The second message is a new hypothesis
When your first opener gets no reply, the second message shouldn't repeat it. It should test a different guess about what's hurting the buyer.
3 min read
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Method Page 3
Posts on method for services firms selling $50K to $500K engagements.
Follow-ups that add something
A follow-up should give the buyer something new, a fact, a sharper guess or a new angle. Bumping the thread just reminds them they didn't reply.
3 min readOne idea per message
A first message to a senior buyer should carry one idea. Two ideas split attention and the buyer answers neither. Here's how to pick the one.
3 min readLead with a hypothesis, not a pitch
Why a specific guess about the buyer's problem beats a list of your capabilities, and how to build a four-part Hypothesis Opening.
4 min readSubject lines for senior buyers
Senior buyers decide whether to open an email from the subject line alone. Write it like a colleague would, short, plain and about their world.
3 min readShort is not the same as clear
Cutting words doesn't make an opener clear. Senior buyers need a specific problem named plainly, and that sometimes takes one more sentence, not one less.
3 min readThe case against the case study in a first message
A case study in a first message answers a question the buyer hasn't asked. Here's why it backfires with senior buyers and where proof belongs instead.
3 min readWhy quick question kills your email
The "quick question" subject line and opener became a cold email cliche. Here's why senior buyers ignore it and what to write in its place.
3 min readOpeners senior buyers delete in two seconds
The first lines that get a cold note deleted by a senior buyer before the second sentence, why they fail, and what to write in their place.
3 min readWhy your cold email sounds like everyone else's
Cold email sounds generic when it starts with your firm. Research and a hypothesis about the buyer's problem make an opener sound like nobody else's.
3 min readHow to be usefully wrong
Why a specific wrong guess about a buyer's problem gets more real replies than a vague right one, and how to write a hypothesis worth correcting.
3 min readThe personal trigger and why a title isn't enough
The personal trigger explains why an event matters to this buyer in their seat. Here's why a job title alone falls short and how to write a real one.
3 min readWriting a research hook in one line
The research hook is the first line of a Hypothesis Opening. Here's how to name what happened in one plain line that proves you did the homework.
3 min readThe misery hypothesis, explained
The misery hypothesis is your best guess at the problem a buyer has right now. Here's how to write one, why it works and how to recover when it's wrong.
3 min read