cold-email-personalization
Complete cold email system teaching research-driven personalization, "poke the bear" openers, custom signal hunting, and strict QA.
When & Why to Use This Skill
This Claude skill provides a comprehensive, research-driven framework for building high-converting cold email systems. It focuses on hyper-personalization, strategic 'poke the bear' openers, and rigorous quality assurance to ensure every outbound message achieves maximum message-market fit and drives meaningful engagement.
Use Cases
- Personalized Outbound Campaigns: Crafting unique, signal-based first lines and email bodies that demonstrate deep prospect research and increase reply rates.
- Strategic Sequence Development: Designing multi-step email sequences that rotate value propositions and maintain a conversational tone to avoid prospect fatigue.
- Sales Quality Assurance: Implementing a strict scoring rubric and QA checklist to review drafts, ensuring all outgoing emails meet professional standards and avoid common pitfalls.
- ICP & Objection Mapping: Role-playing as skeptical prospects to identify potential objections and refine messaging strategies before launching a campaign.
| name | cold-email-personalization |
|---|---|
| description | Complete cold email system teaching research-driven personalization, "poke the bear" openers, custom signal hunting, and strict QA. |
Cold Email Personalization Skill
When to Use
- Cold Outbound Ideation: Drafting initial emails and subject lines.
- Personalization: Mapping research signals to first lines.
- Sequence Building: Creating follow-up sequences that rotate value propositions.
- QA & Optimization: Reviewing drafts against a strict rubric before sending.
Framework
- Message Market Fit > Cleverness: Show you understand the person/company immediately.
- Research IS the Personalization: Custom signals prove you did your homework.
- Personalization in the First Line: Use bracketed variables
{{...}}or whole-offer strategy. - Tight, Conversational Copy: Plain text, minimal fluff, 60–120 words.
- One Job Per Email: Single sharp question or CTA.
- Earn Replies, Not Just Meetings: Confirm situation before selling.
Core Principles
- Targeting > Messaging: Good targeting with bad messaging wastes qualified prospects.
- Two Paths to Personalization: Custom Signal Research (Path A) vs. Whole Offer Strategy (Path B).
- The "Specifically" Line: "Specifically, it looks like you're trying to sell to {{customer_type}}..."
Templates
- Research Playbook: How to find custom signals.
- Variable Schema: Standard variables to capture.
- Email Structure: Subject lines, body copy, and "punchiness".
- Campaign Types: Custom Signal, Creative Ideas, Whole Offer, Fallback.
- Creative Ideas: Generating credible ideas for prospects.
- Follow-Up Strategy: Sequence logic and value rotation.
- ICP & Objection Mapping: Role-playing the skeptical prospect.
- QA Checklist: Pre-send verification.
- Scoring Rubric: 0-100 quality score.
- Examples: Real campaign examples.
Tips
- Role-Play First: Always complete the ICP & Objection Mapping before writing.
- Strict QA: Use the QA Checklist to ensure every email meets the 3:1 recipient:sender ratio.
- Fresh Signals: Only use signals from the last 90 days.
- Don't Hallucinate: If you can't verify a fact, don't use it.