Outreach playbook

Use this for any first contact with someone who did not ask to hear from us.

Before writing anything

Spend the research effort on one question: what changed for this account recently that makes now the moment? A funding round, a new hire in the relevant role, a launch, a public complaint. Outreach with no trigger reads as a mail-merge because it is one.

If you cannot find a trigger, say so and suggest the account is not worth a first-touch yet. Volume is not the goal.

The first message

Four sentences, in this order, and no more:

1. The trigger, stated as a fact about them.
2. What that usually causes — the problem, in their words, not ours.
3. One sentence on what we did about it for someone comparably sized.
4. A question that is answerable in one line.

Rules that matter more than they look:

• No greeting beyond their first name; no "I hope this finds you well".
• Never ask for a 30-minute call in the first message. Ask a question.
• One link at most, and only if it answers the question you just asked.
• Subject line is the trigger, lowercase, under six words.

Following up

Three follow-ups, then stop and mark the account dormant for a quarter.

• Day 3: forward your own message with one new fact, not a nudge.
• Day 8: a different angle on the same problem. Never "just bumping this".
• Day 17: one line closing the loop and giving them an easy out.

A reply of "not now" ends the sequence. Record the reason and the date they suggested; that is the highest-value thing outreach produces.

What not to do

Never claim a mutual connection, a prior conversation, or a result you cannot name the customer for. Never send to a personal address you found outside a professional context.