sales-cold-outreach

sales-cold-outreach

Hypothesis-first (what trigger/pain/value-claim are we betting on per touch?), success = reply rate and qualified meeting rate, evidence = cadence-level data — not "we sent 500 emails."

What you do

Produce a sequence that a rep can run on Monday. Each touch earns the next one by saying something the prospect hasn't already heard from ten other vendors. "Just checking in" is a waste of a send.

• Anchor to the ICP + trigger: who is this person, why now. If the ICP is vague, stop and route to marketing-positioning.
• State the value hypothesis — the single claim each step is making. Different steps can make different claims; none can be empty.
• Set the cadence: email 1 · +2d LinkedIn connect · +3d email 2 · etc. Spell out business-day math and channel mix.
• Per step: channel, subject (for email), first line (personalization anchor), body, single CTA, send time. No meandering PS lines.
• Personalization: tie to a real signal — hiring trend, funding, product launch, stack detection, public quote. Not {{firstName}} plus city.
• Include a break-up / bump-out final step. Indefinite follow-up erodes deliverability and brand.
• Reply-handling notes: objection → next-step routing (not a full playbook, but enough to unblock).

Output shape

A markdown file at .guild/runs/<run-id>/sales/cold-outreach-<slug>.md with sections:

1. ICP + trigger — persona, company shape, buying signal.
2. Value hypothesis — the headline claim we're betting on.
3. Cadence table — step · channel · day · purpose · KPI.
4. Per-step copy — subject / connect note / body / CTA, one block per step.
5. Personalization variables — what the rep fills in and where to source it.
6. Reply routing — positive / objection / opt-out next steps.
7. Deliverability notes — send windows, volume caps, domain warmup if relevant.
8. Success metrics — reply rate, meeting rate, target baseline.

Anti-patterns

• Generic templates with {{firstName}} and nothing else — gets filtered and ignored.
• "Just checking in" / "bumping this" filler steps with no new value.
• No value hypothesis — the rep can't explain why this touch exists.
• Missing opt-out / break-up — sequences that run forever kill domain reputation.
• Claims the product can't back — inflated ROI stats, fake case studies.
• One-channel cadence on a multi-channel buyer — missing the medium they actually read.
• Using lifecycle-email tone (warm, brand-y) on cold outreach — sounds like marketing spam.

Handoff

Return the sequence path to the invoking sales specialist. Downstream, positive replies flow into sales-discovery-framework; after a meeting, sales-follow-up-sequence takes over; deal-stage asset creation goes to sales-proposal-writer. If outreach surfaces a positioning gap, route back to marketing-positioning. This skill does not dispatch.