Cold e-mails I received this fall

This edition includes a flat 0! But also an 8/10. Enjoy the read!

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The September edition of this article seems to have hit a nerve, so here we go again!

I won't go into the quality of the offered services but into how much or little effort is being put in these cold e-mails.

I feel strongly about delivering a good, thoughtful pitch. After all: Everything is downstream from lead generation!

Buy my old contacts! (2/10)

One of the worst cold emails I have received this fall. Yes, ASCRS is relevant to me, being a member of the ophthalmology community. But it ends there. ASCRS 2023 was in May, so this person is trying to sell me a list of attendees of an event that happened more than half a year ago.

There is also no individualization at all, nor is there any regard for punctuation. Really bad!

2 points on my completely subjective rating, because the sender managed to reach someone in the right industry.

@ALL - bcc (0/10)

Here it is! A flat 0 for this cold e-mail.

First of all: This person sent the e-mail to themselves, which tells me they bcc'd probably hundreds if not thousands contacts. There are very simple ways to send emails to a lot of people and still have only individual people in the "to" section.

What follows is clear: No personalized greeting, not personalized content. As we all know, the first sentence is the most important one in a cold e-mail. It needs to be concrete, interesting and relevant to the receiver. Ideally it is individualized to the receiver. In this specific case, the person tells me that they spend a lot of money on data sourcing and maintenance. O.k. good for them.

This is followed by a lot of buzzwords and abbreviations (I don't know several of them). Last but not least: An extremely weak call to action. No urgency, providing several things to do. Just plain bad.

Your company won an award! (8/10)

Hi Sascha,

I am Monica Fischer withXXXXXX Magazine, I take immense pleasure in informing you that our evaluation panel has shortlisted iSTAR Medical, based on our multi-layer process, to feature as one of the 'Top 10 Vision Care Solutions Providers in Europe 2024’ in our upcoming Europe edition on Vision Care.

We want to feature iSTAR Medical with a fascinating profile in this edition highlighting how your Vision Care solutions ensure that patients receive high-quality and comprehensive care tailored to their specific needs.

iSTAR Medical engaging profile centers on its Vision Care Solutions will be featured alongside thought leadership articles from the Head of Ophthalmology, Consultant Ophthalmologist, and Cataract and Vitreoretinal Surgeons, to name a few. They will share their notion, experiences, and the obstacles they encountered in the Vision Care realm.

iSTAR Medical can leverage the Top 10 Vision Care Solutions Providers reprints to increase its conversion rate and industry recognition. Our previous clients have leveraged Top 10 recognition reprints to strengthen their selling efforts and expand their client base. Also, they were thrilled with the excellent client inquiries they got from our subscribers and visitors to our website.

withXXXXXX magazine reaches out to our 132,000 qualified subscribers in the UK and Europe and will showcase iSTAR Medicals expertise in providing Vision Care solutions to our subscribers comprising the Director-Surgical Supportive Services, Ophthalmologists, Ophthalmic Research Scientists, Optometrists, Ophthalmic Research Coordinator, CMIO, MDs and various other senior executives. iSTAR Medical’s feature in this issue will enhance its exposure and credibility among the influential professionals who are the decision-makers in the Vision Care realm.

iSTAR Medical can enhance its exposure and conversion rate by leveraging the Top 10 recognition reprint rights for a nominal expense of 3,000 Euros, which also includes notable features such as a Recognition Logo and certificate and Ad space in the magazine that you can utilize in the same edition or any of our imminent editions in the next six months. In addition to that, iSTAR Medicals profile will be hyperlinked to our website from where all your clients can instantly reach you.

I would be happy to share more info on how you can benefit the most from this recognition. Let's find a few minutes to discuss this feature and the subsequent steps.

I look forward to hearing back from you.

Regards

That one got me thinking! The positives: It is an individualized e-mail. Greets me personally and within the first sentence, makes the email relevant to me! My company has won an award! Whoa! I have to continue reading! If we won an award and I mess it up, I'll be in trouble!

The second paragraph is a bit weaker, since it becomes more generic "fascinating profile"... As soon as the person explains how I could leverage this award for better conversion, I'm sure it is a cold e-mail. Nevertheless, it is well crafted. Mentions my company eight times (highlighted in orange) and also mention's my company's target group (ophthalmologists). Well done!

The text continues with rather generic descriptions and quickly becomes a media company's pitch (number of subscribers and locations), however it sticks to the story. Only once the sender mentions the price for the rights to use the award for my own marketing is it 100% clear that this is not legit but a commercial offer.

They could have done better with a few changes: Make the e-mail shorter. Say less, do not mention a price in the initial e-mail and I might even reply, since I would not be fully sure this was not legit.

S0 close! (8/10)

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I hope you enjoyed this selection of cold e-mails which made it to my inbox (or spam folder) in this fall. I'd be keen to hear about your experiences with cold e-mails!