a single source, nothing corroborates it · contested
Send a first email that asks for nothing
Strip the request out of the opening message and say plainly that you want nothing, so there is no proposal for the reader to decline. Removing the ask took one sender's reply rate up fivefold, and the commercial conversation can start months later.
Where this splits
Most members argue that any request in a first cold email is what gets it deleted, while one insists on naming the days you are free and giving a direct number.
7 claims against 1
Harry Dry · Justin Welsh
Ask for nothing in the first cold email
- 01Never propose a short call in the opening email, since that single line is what most recipients are declining.
- 02Take the request out of your first cold email and say plainly that you want nothing from the reader.
Close with specific dates and a direct phone number
Make the closing action specific: state the days you are free and give a direct phone number rather than proposing a vague quick chat.
- 03Do not send the standard hopeful template that requests a short call, since it gives the reader nothing to respond to.
- 04Open cold outreach by naming one specific problem you found in the recipient's own work and telling them how to fix it, with no request attached.
- 05Do not convert that first useful message into a pitch: leave months between the initial help and any commercial approach.
What it returned
- 97
Out of 97 cold emails received in one month, the only reply went to the one email that made no request
- 5%
Dropping the ask took one sender's response rate from 5% to 25%
- 2022
In March 2022 Andy Kennedy messaged Welsh to say the buttons on his mobile site were too low in contrast to read, that inaccessible colour choices are penalised in search, and that both were costing conversions. Welsh replied with a thank you and nothing more was asked of him.
- 13
Kennedy waited six months before his second message and 13 months in total before the work was agreed. In April 2023 Welsh paid him $43,000 to design the new site.
Sources
- What's in it for me?Justin Welsh · justinwelsh.me · A Simple Shift That Changes Everything · 2025-01-18
- Try writing “advice emails” instead of sales emailsHarry Dry · Marketing Examples · Try writing “advice emails” instead of sales emails · undated · dissenting
- How to write a funny cold emailHarry Dry · Marketing Examples · Poor ending · undated · dissenting
- Lizzy's email worked on meHarry Dry · Marketing Examples · Lizzy's email worked on me · undated · dissenting
- Dave Gerhardt's 1 line sales emailHarry Dry · Marketing Examples · Dave Gerhardt's 1 line sales email · undated · dissenting
the second source
Three plays a week, for the phase you are in
No roundup of links, no news. Three tactics more than one builder arrived at separately, with the numbers each one returned and the disagreements left in.
More in sales
- Charge for it before it exists6 unconnected
- Book the buyer calls before you write any code6 unconnected
- Package more of what you own into sellable slots6 unconnected
- Interview customers when sales stall, not buy traffic5 unconnected
- Borrow credibility from the customers you have5 unconnected
- Keep a named list of dream accounts and work it5 unconnected