Why Some People Hate Cold Emails & What We Can Do About It

Bruce Martinus | 1/7/2021 | 6 min read

There are two main reasons why people hate cold emails:

1) They receive tons of generic messages that all have the same tone, and same proposals to their personal email address – the place where they don’t like receiving unsolicited messages.

2) Sending an email that provides no value whatsoever. All this shows, in reality, is that the sender doesn’t actually care about the recipient at all, but for some reason, they assume the recipient will be bothered about what they’re saying – which is never the case.

Truthfully, most cold emails smell generic from a mile away.

In a lot of cases when someone decides to send cold emails, they’ll buy a list of contacts in bulk that’s probably been used many times before, and send an extremely crappy message that shows no genuine interest in the prospect.

It’s the same as throwing mud at a wall in the hopes of a few pieces of it sticking.

But that is a poor method, and it’s probably the main reason why cold emails are hated so much.

So, What Can We Do About It?

If we’re able to fully identify the different elements that cause cold emails to be highly annoying, we can start cutting out those exact elements from our own cold outreach.

For example with the 2 reasons stated above, what can we do about making them less annoying?

1) We can create a highly personalized message, as we are sending it to a personal email, where personal messages arrive to.

2) We can send a message to the recipient that shows we do actually really care about them, we can help them, and we need to show them we care before we start asking them to care about us.

Who Are You Talking To?

If our goal is to send a personalized message, then it’s pretty important to know the person we’re speaking to.

Now, I’m not saying that you need to know every little detail about the person you’re speaking to, but it’s important to know these things about your ideal customer:

The language they use in the industry
Their pain points
Their interests

And that’s how we can start to shape our message.

Reach Out To Personal Verified Email Addresses

Sure, there’s more effort needed from your end to find a personal email address, but again, the idea of a personal cold email is to make it personal.

If we’re sending to an address like; “info@companyname.com” or “sales@companyname.com”, there’s a high chance that your email will never be read by the decision-maker.

We also have to make sure that the personal email is verified, and we’re able to actually send messages there.

Otherwise, you’ve just wasted a lot of time and energy sending an email to nobody.

Showing The Recipient That The Message Is Intended For Them

It’s amazing to think how many people think a simple “Hi Bob” is enough to make an email super personalized.

Truth is that pretty much every single email we receive starts with our name – no matter where it comes from.

Have you ever actually responded to an email that begins with your name, followed by a bunch of words that provide nothing to you?

To show that we truly care about our prospect we need to find something that we can make a connection with.

The simplest way to do this is by checking their Linkedin profile, social media pages, and website if they’re active on there – and then we can make a comment or congratulate them on any recent stories they’ve shared.

Write Like You Talk

Here’s a good example of a poorly written, generic email:

“Good Afternoon Bob.

My name is John and I work for {Your Company}. We provide {Service 1}, {Service 2} and {Service 3}.

Please let us know how we can help you.

Thanks.”

That email is going to the bin quicker than a speeding bullet.

The only companies that write in this tone are the ones that bring you bad news. I don’t know one single person who has ever said that they like reading stiff-toned emails.

It makes them feel like they’ve done something wrong.

Try this instead;

“Hey Bob, just saw {Company}’s post on Linkedin. Congratulations on achieving the award for {Award Name} at {Event Name}!

Was just interrupting your day because {Transition Into Your Valuable Proposition}…”

Which email would you be more likely to respond to? The first example, or the second?

It Doesn’t Need To Look Pretty

I believe there are many people out there who confuse cold emails with email newsletters.

And while newsletters are great, this isn’t what we’re trying to achieve. One of the main differences is that you have to subscribe to newsletters and they normally land in your inbox with nice graphics, colors, borders, etc.

This is the exact the opposite of sending a personal email to someone who we’ve never contacted before.

Your cold email should never look like a newsletter.

There are also some people who think that bolding sentences and using tons of CAPITAL LETTERS will help the chances of your email standing out.

Again – this looks generic, not personal.

A personal email is sent to a group of chosen people with whom we want to try and conduct business – it can’t look or feel like a newsletter that’s sent to thousands of subscribers.

Your recipient needs to feel like you’re talking to them, and them only.

In Conclusion…

People will love your cold email instead of hating it if you do 3 things:

1. Find out who you are speaking to and what resonates with them.

2. Write in a conversational tone without sounding robotic, monotone, or angry.

3. Personalize your message to show your prospect that the email is actually intended for them, nobody else.