How to Win Clients Via Cold Email: Step by Step Expert Guide

The freelancing world is expanding day by day. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, many individuals are choosing to freelance over their traditional 9–5 career. In this case, winning high-ticket clients is a crucial factor. There are several ways to approach market leaders. 

Well, cold emailing is probably one of the best ways to reach potential clients in 2023. If you are looking for a guide on how to win clients via cold email, you are in the right place. You see, email is a strong medium for business communication. 

According to a report, 72% of customers prefer email over other communication mediums. Whether you use a third-party website or have a company email ID, it can give an effective result. 

Cold emailing is not that challenging. In this case, you have to implement the right strategies. Keep reading this guide to explore more about cold emailing and learn the right ways to win your next big client.

Advantages of Cold Emailing

Before we dig deeper into the “how to win clients via cold email” guide, you need to know about the benefits of this strategy. In simple words, cold email is an effective outreach channel that will help you generate leads. Let’s explore the advantages of cold emailing:

Personalized Approach: A potential client or business individual prefers a direct approach over AI-generated messages. In this case, a handwritten, personalized email can be the best strategy. This way, you can let your potential client know that you have done enough research.

Fast Result: A cold email can give you the fastest result if you are writing something presentable. If your potential client is interested, they can get back to you immediately. If not, you can always go for follow-ups.

Affordable: A cold email campaign doesn’t cost a hundred dollars. All cold email tools are affordable. In fact, you can start by using your Gmail account to reach out to business leaders.

How to Win Clients Via Cold Email

When you search on the internet for cold emailing, you can get different results. In reality, it can be challenging for a newbie freelancer. Instead of implementing those methods, you can follow our easy steps. 

In the following section, we will explore the easiest way to win clients via cold email. Let’s have a look:

Step 1: Choose Potential Clients

Before you send emails, you need a list of potential clients. It’s very important to narrow down the list to reach out to the right marketers. In that case, you have to build a prospect list. Now, you can get help from a tool to collect email IDs or do it by yourself manually.

For freelancers, it’s best to get emails from LinkedIn, Twitter, or Instagram. In fact, you can get emails from their official website. Prepare a sheet to collect all these email IDs. Using a tool can make it even easier.

Step 2: Create an Email Template

Creating an email template is the most crucial step in this ‘how to win clients via cold email’ guide. There are tons of email templates online. In fact, you can use both free and paid email template generators.

However, we always suggest our readers create a template by themselves. Each client has unique needs. You need to write something that matches their business style.

At the same time, it’s not easy to write an email for everyone. In that case, you must thoroughly research everything before making the template. Later, you can customize it before sending the mail. Make sure you include these points:

A Simple Yet Effective Pitch — A potential client loses interest when the email is boring and off-topic. Simply put, you don’t have to include everything in a single email. Just show how you can help the potential prospect with your service. 

Add Social Proof — How can a stranger put their trust in your service? You have to do something that makes your email look reliable. And what’s better than social proof? So, include social proof (with valid links) while pitching.

Add a Call-to-Action — Newbie freelancers always forget about a CTA when they write a cold email to a potential prospect. You might know that a call-to-action can work like magic. Hence, CTA can increase the interest of the potential client as well.

Step 3: Follow Up to Get Responses

You have to accept that you can’t get every email’s response. Well, that doesn’t mean you’ll give up. It’s hard to get a reply to the first email. It’s natural, as the marketer has to deal with tons of emails. 

In that case, a follow-up email can save your day. According to Woodpecker, one follow-up email can increase the chance of getting a reply to 27%. Make sure you are not spamming the prospect while sending a follow-up.

Top Tips to Write a Successful Cold Email

Now, you know how to win clients via cold email. If you are a newbie, you have to be extra careful with everything. In that case, you can follow some useful tips while writing an email. Keep reading the following list to explore these tips:

1. Personalize Your Outreach

Freelancers have a tendency to copy-paste one email template for all potential clients. It doesn’t work at all. A business leader receives hundreds of emails every day. And if you are approaching them with a basic email, you won’t get an answer.

Here is a solution. Yes, you can win the best project by personalizing your outreach. But before that, you have to study everything. For example, if you are approaching a travel website for copywriting, make sure you check out everything about them.

While writing the email, you have to include how you can help them improve their business. Plus, always keep a polite tone to get the best result.

2. Spellcheck Before Sending

The first impression is the last impression. You might know that, right? If your potential client finds something wrong in your email, it will decrease the conversion rate. 

In short, your email needs to be perfect. That’s why you can’t do something silly like make spelling mistakes. When we use an online medium, making spelling mistakes is common. 

In that case, an AI-generated tool can save your day. There are numerous grammar and spellchecking tools you can try out. 

3. Send Follow Up, Don’t Spam

If you are not sending follow-up emails, you are not winning the game. As we said before, a business leader or marketer receives hundreds of emails. If you want to stand out, you have to send follow-up emails.

Well, that doesn’t mean you will spam them. Make a proper schedule for sending follow-ups. For example, if you send a cold mail and can’t get an answer, send a follow-up after seven days. Ideally, it’s best to send 2-3 follow-ups to get the result.

4. Maintain Balance

Another thing we would love to include in this ‘how to win clients via cold email’ guide is maintaining balance. When you write a cold email, you have to maintain a professional tone. However, that doesn’t mean you can’t write something light. Balancing is essential, especially when you are a freelancer.

5. Don’t Add Documents

It’s hard to grab a potential client’s attention with a basic cold email. And when you attach some documents, it will be a big NO for you. Remember, you are not applying for a job. Neither, you know that the client is up for hiring someone at this moment. If the marketer is interested, they will surely ask for your portfolio and other documents.

Wrapping Up

By reading this article, you can understand that cold emailing is an effective strategy to get potential leads. Before that, you have to make a list of potential clients. For example, if you are a social media manager, you can get emails from different agencies. Plus, LinkedIn is another good platform to get someone’s email ID.