Sales · Sharp
Cold Email That Earns a Reply From One Specific Person
Write to a real prospect using a real observation, not a merge field.
Write a cold email to one specific person. Who I am: [YOU AND YOUR BUSINESS] Who I'm writing to: [NAME, ROLE, COMPANY, INDUSTRY] Specific, real thing I noticed about them or their business: [PASTE THE DETAIL] The outcome I can create for them: [DESIRED OUTCOME — result, not service] Proof I can honestly reference: [AVAILABLE PROOF, or "none yet"] The ask: [ONE SMALL NEXT STEP] Rules: - Under 120 words. One idea per sentence. One ask only. - Open with the observation, not with me and not with flattery. No "I hope this finds you well." - Say the outcome in their terms, not the deliverable in mine. - If I gave no proof, do not imply any. Never invent clients, numbers or results. - The ask should be easy to say yes to and easy to say no to. Give me 3 versions using different angles: the observation angle, the problem-cost angle, and the specific-idea angle. Each with 3 subject lines under 45 characters that read like a human wrote them. Then tell me which version you'd send and why, in one sentence.
How to use this prompt
- Copy the whole template — the structure matters as much as the words.
- Replace every bracketed placeholder with your real details. Vague inputs produce vague output.
- Paste it into ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini and let it finish before you judge it.
- Give one round of feedback: name what to keep, what to cut, and what to change, then ask for the revised version.
Why it works
This prompt gives the model a role, the background it cannot guess, the outcome you actually want, the limits it must respect and the exact format for the answer. Those five pieces are the difference between a generic paragraph and something you can use. The words behind them are explained in the prompting glossary.
A template does not know your business. The Prompt Engineer does the asking for you.