Article

The Winning Cold Email Follow-up Plan for Sales Teams

Steli Efti · Close Free Beginner

Steli Efti built his sales career on the belief that unanswered outreach is a maybe, and a maybe is what kills deals. This gives you his actual day-by-day cadence (four touches spread across roughly a week for a cold prospect, longer for one showing real interest) so you're not guessing at spacing.

  • A workable cold cadence is four emails on day 1, 2, 4, and 8 to 9
  • Each follow-up should restate the ask plainly, not repeat the whole pitch
  • Timing often matters more than copy: a non reply may just mean they were busy, not uninterested
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It answers 5 questions

  1. How many times should I follow up before giving up on a cold prospect?
  2. Cold email or cold LinkedIn/DM, what works better for reaching first customers?
  3. Is cold outreach even worth it, or is it just spam that hurts my brand?
  4. Is it legal to cold email people in India, and do I need their consent first?
  5. What's a good response rate for cold email, and how do I know if mine is broken?

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