What is the best way to go when it comes to selling software?
There are plenty of strategies that you can try, but there is one efficient method that you shouldn’t overlook: cold outreach. However, there's a twist. You can’t just send out generic emails and hope for the best.
So how can you make your emails stand out in your prospect’s inbox and increase your revenue?
Let's see how Matas Povilauskas, the CEO of SALT Sales Agency, would rewrite a bad cold email example.
Here's a cold email that promotes an event management platform to event managers at start-ups👇
Now, based on Matas expertise, we put together a list of dos and don’ts that you can try on your next cold outreach email and boost your response rates.
Mistake #1: No questions were made
No question mark → No call to action → No replies.
Without asking your prospects any questions, you don’t give them the opportunity to engage with your email. Instead, they will passively read your email, leaving you to wonder why your reply rates are going down.
Moreover, by asking a relevant question, you show your prospect that you understand their pain points and goals. And that you can offer them valuable information or solutions.
Mistake #2: Looks like a mass email
Without adding custom variables and personalizing your cold emails, they will look like they were sent in bulk. This shows to your prospects that you didn’t do proper research about them. Without any personal or company name, they might wonder if they were supposed to receive this email or if it was a mistake.
Not only will this make them skip reading your emails, but they might unsubscribe or report the email as spam.
Mistake #3: It’s self-focused
“I admit”, “I hope”, and “We are” are patterns of self-centered emails that won’t push your prospects to reply as there’s nothing in it about and for them.
This is definitely a cold email mistake that you should avoid if you want to get more replies.
Here’s how Matas would rewrite this cold email for higher reply chances:
What tips can you replicate from this email for more replies?
Tip #1: Interrupt the pattern
Matas advises that you should replace the usual greeting forms with an immediate introduction. This way, you can catch your prospects’ attention straight from the inbox and differentiate yourself from the countless messages. By breaking the monotony of their inbox, you create an opportunity for your email to pique their curiosity.
By doing so, you increase the likelihood of engagement and response.
Tip #2: Use personalization & segmentation
Use as many custom variables as it makes sense to show that your email was specially crafted for a specific lead.
You can address your prospect by name, reference a previous interaction, or acknowledge a specific detail about their business or industry.
Personalization adds to your cold email outreach a human touch which helps you to create a relationship with your prospect.
Segmentation, such as mentioning the technology they use, will prove you know your prospects and make your offer more relevant.
The truth is you should include both personalization and segmentation in your cold email outreach for selling software.
Tip #3: Use “light” call to action
Without asking prospects to book a meeting and sending them a calendar, you can focus on confirming their interest first. This will help you form a more genuine connection and hop on the selling software part more easily later.
Tip #4: Make it short enough to fit a mobile screen
Short emails like this one take less than 15 seconds and make it easily readable on the go. Short (but valuable) emails minimize the effort needed from prospects and increase your chances of getting a reply.
Just reviewed {{Company.Name}}’s “{{Event.Name}}” recording. Hands down top-notch content you have cooking over there, {{First.Name}}.
Looks like you chose {{Technology}} to host the event. Word’s on the market that their ROI calculation side could use a boost.
Would you agree?
Cheers,
Follow these Matas' key tips if you want to get more replies to your cold emails & sell your software:
-> Break the pattern to stand out from the crowd
-> Use researched personalization to grab prospects' attention
-> Confirm the interest before pushing a sale
-> Craft concise mobile-friendly emails
You can watch Matas's full cold email teardown here!
PS: Want more tips? Request outbound experts to review your cold emails here.
G2 Rating | Price | Best for | Standout feature | Con | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
4.9 star star star star star | $30/mo $75/mo $2,999/mo | Large, distributed sales teams | AI evaluation precision, gamified KPIs | Lack of tracking system | |
4.6 star star star star star-half | Not publicly available | Sales operations and finance teams | Powerful configurability | Limited training resources and complex to navigate | |
4.4 star star star star star-half | Not publicly available | Mid-market and enterprise businesses | Comprehensive incentive management | Potentially high cost and steep learning curve | |
4.7 star star star star star-half | $15/user/mo $40/user/mo Enterprise: custom price | Complex sales structures and businesses of all sizes | Complex sales structures and businesses of all sizes | Steep learning curve | |
4.6 star star star star star-half | Not publicly available | Collaborative teams | Connected planning | Complexity and steep learning curve | |
4.6 star star star star star-half | Not publicly available | Companies with complex sales structures | Complex incentive compensation management (ICM) with high efficiency and accuracy | Complexity for smaller teams and potentially high costs | |
4.7 star star star star star-half | Not publicly available | Companies who want to automate commission calculations and payouts | Simplicity and ease of use | Lack of features like redirection | |
4.7 star star star star star-half | $30/user/mo $35/user/mo Custom: upon request | Businesses that need a comprehensive and user-friendly sales compensation management software | Ease of use and adoption | Lack of ability to configure the product based on user needs | |
4.8 star star star star star-half | Not publicly available | Companies with modern sales culture and businesses who want real-time insights | A built-in dispute management and real-time visibility | Users say it works slowly, customer support is slow | |
4.9 star star star star star | $30/user/mo $50/user/mo | Smaller sales teams | Powerful automation | Lesser user base and average user interface | |
4.7 star star star star star-half | Not publicly available | Companies with scalable needs | Automated Commission Calculations | Lack of filtering by date, no mobile app |
PRM Tool | Rating | Feature | Pro | Con | Mobile App | Integrations | Free Plan | Pricing |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
4.65 star star star star star-half | Org-wide alignment | User-friendly layout and database | Suboptimal as a personal CRM | square-check | Lack of tracking system | square-check | Team: $20/month Business: $45/month | |
4.7 star star star star star-half | Social Media Integration | Easy contact data collection | No marketing/sales features | square-check | Lack of tracking system | square-xmark 7-day trial | $12/month | |
4.75 star star star star star-half | Block Functions | High customization capability | Not a dedicated CRM | square-check | Limited | square-check | Plus: €7.50/month Business: €14/month | |
N/A | Open-source | Open-source flexibility | Requires extensive manual input | square-xmark | Limited | square-check Self-hosted | $9/month or $90/year | |
3.1 star star star | Simple iOS app | Ideal for non-tech-savvy users | iPhone only | square-check iOS only | Limited | square-xmark 1-month trial | $1.49/month or $14.99/month | |
3.6 star star star star-half | Smart Contact Management | Feature-rich and flexible | Reported bugs | square-check | Rich | square-xmark 7-day trial | Premium: $13.99/month Teams: $17.99/month | |
4.4 star star star star star-half | Customizable Interface | Customizable for teamwork | Pricey for personal use | square-check | Rich | square-xmark | Standard: $24/member Premium: $39/member | |
4.7 star star star star star-half | Integrated Calling | Integrated Calling | Too sales-oriented & pricey | square-check | Rich | square-xmark 14-day trial | Startup: $59/user/month Professional: $329/user/month | |
4.8 star star star star star | Business Card Scanning | Business Card Scanning | Mobile only | square-check | Limited | square-check | $9.99/month | |
4.45 star star star star star-half | 160+ app integrations | Comprehensive integrations | No free app version | square-check | Rich | square-xmark 14-day trial | $29.90/month or $24.90/month (billed annually) |
Capterra Rating | Free Trial | Free Plan | Starting Price (excluding the free plan) | Maximum Price (for the most expensive plan) | Best for | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
4.5 star star star star star-half | square-check 14-day | square-check | €15/month/seat billed annually | €792/month/3 seats billed annually + €45/month for each extra seat | Versatility and free plan | |
4.2 star star star star | square-check 30-day | square-xmark But it offers reduced price to authorised nonprofit organisations | €25/user/month | €500/user/month billed annually (includes Einstein AI) | Best overall operational CRM | |
4.3 star star star star star-half | square-xmark | square-check Limited to 3 users | Comprehensive incentive management | €52/user/month billed annually | Small-medium businesses and automation | |
4.5 star star star star star-half | square-check 14-day | square-xmark | €14/seat/month billed annually | €99/seat/month billed annually | Sales teams and ease of use | |
4.1 star star star star | square-xmark | square-check Limited 10 users | $9.99/user/month billed annually | $64.99/user/month billed annually | Free plan for very small teams up to 10 |
CRM goal | Increase the sales conversion rate for qualified leads from marketing automation campaigns by 10% in the next 6 months. | ||||
SMART Breakdown | 1. Specific: It targets a specific area (conversion rate) for a defined segment (qualified leads from marketing automation). | 2. Measurable: The desired increase (10%) is a clear metric, and the timeframe (6 months) allows for progress tracking. | 3. Achievable: A 10% increase is possible based on historical data and potential improvements. | 4. Relevant: Boosting sales from marketing efforts aligns with overall business objectives. | 5. Time-bound: The 6-month timeframe creates urgency and a clear target date. |
Actions | Step 1: Refine lead qualification criteria to ensure high-quality leads are nurtured through marketing automation. | Step 2: Personalize marketing automation campaigns based on lead demographics, interests, and behavior. | Step 3: Develop targeted landing pages with clear calls to action for qualified leads. | Step 4: Implement lead scoring to prioritize high-potential leads for sales follow-up. | Step 5: Track and analyze campaign performance to identify areas for optimization. |
Outcomes | Increased sales and revenue | Improved marketing automation ROI | Marketing and sales alignment | Data-driven marketing optimization |