How I sent 11,700 emails and got $133,788 in leads (+email copy)

📊Results Overview

11,700

Emails Sent

$133,788

Pipeline Generated

Positive Reply Rate

30-40

Positive Replies/Month

⚡The 40/40/20 Framework

After running dozens of campaigns, I discovered this breakdown:

Speed to Reply

→How fast you respond to positive replies
→Most people ignore this completely
→It's the biggest lever you can pull

Hyper-Targeted List

→Quality of your lead list
→ICP accuracy matters more than list size
→Better to email 1,200 perfect leads than 50,000 spray and prays

Copy

→Yes, it matters, but not as much as you think
→Most people obsess over this and ignore the 95%
→Keep it simple, direct, and pain-focused

Part 1: The Email Copy That Works (5%)

The 3-Line Email Structure

For pay-per-lead agencies, I used this exact structure:

Subject: Quick question about [their pain point]

Body:

Line 1 (The Hook):

"If I can 2X your booked meetings, would that be of interest?"

Line 2 (Social Proof):

"One of our clients went from 11 to 35 meetings/month using [solution] to reply in < 15mins"

Line 3 (Low-Friction CTA):

"Can I set you up with it? Takes 5mins, no CC needed" / "Can I send you a video"

Signature:

Best,
[Your Name]

⚡ A low friction CTA is a MUST

Why This Works

Line 1 - Direct Pain Point:

• For agencies, more meetings = more revenue
• The hook speaks directly to their core metric
• It's a question, not a pitch
• Forces them to think about the outcome

Line 2 - Specific Social Proof:

• Real numbers (11 → 35 meetings)
• Specific timeframe (< 15mins)
• Shows the mechanism (fast replies)
• Similar company to them

Line 3 - Zero Friction:

• "5mins" → shows it's easy
• "no CC" → removes risk
• "Can I" → asking permission, not pushing

The Template (Adapt for Your ICP)

Subject: Quick question about [their main metric]

Hey [name],

If I could [2X their most important outcome], would you be interested?

We helped [similar company] go from [X to Y result] by [how] in under [timeframe].

Want me to set you up? Takes [X mins], no credit card.

Best,
[You]

Key Variables to Customize:

• [their main metric] → What they care about most (meetings, revenue, leads, etc.)
• [similar company] → Company/title that matches their profile
• [X to Y result] → Specific before/after numbers
• [how] → The mechanism (replying faster, better targeting, etc.)
• [timeframe] → How long it took (5 mins, 1 week, etc.)

What NOT to Do

❌ Long emails with multiple paragraphs
❌ Generic personalization ("I saw you're in [industry]")
❌ Multiple CTAs or questions
❌ Attachments or links in first email
❌ Talking about features instead of outcomes
❌ Using "innovative," "revolutionary," or other buzzwords

Part 2: Building Your Hyper-Targeted List (15%)

The Problem with Most Lead Lists

Most people:

1. Go to Apollo
2. Scrape 50,000 leads
3. Call it "lead gen"
4. Wonder why they get 0.5% reply rates

Reality: Those leads are burned. They've been emailed by 200 other people.

My 3-Day ICP Building Process

Day 1: Define Your Perfect Customer

For pay-per-lead agencies, I built this profile:

Generic Filters:

• Company size: 10-50 employees
• Industry: Pay-per-lead agencies
• Revenue: $2M-$10M (estimated)
• Location: US-based

Tech Stack:

• Using Instantly, Smartlead, or similar
• Using CRMs (HubSpot, Salesforce)
• Running active campaigns

Intent Signals:

• Job postings for "SDR" or "BDR"
• Posting about cold email on LinkedIn
• Running ads for lead gen services
• 🔥 Pro Tip: Scraping posts is a gold mine, but depends on your niche. If your customers don't post a lot, this will be hard

Day 2: Find Non-Obvious Data Sources

Don't just use Apollo. Go where others don't:

1. LinkedIn Sales Navigator

• Filter by company size + industry
• Look for recent job postings
• Check who's engaging with cold email content

2. BuiltWith / WhatRuns

• Find companies using specific tools
• Filter by email sending platforms
• Export the list

3. Job Boards (Indeed, LinkedIn Jobs)

• Search "[your ICP] + SDR/BDR"
• Companies hiring = actively doing outbound
• These are warm leads

4. Industry Communities

• Reddit threads (r/EmailOutreach, r/Sales)
• Slack communities
• LinkedIn groups
• Who's asking questions about your solution?

5. Your Competitors' Customers

• G2 reviews
• Case studies on their websites
• LinkedIn followers/engagers

Day 3: Enrich & Validate

Use Apollo/Lusha for enrichment ONLY:

• Get email addresses
• Add phone numbers
• Company details

Validate emails:

• Use NeverBounce or ZeroBounce
• Remove catch-alls and role emails
• Keep deliverability above 95%

Final list size: 1,200 leads
Not 50,000. Not 10,000. Just 1,200 PERFECT leads.

Lead Scoring System

Not all leads in your ICP are equal. I scored each lead:

High Priority (Email First):

• Recent job posting for SDR/BDR (+3 points)
• Using target tools (+3 points)
• Engaged with cold email content recently (+2 points)
• Company 20-50 employees (+2 points)

Score: 8-10 points

Medium Priority:

• Using some target tools (+2 points)
• Right company size (+1 point)
• In target industry (+2 points)

Score: 5-7 points

Low Priority:

• In target industry only (+1 point)

Score: 1-4 points

Email high-priority leads first. Your reply rate will be higher.

Part 3: Speed to Reply - The 80% Game-Changer 🔥

The Data That Changed Everything

I tracked every positive reply for 2 months:

Reply Time	Book Rate	Volume
< 5 minutes	65%	23 meetings
2-4 hours	< 30%	6 meetings
4+ hours	2%	4 meetings

I was checking my inbox twice a day (morning and afternoon).

Average reply time: 4-6 hours.

I was leaving 60-70% of my pipeline on the table.

Why Speed Matters

Context-switching kills conversions:

When someone replies positively to your cold email, they have YOU in context:

• They just read your email
• They're thinking about their problem
• They're mentally ready to book a call

Wait 4 hours?

• They've moved on
• They forgot about you
• They're in 10 other conversations
• The moment is gone

The magic window: First 5 minutes.

How to Set This Up

💡

Tip: Use ColdStack to view + send replies from Slack

Get instant notifications in Slack when you receive positive replies. Reply directly from Slack without logging into multiple platforms. The fastest way to ensure sub-5-minute response times.

Option 1: Zapier Automation

Tools needed:

• Zapier
• Instantly/Smartlead
• Slack
• OpenAI API (for AI drafts)

Zap structure:

1. Trigger: New reply in Instantly
2. Filter: Only positive replies (use AI sentiment analysis)
3. Enrich: Get company data (Clearbit/Apollo)
4. AI Draft: Generate reply (OpenAI)
5. Slack: Send notification with draft
6. Manual: Reply from unified inbox

Setup time: 2-3 hours

Cost: $20/mo Zapier + $20/mo OpenAI

Downside: Still need to log into unified inbox to reply.

Option 2: Basic Slack Notifications

Simplest version:

1. Set up email forwarding from your cold email tool
2. Forward positive replies to a Slack email
3. Get notified
4. Reply from unified inbox

Setup time: 30 minutes

Cost: Free

Downside: No AI drafts, no auto "reply as"

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Mistake #1: Obsessing Over Copy

The Problem: Spending weeks testing subject lines while ignoring reply speed.

The Fix: Get copy to "good enough" (use my template), then focus on speed.

⚠️ Mistake #2: Buying Giant Lead Lists

The Problem: 50,000 burned leads from Apollo won't perform no matter how good your copy is.

The Fix: Build a small, hyper-targeted list of 1,000-2,000 perfect leads.

🚨 Mistake #3: Checking Inbox Twice a Day

The Problem: 4+ hour reply time = 12% book rate.

The Fix: Set up instant notifications. Reply within 5 minutes.

Mistake #4: Not Tracking Reply Time

The Problem: Can't improve what you don't measure.

The Fix: Track your reply time for every positive response. Monitor weekly.

Mistake #5: Ignoring Deliverability

The Problem: If emails aren't landing in inbox, nothing else matters.

The Fix:

• Keep sending volume under 30/day per email account
• Use 3-5 email accounts
• Warm up domains for 2-3 weeks
• Monitor spam rates (<1%)

Speed to reply is 80% of the game

Most people ignore this and wonder why their campaigns don't work. Here's how ColdStack helps you fix it.

Reply in Under 5 Minutes

Get instant Slack notifications when positive replies come in. Reply directly from Slack without switching tools or checking multiple inboxes.

Instant Slack notifications

Reply directly from Slack

Works on mobile via Slack app

Unified Inbox for All Senders

Manage replies from Instantly, Smartlead, and EmailBison in one place. No more logging into 3+ different platforms to check replies.

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