Under 90 words, one specific observation about them, one ask small enough to say yes to. Includes the test for whether it's actually personalised or just mail-merged.
Write a cold email. Hard limit: 90 words, excluding the signature. RECIPIENT: {{RECIPIENT}} WHAT WE DO: {{OFFER}} THE ASK: {{ASK}} Structure: - Subject line: under 6 words, lowercase, no colons, and specific enough that it could not be sent to a different company. - First line: something true about *them*. Not a compliment — an observation. - Second: the problem that observation implies, phrased as a question they would recognise as their own. - Third: what we do, in one sentence, with a number if I gave you one. - Last: the ask, exactly as I framed it. Then run two checks and show both: 1. **Mail-merge test.** Which sentences would still make sense sent to a different company? List them — they need rewriting or cutting. 2. **The reply cost.** How many minutes of work am I asking for? If the honest answer is more than five, the ask is too big; say so. Rules: - Do not open with "I hope this finds you well" or "I'll be brief". - Do not use "quick question", "circling back", "touching base", or "synergy". - Do not claim to have read something I did not tell you I read. - No paragraph over two sentences.
Tools for this prompt
Where the input below comes from. The ones marked needed change the output a lot — fallbacks for each are further down.
This prompt is only as good as what you feed it. Web search covers anything public — these are the inputs it can't reach.
Verifying the address before you send, so a good email doesn't bounce.
Don't have it: Skip verification and tell the user the address is unverified.
Sending and tracking the sequence once the copy works.
Don't have it: Output the copy and let the user send it manually.
Only tools that web search cannot replace are listed. Anything public — reviews, job ads, papers, salary data — an agent can already fetch, so it is not listed here. No paid placements or affiliate links; if that changes, this line will say so.
A prompt is a skill with the serial numbers filed off. Install it once and your agent reaches for it on its own.
Paste this into ChatGPT, Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, or whatever you use:
Install the cold-email-that-earns-a-reply skill globally from https://promptsbuddy.com/prompts/cold-email-that-earns-a-reply/skill.md.claude/skills/cold-email-that-earns-a-reply/SKILL.md
---
name: cold-email-that-earns-a-reply
description: "Under 90 words, one specific observation about them, one ask small enough to say yes to. Includes the test for whether it's actually personalised or just mail-merged. Use when the user asks for help with sales tasks like sales, email, outreach."
license: CC-BY-4.0
metadata:
source: https://promptsbuddy.com/prompts/cold-email-that-earns-a-reply
author: "Dinesh"
version: "1.0"
---
# A cold email that earns a reply
Under 90 words, one specific observation about them, one ask small enough to say yes to. Includes the test for whether it's actually personalised or just mail-merged.
## Inputs to collect first
Ask the user for anything below that they have not already given you. Do not
invent values for these.
- `RECIPIENT` — Who they are and what you actually know about them or their company. (e.g. Head of Ops at a 60-person logistics firm; they posted about switching WMS last month.)
- `OFFER` — What you do, in one plain sentence. (e.g. We cut manual reconciliation between order and billing systems.)
- `ASK` — The single next step. Smaller is better. (e.g. 15 minutes, or just reply 'send it' and I'll email a two-minute demo video.)
## Tools this works with
Do not require any of these. If one is unavailable, use the stated fallback and
say which input is missing rather than inventing it.
- **Hunter** — Verifying the address before you send, so a good email doesn't bounce.
- Without it: Skip verification and tell the user the address is unverified.
- https://hunter.io/
- **Apollo.io** — Sending and tracking the sequence once the copy works.
- Without it: Output the copy and let the user send it manually.
- https://www.apollo.io/
## Instructions
Write a cold email. Hard limit: 90 words, excluding the signature.
RECIPIENT: {{RECIPIENT}}
WHAT WE DO: {{OFFER}}
THE ASK: {{ASK}}
Structure:
- Subject line: under 6 words, lowercase, no colons, and specific enough that
it could not be sent to a different company.
- First line: something true about *them*. Not a compliment — an observation.
- Second: the problem that observation implies, phrased as a question they
would recognise as their own.
- Third: what we do, in one sentence, with a number if I gave you one.
- Last: the ask, exactly as I framed it.
Then run two checks and show both:
1. **Mail-merge test.** Which sentences would still make sense sent to a
different company? List them — they need rewriting or cutting.
2. **The reply cost.** How many minutes of work am I asking for? If the honest
answer is more than five, the ask is too big; say so.
Rules:
- Do not open with "I hope this finds you well" or "I'll be brief".
- Do not use "quick question", "circling back", "touching base", or "synergy".
- Do not claim to have read something I did not tell you I read.
- No paragraph over two sentences.
## Notes from people who use this
- The mail-merge test kills the sentences that make cold email feel like cold email.
- Shrink the ask until it's embarrassing. 'Reply with a word' converts far better than 'find 30 minutes'.
- 90 words is not a style choice — it's what fits in a phone preview before the fold.
---
A cold email that earns a reply · by Dinesh · v1.0
From PromptsBuddy — https://promptsbuddy.com/prompts/cold-email-that-earns-a-reply
Licensed CC BY 4.0.
Every prompt is also available at /prompts/cold-email-that-earns-a-reply/skill.md — see all install options.
"Love what you're building" is a compliment and reads as automated, because it is. "You posted about switching WMS last month" is an observation, and it can only be written by someone who looked.
The distinction is the whole first line, and the first line decides whether the rest gets read.
Most cold email fails on the ask, not the pitch. Thirty minutes with a stranger is an expensive yes. Asking for a one-word reply is nearly free, and it starts the conversation you actually wanted.
Most positioning compares you to competitors nobody evaluated. This works from the real alternative — a spreadsheet, an intern, or doing nothing — and finds the wedge from there.
RonyMines real customer language from reviews, tickets, and calls, then writes a page that uses their phrasing instead of your internal vocabulary.
Rony