> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.salesfinity.ai/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Cold email playbooks

> Seven ready-to-build sequences that chain the email frameworks with call steps, for cold outbound, triggers, competitor accounts, referrals, not-now, old leads and no-shows.

export const Status = ({kind = "early-access", children}) => {
  const labels = {
    "early-access": "Early access",
    "coming-soon": "Coming soon",
    beta: "Beta"
  };
  const key = labels[kind] ? kind : "early-access";
  return <span className={`sf-status sf-status-${key}`}>{children || labels[key]}</span>;
};

A playbook is a full sequence: which email, which call, in what order, with what wait. Each one
below is built from the [email frameworks](/sequencer/email-frameworks) and from the four step
types in the Sequencer. Build it once, and every rep on your team runs the same play.

<Status kind="early-access" /> The Sequencer is in early access, on Enterprise, Enterprise+ and
Admin seats for teams in the early access program.

## How to read a playbook

Each table is one sequence, top to bottom.

* **Wait** is what you set under **How long after the previous step**. A step's wait starts when
  the step before it finishes: when the email is sent, or when the rep logs the call.
* **Step** is the step type to pick: **Email**, **Email (you send it)**, **Call** or **To-do**.
* Steps only run inside your sending window, which is Monday to Friday, 8 AM to 5 PM unless you
  change it. So a "1 day" wait on a Friday lands on Monday.

Two settings do a lot of the work for you:

* **When they reply** is set to **Stop the sequence** on every new sequence. A prospect who
  answers never gets the next email.
* Email steps after the first send as replies in the same thread. Turn on **Start a new email
  thread** on a step that needs its own subject.

## Call-first cold outbound

The default play for a new list. Seven steps over about two weeks. The email makes the call
expected, and the call does the selling.

| # | Wait | Step | What to send or do |
| - | - | - | - |
| 1 | None | **Email** | [The Heads-Up](/sequencer/frameworks-around-the-call#the-heads-up) |
| 2 | 1 day | **Call** | Note: "Reference yesterday's email. Goal: a conversation, not a pitch." |
| 3 | Right after the previous step | **Email (you send it)** | [The Double Tap](/sequencer/frameworks-around-the-call#the-double-tap). Skip the task if you got through |
| 4 | 3 days | **Call** | Note: "Try a different time of day. Leave a voicemail." |
| 5 | 1 day | **Email** | [The New Angle](/sequencer/frameworks-follow-ups#the-new-angle), with **Start a new email thread** on |
| 6 | 4 days | **Call** | Note: "Last attempt. Ask for the right person if it isn't them." |
| 7 | 2 days | **Email** | [The Clean Exit](/sequencer/frameworks-follow-ups#the-clean-exit) |

<Tip>
  The fastest way to build this is to click **New sequence** and, under **Start from**, pick
  **Cold outbound**. It gives you five steps over 12 days with starter copy. Swap the copy for the
  frameworks above and add the two extra steps.
</Tip>

## Trigger sprint

For accounts where something just changed: funding, a new leader, a hiring push. Short and fast,
because a trigger goes stale. Five steps in about a week.

| # | Wait | Step | What to send or do |
| - | - | - | - |
| 1 | None | **Email (you send it)** | [The Trigger](/sequencer/frameworks-first-touch#the-trigger) |
| 2 | 1 day | **Call** | Note: "Open with the trigger, then the problem it creates." |
| 3 | Right after the previous step | **Email (you send it)** | [The Double Tap](/sequencer/frameworks-around-the-call#the-double-tap) |
| 4 | 2 days | **Email** | [The Nudge](/sequencer/frameworks-follow-ups#the-nudge) |
| 5 | 3 days | **Call** | Note: "Last attempt while the news is fresh." |

To run step 1 as an automatic **Email**, put each account's trigger in a column called `trigger`
before you upload the list, and use `{{custom.trigger}}` in the template.

## Rip and replace

For accounts that already use a competitor. Seven steps over about three weeks. The emails ask and
the calls listen. Nobody is told they chose badly.

Before you start:

* Put the tool each account uses in a column called `tool`, so step 1 can use `{{custom.tool}}`.
* Write a [battle card](/coaching/battle-cards) for each competitor on the list.
* Check anything you plan to say about the other product against their own website, and note the
  date.

| # | Wait | Step | What to send or do |
| - | - | - | - |
| 1 | None | **Email** | [The Switch](/sequencer/frameworks-first-touch#the-switch) |
| 2 | 1 day | **Call** | Note: "Ask what they like about their current tool first. Then ask what they would change." |
| 3 | Right after the previous step | **Email (you send it)** | [The Double Tap](/sequencer/frameworks-around-the-call#the-double-tap) |
| 4 | 4 days | **Email** | [The Lookalike](/sequencer/frameworks-first-touch#the-lookalike), with a customer who moved from the same tool. Turn on **Start a new email thread** |
| 5 | 2 days | **Call** | Note: "Ask when the contract renews, and who signs it." |
| 6 | 4 days | **Email** | [The Short Question](/sequencer/frameworks-first-touch#the-short-question): ask when their contract comes up |
| 7 | 5 days | **Email** | [The Clean Exit](/sequencer/frameworks-follow-ups#the-clean-exit) |

Switching tools in the middle of a contract is a hard ask, so the renewal date matters more than
the first call. When you learn it, move the person to [Not now, later](#not-now-later) and set the wait so
[The Not Now](/sequencer/frameworks-around-the-call#the-not-now) lands a few months before the
renewal.

## Find the right person

For when a call or a reply ends with "that's not my area". Two short steps for the person you
reached, then a fresh start with the person they name.

| # | Wait | Step | What to send or do |
| - | - | - | - |
| 1 | None | **Email (you send it)** | [The Right Person](/sequencer/frameworks-around-the-call#the-right-person) |
| 2 | 3 days | **To-do** | Note: "No answer? Find who owns this on LinkedIn or the company's team page." |

When you have the name, add that person to **Call-first cold outbound** and open the first email
and the first call with the referral.

## Not now, later

For prospects who gave you a real "not now". A slow sequence that keeps your promise to come back.
Four steps over about five weeks.

| # | Wait | Step | What to send or do |
| - | - | - | - |
| 1 | None | **Email (you send it)** | [The Recap](/sequencer/frameworks-around-the-call#the-recap), so the "not now" and the date are in writing |
| 2 | 30 days | **Email (you send it)** | [The Not Now](/sequencer/frameworks-around-the-call#the-not-now) |
| 3 | 2 days | **Call** | Note: "They asked us to come back. Say so in the first line." |
| 4 | 3 days | **Email** | [The Clean Exit](/sequencer/frameworks-follow-ups#the-clean-exit) |

Change the 30-day wait to match what they told you. If they said "after the summer", wait until
after the summer.

## Re-engage an old conversation

For closed-lost deals and leads that went quiet months ago. Start from the **Re-engage** starting
point, which is four steps over 21 days, and swap in these frameworks.

| # | Wait | Step | What to send or do |
| - | - | - | - |
| 1 | None | **Email (you send it)** | [The Second Look](/sequencer/frameworks-follow-ups#the-second-look) |
| 2 | 7 days | **Email** | [The Nudge](/sequencer/frameworks-follow-ups#the-nudge) |
| 3 | 7 days | **Call** | Note: "Reference what changed since we last spoke." |
| 4 | 7 days | **Email** | [The Clean Exit](/sequencer/frameworks-follow-ups#the-clean-exit) |

## No-show rescue

For a prospect who booked a meeting and didn't turn up. Three steps in three days.

| # | Wait | Step | What to send or do |
| - | - | - | - |
| 1 | None | **Call** | Note: "Call at five past. They may just be running late." |
| 2 | Right after the previous step | **Email (you send it)** | [The No-Show Rescue](/sequencer/frameworks-follow-ups#the-no-show-rescue) |
| 3 | 2 days | **Email** | [The Nudge](/sequencer/frameworks-follow-ups#the-nudge) |

## Roll a playbook out to your team

<Steps>
  <Step title="Build it once">
    Create the sequence and add the steps in the table. See
    [Build a sequence](/sequencer/sequences-and-steps).
  </Step>

  <Step title="Preview every email">
    On each email step, click **Preview as a sample contact** and fix anything marked
    **Would be blank**.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Check your rules of engagement">
    Your team's rules decide who may be added and what a reply, meeting or call outcome does. See
    [Set rules of engagement](/sequencer/rules-of-engagement).
  </Step>

  <Step title="Turn it on and add people">
    Enable the sequence, then [add people](/sequencer/enrolling-people).
  </Step>

  <Step title="Read the results">
    Open the sequence's **Analytics** tab for **Delivered**, **Opened**, **Replied**, **Bounced**
    and **Opted out**, and for how many people you contacted and how many replied. To see which
    email is carrying the sequence, see
    [how to test one framework against another](/sequencer/email-frameworks#for-managers-test-one-framework-against-another).
  </Step>
</Steps>

## Next steps

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Cold email frameworks" icon="envelope-open-text" href="/sequencer/email-frameworks">
    All fifteen frameworks, the rules they follow, and how to test them.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Work your tasks" icon="list-check" href="/sequencer/tasks">
    Where the call steps and the emails you send yourself land.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>


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