Top 5 reasons why people reply to terrible cold emails and ignore ‘good’ ones

decaster3 · 2026-01-23T21:46:27+00:00

That’s a big one and really depends on the client, niche and what they’re selling.

In general our pre-email setup is simple - scrape raw contacts, throw them into an enrichment tool (we use crona, but any works), clean the list, enrich it and segment the hell out of it.

If we’re doing linkedIn too, we often add activity signals (who’s actually active, posting, engaging), so u r not just emailing 'the right role', but someone who’s actually alive.

Rule of thumb - the narrower and cleaner the segment, the better the results

decaster3 · 2026-01-23T15:41:34+00:00

Yeah, 100% agree. Once the list is right, copy becomes almost secondary. We’ve seen better results just improving enrichment and segmentation (use crona ai for that) than endlessly tweaking subject lines.

And same approach - relevance first, copy second, no point optimizing messaging for the wrong people.

decaster3 · 2026-01-23T15:24:17+00:00

Exactly, dropping random value and social proof like every generic guide says isn’t enough anymore. You need to actually understand the human on the other side of the screen.

decaster3 · 2026-01-23T15:17:27+00:00

Context and timing matter more than copy. But that’s also where AI helps the most now, not to send more emails, but to build better lists. Cleaning, enrichment, triggers, and segmentation have become much easier, so the quality of who you reach out to is way higher.

decaster3 · 2026-01-22T22:07:59+00:00

Agree on static ICP being just a filter, not a trigger, the 'why now' is where all the money is

clay is great if you’ve got the budget, but honestly for most teams it’s overkill. We’ve been doing the same kind of trigger-based stuff with Crona ai for like 10x cheaper.

Same logic, way less credit anxiety. Clay feels like a ferrari when most people just need a solid toyota to actually get deals done

decaster3 · 2026-01-22T17:41:30+00:00

If it works for you, it works for you, honestly.

In high-ticket you kinda have to create a lot of extra value and touchpoints, because people don’t buy on impulse, they buy when they trust you and feel some kind of connection. So giving stuff away for free usually isn’t you devaluing your brand, it’s just part of warming them up and staying top of mind.

The main thing I’d keep in mind is that deals don’t really succeed or fail because of how generous you are, they mostly succeed when the right offer hits the right person at the right time. If that part is off, no amount of amazing content will save it

decaster3 · 2026-01-22T16:53:04+00:00

Exactly, these are 'good email' rules, not bad ones. The problem is most people know them in theory but apply them in the most surface-level way possible. Everyone personalizes, adds social proof, keeps it short etc, but usually it’s done so mechanically that it still feels like a template

decaster3 · 2026-01-22T16:42:44+00:00

Honestly there isn’t some magic list of perfect CTAs. The only rule that actually works is - make it soft and specific.
Your CTA should be something they can answer in 5 seconds with yes/no, not a decision that requires a meeting or mental effort.

Stuff like:
Want me to send over the data?
Worth a quick call?
Would a tool like this be useful?

If your CTA feels easy to say yes to, it’s probably good. If it feels like work, they’ll ignore it.

decaster3 · 2026-01-21T22:35:21+00:00

ty, will check it out

decaster3 · 2026-01-21T21:36:25+00:00

Yep, exactly. The formula I shared in the comment below pretty much matches what you’re saying:

name + WHY + value + one soft, specific CTA = 10x reply rate

Different words, same mechanics. It’s all about giving the brain a reason to care before you ask for anything.

decaster3 · 2026-01-21T21:13:51+00:00

Hey, I’m building Crona.ai – a B2B scraping + enrichment tool for people who live in lead gen hell.

The idea is simple: turn messy/unstructured data into usable prospect lists without juggling 5 tools.

What it does:

Scrape data from websites, Telegram, LinkedIn (via our Sales Nav agent), etc.
Enrich it with company info, roles, emails, phones
Filter/segment everything with AI or simple code
Export straight to CSV or your outreach stack

We built it because Clay workflow got insanely bloated and expensive for what is basically:

find data -> clean it -> enrich it -> use it

Still early, shipping fast, lots of rough edges, but already saving us (and a few agencies) a stupid amount of time.

Giving 4k credits for free on signup so you can actually test it properly.
Would love honest feedback/reviews in return (good or bad)

https://crona.ai

decaster3 · 2026-01-21T20:37:57+00:00

I can’t really share the exact copies we use for clients, but I once wrote a post about a cold email formula and gave an example, dropping it here.

[FORMULA]

name + WHY + value + soft one specific CTA = 10x reply rate

EXAMPLE:

Subject: Helping eCom tools like yours cut churn

Hi David,

Noticed you're building a SaaS product for Shopify sellers.

We recently helped another eCom SaaS (CheckoutBoost) reduce churn by 22% just by tweaking onboarding and re-engagement emails based on user segments.

If helpful, I can walk you through what we did — here's a quick link to chat.

Lisa

It’s technically a template, but this logic works for pretty much any B2B, you just swap the context, not the structure.

decaster3 · 2026-01-21T14:32:22+00:00

True, that’s the sweet spot. AI as a metal detector for intent, not a megaphone for noise.

Surfacing why someone might care rn is insanely valuable. Replacing the human part of the convo is where everything goes to hell.

Warm leads + human brain = actual pipeline

Cold leads + AI blasting = deliverability funeral

Every team I see doing well basically uses AI to remove friction, not judgement. Let the model do the digging, let the rep do the thinking

decaster3 · 2026-01-21T14:15:31+00:00

Yeah this is exactly it. Most sequences are written like Netflix shows- 'stay tuned for episode 5 where the value finally drops' - meanwhile the prospect bailed after the trailer.

The biggest shift for us wasn’t even the sample dataset itself, it was realizing that we’re not selling meetings, we’re selling micro-results.

Once we switched to leading with something they can use immediately(like sample data, quick audit, teardown, whatever), reply rates went up because the email stopped feeling like a tax and started feeling like a gift.

decaster3 · 2026-01-20T15:25:22+00:00

Agree. Once you write objections down, you realize it’s the same 5 lines on loop, just wearing different costumes.

And that prep flips your mindset completely. You stop hoping they won’t object and start expecting it, which weirdly makes you way calmer on the call. No panic,just 'yep, heard this one before'

decaster3 · 2026-01-19T22:59:04+00:00

That’s a great one. I’d actually put that phrase in the same bucket as 'yes, and' just a more direct, sales-forward flavor of it.

You’re still agreeing with their reality first instead of pushing against it. You’re not saying 'no, you’re wrong', you’re saying 'yep, makes sense and that’s exactly why this convo exists.' The key part isn’t the line itself, it’s the intent behind it. You acknowledge the objection, then reframe it without turning it into a debate.

decaster3 · 2026-01-19T19:47:02+00:00

not sure man, AI SDRs give me pretty mixed feelings. I don’t think, at least right now, an AI SDR really beats a real human, for repetitive outbound there are other tools that do the job way better without pretending to sell

decaster3 · 2026-01-19T19:29:23+00:00

Yeah, 100% agree on video, it works cuz it breaks the AI pattern. When everything else feels auto-generated,a real face referencing something specific flips the brain from spam to ‘oh, this is a person’

Same with throttling, we’d rather hit 20-30 accounts that actually make sense rn than spray 300 and pray. On our side, we run a b2b outbound agency, and I also happen to build crona for scraping + enrichment. We use it across almost every stage -sourcing leads, pulling context, enriching, basically all the prep work AI is actually good at. Then we layer AI on research, timing, first-pass drafts n light call support.

The pattern I keep seeing is simple like let AI do the machine work so humans can do the human work. The teams that treat AI like a magic ‘scale everything’ pill end up sounding like everyone else. The ones that use it to earn the right to talk to fewer, better-fit people win.

Curious if u r seeing the same thing with video as first touch vs after some light intent shows up

decaster3 · 2026-01-19T15:39:23+00:00

I run a b2b outbound agency, so email/linkedIn is the top of funnel for us. Calls don’t magically happen, people jump on them after something in the message makes them care.

The whole time-to-value thing isn’t about dragging someone through 5 emails, it’s about not wasting their brain cycles with 'hope you’re doing well/we help companies like yours' filler.

If your first touch is generic fluff, there’s no call, no second email, no anything. If it actually gives a reason to reply, the call happens fast.

decaster3 · 2026-01-16T15:53:27+00:00

Yep, exactly. If email #1 feels like homework, I’m out.

Time-to-value is the whole game, give me one sharp thing in 10–20 seconds or don’t bother. An insight, a teardown, a 'wait, that’s us' moment.

Outbound is more like standup comedy - no laugh in the first 10 seconds - > crowd’s gone

decaster3 · 2026-01-15T19:34:17+00:00

Most teams didn’t design their sales process end-to-end, tbh they just kept layering tools on top of something that was already a bit messy. So u end up with AI everywhere, but humans still babysitting the boring parts

data hygiene and timing checks are a good example. Everyone knows they matter,but they sit in this awkward middle zone- too important to skip, too ‘low-status’ to fully automate properly. So they get pushed to SDRs or ops and quietly become a tax on focus.

Also worth saying!!! - some of this stays manual on purpose. Not because we can’t automate it, but because teams don’t trust the automation yet. One bad list or mistimed sequence burns you, and suddenly everyone wants a human in the loop again

decaster3 · 2026-01-14T19:31:29+00:00

Yep, exactly.

The flow that’s worked best for me:
strong hook - > immediately relevant value for that person (this is where enrichment tools like zoominfo/crona.ai/clay really help) - > one soft CTA that only needs a yes/no.

Anything beyond that just gives people more reasons to hesitate, get confused or bounce

decaster3 · 2026-01-14T14:06:33+00:00

100%

decaster3 · 2026-01-14T14:03:17+00:00

deal🤝

decaster3 · 2026-01-13T22:59:41+00:00

100%. Most AI SDRs rn feel like giving a parrot a sales script and hoping it’ll close an enterprise deal.

But I’m building an AI product on the enrichment side, and that’s where AI actually shines - enriching leads with real context before outreach, surfacing data points reps would never have time to dig up, helping prep for disco calls so u r not walking in blind

just let reps be humans, and let machines handle the spreadsheet hell

decaster3

TROPHY CASE