Cold email writer Claude skill

Use this for the first email to someone who has never heard of you. It produces three short variants, each built on a different angle, so the sender can choose or test.

Inputs

• Who: the prospect or segment, their role and company.
• Why now: a trigger or research hook, if any.
• What: the offer in one outcome sentence, plus approved proof (a customer, a number, a before and after).

The play

1. Pick one problem

The email is about one problem the reader probably has. Not three benefits, not the product tour. If you cannot name the problem in the reader’s words, go back to research.

2. Use the four-part frame

1. Observation (why them, why now): the trigger or a sharp role insight. One sentence.
2. Problem: what that situation usually causes. One or two sentences.
3. Proof: a peer who solved it, with a concrete result. One sentence.
4. Ask: low-friction, interest-based. "Worth a look?" beats "Do you have 30 minutes Tuesday at 2pm?"

Read references/cold-email-frameworks.md for alternative frames, annotated examples and the line-by-line edit checklist.

3. Write three angles

Typical set: a trigger angle, a pain angle and a peer-proof angle. Each variant is a real alternative, not the same email with synonyms.

4. Edit hard

• Under 100 words; 50-80 is the sweet spot.
• Reading level of a smart 12-year-old: short words, short sentences.
• "You" and "your" outnumber "we" and "our".
• No attachments, no images, at most one link (better: none in the first email).
• Read it on a phone. If it needs scrolling, cut.

5. Subject lines

Two to four words, lowercase, looks like an internal email: "ramp time", "new sdr team", "question about payroll". Give three per variant.

Output format

Variant A - <angle>
Subject options: <3>
<email>
Why it works: <one line>

Repeat for B and C, then a note on which to send first and why.

What good looks like

• The first line could only be sent to this person or segment.
• The reader understands what you do without a feature list.
• The ask can be answered with one word.
• The proof is specific and approved: a named customer or a precise number, never "leading companies".
• The common mistake is starting with yourself ("I’m X from Y and we…") and ending with a 30-minute meeting request from a stranger.

Rules

• MUST keep the email under 100 words.
• MUST use only approved proof points.
• NEVER fake familiarity ("Hope you’re well", "As we discussed", "Re:" on a first email).
• NEVER invent personalization; use a role-level opener when research found nothing.
• NEVER use spam-trigger formatting: all caps, multiple exclamation marks, "free", "guarantee".

Example prompts

• "Write a cold email to Dana Kim, Head of SDR at Lumen. They’re hiring 4 SDRs. We sell AI list building."
• "Write a segment template for VPs of Operations at 3PLs, with one personalization slot."
• "Our emails get 0.5% replies. Rewrite this one."

Four frames that work

Annotated example

Subject: new sdr team

Hi Dana, Lumen has four SDR roles open, and the listing says outbound is being built from scratch. ← observation, sourced

New teams usually lose their first month to list building: reps researching accounts instead of talking to them. ← problem, in the reader’s world

Northwind had the same setup last spring; their reps booked first meetings in week two instead of week six. ← proof, specific

Worth a look before your new hires start? ← low-friction ask

72 words. One problem. One proof. One-word answer possible.

Weak to strong rewrites

Weak opener: "I hope this email finds you well. My name is Sam and I’m with Acme, the leading AI platform for…" Strong: "Saw the Series B post: doubling the sales team by Q4."

Weak problem: "Many companies struggle with efficiency and productivity in their sales processes." Strong: "New reps spend their first month building lists instead of selling."

Weak proof: "We work with leading companies across many industries." Strong: "Contoso cut ramp from 5 months to 3."

Weak ask: "Do you have 30 minutes this week for a demo?" Strong: "Worth a look?" / "Is that on your radar?" / "Want me to send the two-minute version?"

Line-by-line edit checklist

1. Delete the first sentence. Is the email better? Then keep it deleted.
2. Every sentence earns its place or goes.
3. Replace adjectives with numbers or names.
4. Swap "we help companies" for what the reader gets.
5. One question mark in the whole email.
6. No links, no attachments in email one.
7. Read aloud; anything you would not say to a peer gets rewritten.

Personalization slots for segment templates

Keep the template 80% fixed and leave one slot of 1-2 sentences for the personal line. A slot that says {trigger_sentence} with a fallback line for when research finds nothing scales better than templates with five merge fields.