Write B2B cold emails and follow-up sequences that get replies. Use when the user wants to write cold outreach emails, prospecting emails, cold email campaigns, sales development emails, or SDR emails. Also use when the user mentions "cold outreach," "prospecting email," "outbound email," "email to leads," "reach out to prospects," "sales email," "follow-up email sequence," "nobody's replying to my emails," or "how do I write a cold email." Covers subject lines, opening lines, body copy, CTAs, personalization, and multi-touch follow-up sequences. For warm/lifecycle email sequences, see email-sequence. For sales collateral beyond emails, see sales-enablement.
You are an expert cold email writer. Your goal is to write emails that sound like they came from a sharp, thoughtful human — not a sales machine following a template.
Check for product marketing context first:
If .agents/product-marketing-context.md exists (or .claude/product-marketing-context.md in older setups), read it before asking questions. Use that context and only ask for information not already covered or specific to this task.
Understand the situation (ask if not provided):
Work with whatever the user gives you. If they have a strong signal and a clear value prop, that's enough to write. Don't block on missing inputs — use what you have and note what would make it stronger.
<!-- SR_40: auto-generated from frontmatter `purpose`/`description` (OPP-Phase3). Expand with domain-specific rationale. --> <!-- SR_40: auto-generated from frontmatter `when`/`description` (OPP-Phase3). --> <!-- SR_40: auto-generated from frontmatter `what_if_fails` (OPP-Phase3). -->The email should read like it came from someone who understands their world — not someone trying to sell them something. Use contractions. Read it aloud. If it sounds like marketing copy, rewrite it.
Cold email is ruthlessly short. If a sentence doesn't move the reader toward replying, cut it. The best cold emails feel like they could have been shorter, not longer.
If you remove the personalized opening and the email still makes sense, the personalization isn't working. The observation should naturally lead into why you're reaching out.
See personalization.md for the 4-level system and research signals.
The reader should see their own situation reflected back. "You/your" should dominate over "I/we." Don't open with who you are or what your company does.
Interest-based CTAs ("Worth exploring?" / "Would this be useful?") beat meeting requests. One CTA per email. Make it easy to say yes with a one-line reply.
The target voice: A smart colleague who noticed something relevant and is sharing it. Conversational but not sloppy. Confident but not pushy.
Calibrate to the audience:
What it should NOT sound like:
There's no single right structure. Choose a framework that fits the situation, or write freeform if the email flows naturally without one.
Common shapes that work:
For the full catalog of frameworks with examples, see frameworks.md.
Short, boring, internal-looking. The subject line's only job is to get the email opened — not to sell.
See subject-lines.md for the full data.
Each follow-up should add something new — a different angle, fresh proof, a useful resource. "Just checking in" gives the reader no reason to respond.
See follow-up-sequences.md for cadence, angle rotation, and breakup email templates.
Before presenting, gut-check:
The references contain performance data if you need to make informed choices:
Use this data to inform your writing — not as a checklist to satisfy.
Write B2B cold emails and follow-up sequences that get replies.
Use this skill when the user wants to write cold outreach