts! We would love to hear from you what has been working for you as you go about selling to HR decision makers. We’ll be sure to share more templates over the next few weeks!
