First-touch frameworks

A first email has one job: get a reply, or make your call the next day a little warmer. It is not there to explain your product. These five frameworks each earn that in a different way. Read how placeholders work before you paste one into a step. Text in square brackets is for a person to write.

The Trigger

Use it when something has just changed at their company: a funding round, a new leader, a hiring push, a new office, a product launch. Step type: Email (you send it), because the trigger is different for every account. The shape

The change, in one line, stated as a fact.
The problem that change usually creates.
A question that asks whether it is true for them.

Subject: [the trigger, in three or four words]

Hi {{first_name}},

[One line about the trigger. No "I saw that" or "congrats".]

When that happens, [the role] usually ends up [the problem it creates].

Is that showing up at {{company}} yet, or is it handled?

[Your name]

Example (made-up details)

Subject: 12 new SDRs

Hi Dana,

Northgate has twelve SDR roles open this month.

When a team grows that fast, the new reps usually spend their first weeks dialing voicemail
instead of having conversations, and ramp stretches out.

Is that showing up at Northgate yet, or is it handled?

Alex

Why it works. The first line is about them and is checkably true, so it reads as written for one person. The question is easy to answer either way, and both answers start a conversation. Make it yours

If you have the trigger in your list, put it in a column and use {{custom.trigger}}. Then the step can be an automatic Email.
Leave out the trigger if it is more than a few weeks old. Old news reads as a mail merge.

The One Problem

Use it when you have a list of people in the same role and no specific trigger for each one. Step type: Email. The same words fit everyone in a well-built list. The shape

One problem that people in their role have, in their words.
What it costs them, in plain terms.
A question: is this you?

Subject: {{title}} question

Hi {{first_name}},

Most [their role] I talk to say the same thing: [the problem, the way they would say it].

It usually means [what it costs: time, pipeline, a missed number].

Is that true at {{company}}, or have you already solved it?

[Your name]

Example (made-up details)

Subject: SDR manager question

Hi Dana,

Most SDR managers I talk to say the same thing: reps make a hundred dials a day and have four
real conversations.

It usually means the team hits its activity target and still misses its meeting target.

Is that true at Northgate, or have you already solved it?

Alex

Why it works. A problem stated the way the reader would say it shows you know their job. You have asked for nothing but a yes or a no. Make it yours

Write one version per role. A VP and a team lead do not have the same problem.
One problem. If you list three, they remember none.

The Lookalike

Use it when you have a real customer the prospect would recognize as a peer. Step type: Email if one story fits the whole list, otherwise Email (you send it). The shape

A company like theirs, and the situation it was in.
What changed, in one line.
A question that hands them the comparison.

Subject: how [peer company] handled [the problem]

Hi {{first_name}},

[Peer company] was in a spot that may sound familiar: [their situation, one line].

They [what they changed], and [the result, only if you can back it up].

Is {{company}} dealing with the same thing?

[Your name]

Example (made-up details)

Subject: how Brightline handled ramp

Hi Dana,

Brightline was in a spot that may sound familiar: fifteen new SDRs and a quarter to get them
productive.

They moved the new reps onto shared call blocks with a manager listening in, and stopped
reviewing calls a day late.

Is Northgate dealing with the same thing?

Alex

Why it works. What a peer did is easier to believe than what a vendor claims. The story does the selling, and the question lets them place themselves in it. Make it yours

Only name customers who have agreed to be named, and only quote results you can back up.
Pick the peer for the reader: same industry, same size, or same role.
For an automatic step, put the peer in a column and use {{custom.peer}}.

The Short Question

Use it when you want the lowest-effort reply possible, or you are restarting a thread that went quiet. Step type: Email. The shape

One sentence of context.
One question.

Subject: {{company}} + [topic]

Hi {{first_name}},

[One sentence: why you, why now.]

[One question they can answer in a line.]

[Your name]

Example (made-up details)

Subject: Northgate + outbound

Hi Dana,

I work with SDR teams that are adding headcount this year.

Who at Northgate decides how new reps get their first conversations?

Alex

Why it works. There is nothing to skim, and a two-line email is easy to answer in two lines. Make it yours

This is the easiest framework to send lazily. The context sentence still has to be true for the person reading it.
It pairs well with a call the next day: “I sent you two lines yesterday” is an easy opener.

The Switch

Use it when the account already uses a competitor, and you are asking them to replace it. Step type: Email if the tool each account uses is in a column of your list, otherwise Email (you send it). The shape

Name what they use, plainly and without a dig.
The one reason teams move from it to you, said about you and not about them.
A question that lets them say whether they have felt it.

Subject: {{custom.tool}} at {{company}}

Hi {{first_name}},

I understand {{company}} runs [the job] on {{custom.tool}}.

The teams that move from it to us usually do it for one reason: [the one thing you do differently].

Have you run into that, or is {{custom.tool}} doing the job?

[Your name]

Example (made-up details)

Subject: Acme Dialer at Northgate

Hi Dana,

I understand Northgate's SDR team makes its calls on Acme Dialer.

The teams that move from it to us usually do it for one reason: they want each rep on several
lines at once, so the hour goes to conversations and not to ringing.

Have you run into that, or is Acme Dialer doing the job?

Alex

Why it works. You show that you know their setup, and you don’t tell them they chose badly. Both answers help you. “It’s doing the job” tells you to come back at renewal. “Actually, yes” starts the conversation you wanted. Three ways to run it

When	Change it like this
You don’t know what bothers them about the tool	Drop the middle line and ask about timing instead: “I’m not asking you to switch today. When does your contract with them come up?”
A customer of yours made the same move	Send The Lookalike with that customer as the peer: what they ran before, why they moved, and how long the move took
They could try you without leaving their tool	Offer a side-by-side: “Would you run both on the same list for a week and compare?” Only offer it if you can really run one

Keep it honest A rip-and-replace email is the easiest one to get wrong, because it is about someone else’s product.

Say only what you can point to. State nothing about the other product unless it is on their own website or in their own docs, and note the date you checked. Pricing and features change.
Talk about what you do, not what they lack. “We do this” is a fact you own. “They can’t do this” is a claim you have to prove.
Don’t mock the choice. Someone at that company picked the tool, and it may be the person reading your email.
Name only customers who agreed to be named, and quote only results you can back up.

Make it yours

Before you upload your list, put the tool each account uses in a column called tool. It becomes {{custom.tool}}. Only add people whose tool you know: a blank comes out empty, and Preview as a sample contact marks it Would be blank.
Write a battle card for each competitor before the first call. When a prospect says “we’re happy with what we have”, the rep has the answer, and Live Assist can put it on screen the moment the tool is named.
For the full sequence, see Rip and replace.

Get started

Run sequences

Email playbooks

The Trigger

The One Problem

The Lookalike

The Short Question

The Switch

Next steps

Frameworks for before and after a call

Cold email playbooks

​The Trigger

​The One Problem

​The Lookalike

​The Short Question

​The Switch

​Next steps

Frameworks for before and after a call

Cold email playbooks

The Trigger

The One Problem

The Lookalike

The Short Question

The Switch

Next steps