How to choose who runs your cold email

Ten questions to ask anyone who pitches you cold email. For each one, what a good answer sounds like. They apply to me too.

Go to the first question

The 10 questions

0 of 10 read

Who does the work
What stays with you
Commitment and risk
How it's measured

Who does the work.

Owner, small business

Good reply

Email at 11:11

“I saw you're looking for someone new on your marketing team. Usually the choice is between hiring, which takes months, or bringing in an agency. We do a third thing. Would you be up for a 15-minute call?”

Reply at 11:12

“Good morning, sure. Thanks”

Real reply. Someone has to read it and pass it on to you fast.

  1. Who writes the messages?

    A good answer. “A person who has studied your offer. One message for each group of companies, approved by you before it goes out.”

    Watch out if they show you a ready-made template before they know what you sell.

  2. How do you choose who to contact?

    A good answer. “We start from the type of company that buys from you and the person who decides there. We verify every contact before we write.”

    Watch out if all they talk about is how many contacts they have in their database.

  3. Who reads the replies?

    A good answer. “A person, one by one. They pass on only the people who want to talk to you, with the context you need to reply.”

    Watch out if they forward everything as it comes in. Or if software decides and nobody checks.

What stays with you.

  1. Which domains and inboxes do the emails go out from?

    A good answer. “Never from your company domain. From dedicated domains and inboxes, set up before we start. We tell you who owns them.”

    Watch out if they suggest using the inbox you email your clients from.

  2. What do I keep if I stop?

    A good answer. “We put it in writing before we start. For example, the calls you had and the contacts of the people who replied.”

    Watch out if you only find out on the day you stop.

Commitment and risk.

  1. What's the minimum commitment?

    A good answer. “We tell you how long the test lasts and why. To stop, you just give the notice written in the contract.”

    Watch out if you're locked in for a long time and don't know what you'll have before it ends.

  2. What happens if the campaigns start late?

    A good answer. “You get a start date. If we miss it and it's on us, there's a consequence written in the contract.”

    Watch out if the setup has no date.

How it's measured.

Logistics

Same campaign
Group A
Group B
Same message to two groups of logistics companies. The second one said yes 5 times as often. Real case. With a single number for both, you wouldn't notice.

  1. What does each call cost me, by type of client?

    A good answer. “For each group of companies we tell you how many good replies and how many calls came out of it. So you can see what each call cost you.”

    Watch out if all they tell you is how many emails were opened.

  2. How often do we talk?

    A good answer. “On a fixed schedule, for example two calls a month. For quick questions there's a channel that's always open.”

    Watch out if you have to go through a salesperson to talk to whoever runs your campaigns.

  3. What's in the report?

    A good answer. “For each campaign, the replies, the good ones and the calls booked. Then what we change the next month.”

    Watch out if it's full of charts and doesn't say what changes.

Gabriele Bollino, GTM Engineer and Founder of ClevelOS

My answers. So you can compare.

I'm Gabriele Bollino, GTM Engineer and Founder of ClevelOS. Here is how I answer the same questions.

Who writes the messages?
I do, for each group of companies. You approve them before they go out.
How do I choose who to contact?
I split your market into groups, find the person who decides and verify every contact.
Who reads the replies?
I do. I pass on only the good ones.
Where do the emails go out from?
From my infrastructure, included in the price. I never use your company address.
What do you keep if you stop?
The calls you had and the contacts of the people who replied.
Minimum commitment?
None. Month to month, you stop by telling me by the 15th.
What if I start late?
If the campaigns don't start within 3 weeks of your strategy approval because of my delay, you don't pay the next month.
What does each call cost?
In month 4 I hand you the numbers, for each type of client.
How often do we talk?
Two calls a month. For everything else there's Slack.
What's in the report?
Every month, the replies I passed on and what we change.
And the price?
Fixed price. We go over it in the 30 minutes, before you commit to anything.
Book a 30-minute call How it works and what's included

454 replies, 136 positive in one month. Replies from 14 client campaigns.

150+ B2B clients acquired in two years at a start-up. If you like, ask me the same questions on the call.