Overused B2B email tricks to stop using

I review hundreds of cold emails (manually) every week for my outbound workshops. Wildly different industries. But, there are 12 cold email “tells” (or patterns) I see again and again. The hard thing about being a SDR/AE is we don’t see what every other seller is sending. All of this stuff is well-intentioned. But, it’s overused (+ especially with AI “personalization at scale” tech pulling the same prompts). 1 - The Complimentpalooza: “I’m so impressed with…”. We’re not their parents. They don’t care if we’re impressed. It rarely feels genuine bc it’s often automated and disconnected to the rest of the email. 2 - The ROI Flex: “Here’s a case study - ACME saw a 10273x ROI!” Exactly 0 sellers send emails touting a bad ROI. Do C-level execs get excited to read our biased reviews of…ourselves? 3 - The Kitchen Sink: Bulleted lists of pains Bullets in a cold email mean we’re doing too much. Pick one problem hypothesis. 4 - The We-We Problem More “I/we/our/COMPANY NAME” than “you” language. We’re we-we-ing on prospects. 5 - The Know-It-All: “Looks like you’re struggling to…” Oh, thank you for suggesting I’m incapable of doing my job, kind stranger. Assumptive tonality = talking at our reader. 6 - The Novel It’s a cold email, not an auto-biography. Keep it short (50-75 words). 7 - Buzzword Bingo: “streamline, enhance, revolutionize, game-changing” These don’t make us sound smarter. They make us sound like we copy/pasted out of ChatGPT. 8 - The “My 11th Grade English Teacher Loved Me” Wordy sentence. Commas. Big, multi-syllable words. Write for the CXO skimming their inbox in between calls. 9 - The Lovebomb: “I’d love to learn more about your strategic priorities” I’m sure you would. You and every other sales rep in their inbox. What WE love/like/want isnt important to our reader. We’re strangers. 10 - The “No Sh*t Question”: “Is growth top of mind right now?” No CRO is never not thinking about growth. It’s a waste of words. Be specific. 11 - The Bait & Switch Personalization: “Saw you went to PSU…go Nittany Lions! Anyway, we’re the leading provider of..” If you MUST use an alumni reference (I dont), drop it into the PS. Leading with it often sounds forced. 12 - The Mental Spam Filter Subject and Preview Text Subj: Quick Question Preview Text: Hi Bob, I hope you’re doing well. My name is.. Execs don’t need to open that email to guess what comes after.

Last week, a $2M ARR SaaS founder showed me their "high-converting" cold email template. It was the same template I’d seen on LinkedIn.. and even in my own inbox.. more times than I can count. Word for word: → "I noticed you work in [industry]..." → "Quick question about [pain point]..." → "Would love to show you how we help companies like [competitor]..." Here’s what no template guru talks about: Your buyers are getting that exact same message from other founders too. They can spot templates from a mile away. The founder was baffled… “But this template has a 15% reply rate!” Maybe. For whoever used it first. Once it’s been copy-pasted across LinkedIn and every “growth hack” newsletter, it’s dead. The real problem with template culture: It makes you sound just like everyone else trying to sell to your buyer. And when you sound like everyone else, you get ignored like everyone else. What actually works in 2025? Stop optimizing for "reply rates." Start optimizing for qualified conversation rates. I’d rather get 2 replies from buyers who actually need what we do than 20 replies from people just asking to be removed from our list. The PipeBagger approach? 👍 We don’t use templates. We use frameworks. 👍 We research the buyer’s real business situation—their tech landscape, their company’s growth challenges. 👍 Then we write ONE message that speaks directly to their reality. Is it scalable? Maybe not instantly. Is it effective? Absolutely. Think AI emails are better than templates? Worse. Buyers' inbox flags them, and even readers can smell the AI lingo. Your message template isn’t your competitive advantage. Your ability to understand what your buyer actually needs to hear is. Stop copying. Start connecting. Have you ever caught yourself using the same template as your competitors? What changed when you ditched it? #B2B #Founder #BuyerCertainty #ColdEmailing #SocialSelling

"I saw you liked Lenny's last post" isn't relevance. It's desperate. "I see you are passionate about B2B marketing" isn't rapport. It's stalking. "I am building a network of like-minded professionals" isn't networking. It's a lie. You think you are building a relationship, but you are just making noise. The team at Cannonball GTM calls this Email Cosplay. Most outbound emails fail for one reason. You think you are the main character. You think the prospect cares about your features, your impressive slide of logos, or that you went to the same college as them. They don't. They didn't wake up thinking about you. They woke up in a specific, painful situation. If you want to earn a reply in 2026, you need to follow the Cannonball Principles: 1/ 𝐒𝐭𝐨𝐩 𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐳𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧  Don't target people. Target conditions. Real personalization is: "We have seen this exact constraint in teams like yours, and it creates this predictable failure mode." 2/ 𝐒𝐭𝐨𝐩 𝐋𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐂𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐒𝐭𝐮𝐝𝐢𝐞𝐬  No one cares about your logos. They care about peers who are in their exact same mess. Social proof isn't about brands they know. It's about problems they recognize. 3/ 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝟑-𝐋𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐑𝐮𝐥𝐞 If you need paragraphs, you don't understand the situation. Cut it down with a machete. Structure: Situation → Insight → Inquisition. 4/ 𝐓𝐡𝐞 "𝐈𝐧𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧" 𝐂𝐓𝐀 Stop asking for "15 minutes." Ask for the truth. "Am I close?" or "Is it different on your side?" beats "Can we chat?" every time. Here is the only template you need (steal this): Subject: 2-5 words max (to the point) You are probably dealing with [Specific Situation] right now. Most teams get stuck because [Constraint / Tradeoff]. Am I close, or is it different on your side? That’s it. If you can’t say it that clearly, you don’t know their problem yet. Earn the reply. Then earn the revenue.

High open rates feel like a win. Until subscribers never trust you again. 𝟳 𝘀𝘂𝗯𝗷𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗽𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗻𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗱𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗼𝘆 𝘁𝗿𝘂𝘀𝘁: 𝟭/ 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗮𝗸𝗲 "𝗥𝗲:" 𝘀𝘂𝗯𝗷𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲 "Re: Following up on our conversation" You've never talked to them before. Opens the email expecting a reply. Realizes it's a cold pitch. Feels tricked, not interested. → Deception opens emails. Also closes relationships. 𝟮/ 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗮𝗻𝘂𝗳𝗮𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝘂𝗿𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗰𝘆 "Your account will be suspended" "Action required within 24 hours" Nothing is actually urgent or wrong. They panic, click, then realize it's fake. You borrowed anxiety tactics from scammers. → False alarms train people to ignore real ones. 𝟯/ 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗻𝗮𝗺𝗲 𝗱𝗿𝗼𝗽 "Sarah mentioned you'd be interested" No Sarah. No mention. Complete fabrication. Opens expecting a referral. Gets a cold sales pitch instead. → Lying about connections is relationship poison. 𝟰/ 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝘃𝗮𝗴𝘂𝗲 "𝗬𝗼𝘂'𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝗻" 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗲 "You've been selected" "You made the list" "Congratulations, you qualified" Opens expecting good news. Gets a sales pitch for a paid program. → Fake exclusivity creates real resentment. 𝟱/ 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗶𝘀𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗾𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 "Did you get my last email?" This IS your first email to them. Opens thinking they missed something important. Realizes you're gaslighting them. → Manufactured FOMO backfires hard. 𝟲/ 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗿𝗼𝗸𝗲𝗻 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗺𝗶𝘀𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄 Subject: "The 3 secrets to X" Email: "Sign up for my webinar to learn them" Promised value in the subject. Gated it in the email. → Bait and switch kills future opens. 𝟳/ 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗰𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗸𝗯𝗮𝗶𝘁 "You're making a huge mistake" "This could ruin everything" Opens fearing something's wrong. Email is just generic advice. No actual mistake. No actual danger. → Manufacturing fear creates real anger. They optimize for one metric: open rate. They destroy every metric that matters after. 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘀𝘂𝗯𝘀𝗰𝗿𝗶𝗯𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿: Not what your email said. How you made them feel when they opened it. Tricked. Manipulated. Lied to. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗻: First email: 60% open rate from trickery. Second email: 20% open rate from broken trust. Third email: Spam folder. You can trick someone into opening once. You can't trick them into trusting you. Subject lines aren't about maximizing opens. They're about setting honest expectations. High opens mean nothing if the relationship is dead. ♻️ Repost if trust matters more than open rates. ➕ Follow me, Louis Shulman, for more tactics to stay top of mind and beat the competition. 📧 Join our weekly marketing newsletter: https://lnkd.in/gYGzEeTb

"I hope this email finds you well.” The fastest way to make me stop reading. Why? Because nothing about that line is sincere. It’s overused, outdated, and screams copy-paste. In high stakes communication, every word sets the tone. Open with fluff, and you sound like everyone else. Open with precision, and you set yourself apart. Instead, simply: → Be direct. Get to the point quickly → Be intentional. Start with 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮, not the email → Be human. Acknowledge the context if it matters When I train executives on negotiation and communication, this is one of the first habits we break. The people you’re writing to are busy. They don’t need fillers. They need clarity. Because if you can’t open strong, why should they trust you to handle the hard parts of conversations? I never use that phrase. Ever. And neither should you. What’s the weakest opener you’ve ever received in an email?

"Stop sending follow-up emails" That's what I told a struggling VP of Sales last month His team was sending 8,000+ emails weekly Converting almost none of them He thought I was insane Until we implemented a "no follow-up" policy and their pipeline exploded → Here's what most sales leaders miss: Your prospects aren't ignoring you because you haven't followed up enough They're ignoring you because you haven't said anything worth responding to After auditing 50+ B2B sales processes, I've found the same pattern: - 8+ follow-up emails to the same prospect - Each one more desperate than the last - Generic templates with fake personalization - Zero actual value added All while sales managers chant "persistence pays off!" The brutal truth? It doesn't One client was sending 14-touch sequences to every lead Their final response rate? A pathetic 0.7% We completely redesigned their approach: - Cut all automated follow-ups - Created industry-specific research for each target account - Developed 3 unique insights for every prospect - Built a "no pitch" first conversation model The results : - Response rate jumped to 20% - Meetings-to-opportunity conversion: Up 200% - Sales cycle: Reduced from 107 days to 70 - Team morale: Transformed overnight The most expensive myth in modern sales is that quantity of touches matters more than quality of insight Your prospects don't need another "just checking in" email They need someone who fundamentally understands their business challenges What if you deleted all your follow-up templates today and replaced them with actual business insights? That's not just a sales strategy That's a competitive advantage P.S. If you need help with your sales, send me a message

I got a voicemail yesterday that’s a perfect example of what not to do in B2B sales. A racking rep somehow got my cell number and opened with: “Hey Dave… just wanted to introduce myself and congratulate you guys on the new warehouse in Kentucky.” Here’s the issue: the compliment was clearly manufactured. And the moment a message starts with fake praise, the rest becomes background noise. Not because I’m offended, but because it tells me the rep is running a script, not trying to solve a problem. Then came the classic line: “Just wanted to touch base and see how things are going as we close out the year…” Translation: I didn’t do enough homework to ask a real question. If you sell to founders/operators (especially in 3PL/logistics), here’s the truth: We don’t need fluff. We need relevance. A better opener sounds like this: “Dave, saw you expanded into KY. When 3PLs add a facility, they usually run into one of three issues: layout compression, SKU growth, or pick path inefficiency. Curious, which one is biting you most right now?” That at least gives me something real to respond to. My takeaway for salespeople: Stop leading with manufactured compliments. It burns trust instantly. And it wastes time, yours and mine. Be direct. Be specific. Be useful. Alright, your turn: what’s the worst cold outreach you’ve received lately? (Or the best one that actually worked?) #B2BSales #Logistics #3PL #ColdOutreach

Stop sending "Checking In" emails. You’re killing your brand. Every time you send a "just checking in" or "following up" email, you lose a little bit of respect from your prospect. Why? Because you’ve admitted you have zero new value to provide. I’ve seen it a thousand times: Great product. Great salesperson. But a follow-up process that feels like a digital stalker. If you want to build a brand that people actually want to buy from, you have to shift from Persistence to Presence. The "Value-Loop" Strategy (The Takeaway): Instead of "checking in," try these three triggers: 1. The "Relevant News" Trigger: "Saw your company just launched [Project X]. It reminded me of our talk about [Problem Y]. Thought this article on [Subject] might help your team." Result: You are now a resource, not a bill. 2. The "Lost Content" Trigger: I was reviewing my notes from our last call and realized I forgot to mention how we handle [Specific Pain Point]. Here’s a 30-second breakdown. Result: You show you actually listen. 3. The "Case Study" Trigger: We just helped a client in [Their Industry] solve [Their Problem]. I put together a 1-page summary of the results—thought you'd find it interesting." Result: Social proof without the ego. Sales isn't about "closing" someone. It’s about being the most helpful person in their inbox until they are ready to move. Branding is what they think of you when you aren't in the room. If they think "Oh, another check-in email," your brand is a commodity. If they think "I wonder what insight they have today," your brand is an asset. Stop chasing. Start attracting. Do you hate "checking in" emails as much as I do? Let’s debate in the comments. Follow Aakanksha Garg for more!! #SalesStrategy #PersonalBranding #B2B #SocialSelling #BusinessGrowth

Assumption kills your email marketing How many emails have you seen that start like this: 👉 “You might have seen our recent update…” 👉 “We thought we’d send you this because you showed interest…” 👉 “We noticed you visited our website…” …when actually, you didn’t (or you did but you're a busy human so you didn't make that connection): You didn’t care You didn’t ask And now you’re already a bit put off Assumptive copy is everywhere in email and it’s a HUGE problem Because assumption creates friction...and friction repels humans Here’s what brands and businesses often assume and why it backfires: 🚩 Assumption #1: “They saw our thing, so they must care” Nope. The vast majority of people didn’t, or they just don't care as much as you do 🚩 Assumption #2: “They care” Your brand/business isn’t the centre of anyone’s day. Not in B2C, not in B2B People are busy. Drowning in tabs, Teams-pinging, kids crying busy. They care about their priorities. Not yours. 🚩 Assumption #3: “They’ll click” Just because someone signed up once or bought from you six months ago doesn’t mean they’re waiting for your next campaign with bated breath. I got an email last week from a brand I’ve never bought from telling me: “You probably noticed our site was down yesterday…” Babe, I didn’t even notice your existence until now 💀 When you assume too much, you overestimate your place in someone’s world and that instantly breaks the connection. Still communicate to them as email is good for awareness - but don't assume So what do you do instead? → Write for the person who hasn’t seen your emails → Start from curiosity or value, not assumption → Use data and context to guide, not guess → Focus on why it matters to them (and always focus on the outcome, not why it matters to you Your email is one of hundreds (if like mine it's one of 67K) in someone’s inbox They don’t owe you attention But if you stop the assumptive copy and talk to them like a real human? They might just stick around

“Email isn’t working like it used to.” Sales leaders tell me this all the time. Their teams are struggling to hit quota, blaming email. But a few simple questions reveal why. — Sending from? "Outreach / Apollo / HubSpot" — Main domain? "Yes." — Emails per rep/day? "250." (8-15 reps) — Signature? "1 image, 4 links." — Copy? "Calendar link, hard CTA, use case link." — Who handles deliverability? "No one. IT when accounts get suspended." — Tracking opens/clicks? "Of course! How else would I know deliverability is bad?" — Warming up mailboxes? "What’s warm-up?" — Data source? "Apollo’s "verified" data." 🚩 A major red flag walking. This worked in 2019, maybe early 2023. But now? → ESP filters are brutal → Reps are torching their main domains → Their emails scream automation and get filtered instantly → They’re tracking opens/clicks—metrics that died with Google & Outlook → They’re not even warming up mailboxes → Their data is the same overused, hammered-to-death junk And the worst part? They don’t even realize it. Here’s what actually works: Use secondary domains – Protect your main one. ↳ Buy on Cloudflare Track only replies – Opens/clicks kill inboxing. ↳ Turn off anything that isn't reply rate Cap sending at 30/day per mailbox – More domains, lower volume. ↳ Stop sending too many emails per mailbox/domain Warm up mailboxes ↳ Bare minimum: Instantly.ai. Best: Warmy.io - Email channel. Reliable. Double-verify lists. Bad data = bad reputation. ↳ Use LeadMagic and Emailable Use an SEP built for TODAY’s deliverability – Not outdated playbooks. ↳ Go with Instantly.ai, Smartlead or EmailBison — Cancel Outreach/Salesloft Worried about CRM Data sync? ↳ Let OutboundSync update your Hubspot or SFDC automatically No links. No images. Plain text only. – Avoid spam filters. ↳ Get into the inbox first, that's all that matters Email still works. Just not the way it used to.