Satya Nadella literally replied to a random email in 5 minutes—on a Saturday pic.twitter.com/2BX8926DNE
— Aadit Sheth (@aaditsh) February 20, 2025
The debate around if outbound still works, how well, and what AI’s role will be, I think a huge point is missed:
👀 You’re wasting your shot.
Email remains special. Literally every executive manages their >own< inbox. Every day I open 20-30 cold emails. So do the CEOs and CXOs of almost every public company, almost every buyer, etc.
Almost everyone is thinking about email wrong. Are fewer, better emails better than spray and pray? Most of us now agree. But it’s more than that.
Any emails that gets opened by a buyer is a gift. It’s your shot, your audience.
I bet 95% of them, you are wasting that shot. Wasting that email that gets opened:
- Wasting it on generic copy
- Wasting it on a lame pitch
- Wasting it on asking for a “quick call”
- Wasting it by nagging rather than delivering value
- Wasting it on not solving their problem
No matter what, email still gets opened by even the most senior executives. That’s magic.
Make sure that email solves their problem.
If it doesn’t, it’s just sad if it got opened. Because that means … you had a chance. At least of something.
Go read your team’s emails, sales, marketing, success and even support. But do them through the lens of a prospect and potential customer.
Each of them, ask: was that email our best shot?
I’m pretty sure it wasn’t.
