Dos and Don’ts of Cold and Warm Emailing

You’ve likely heard the terms cold emails and warm emails. They can help you attract new clients and build your reputation within your niche in the translation industry. But what are they? And how do you put them to use?

Cold emails are emails to people with whom you have had no prior contact. These may be owners of companies that are in your specialization or project managers for agencies for which you have never worked. The goal is to make connections and familiarize people with your professional services.

Warm emails are emails to people with whom you have some sort of prior relationship. These may be potential clients to whom you were referred by a colleague or individuals who contacted you about a possible project.

For cold emails:

DO ask questions to try to start a dialogue. You want to create a warm prospect, your new potential client.

DO make sure that the person needs and wants your services if you decide to pitch yourself to them in this first email.

DON’T worry about trying to close the sale at this point. You want to build a relationship and trust with your contact.

For warm emails:

DO ask follow-up questions and/or attempt to land the sale if this company or individual has already shown interest in your services, such as by requesting a quote.

DO make sure you are a good fit for this potential client by asking more questions of someone who has shown interest in you. They may have asked you a question but not yet requested a quote, so this is your opportunity to learn more before trying to seal the deal.

DON’T waste time and energy trying to sell to people who aren’t interested or don’t need your services. Focus your efforts on finding the right clients and engaging them.

The bottom line:

Whether you use warm or cold emails (or both), be sure to develop a system and keep track of the statistics. That’s the only way you will be able to tell how successful your technique is and what you need to modify to get more positive response rates.

And if this is an area where you need help, you’re in luck. Success by Rx has an exciting week-long online event coming up where you can see actual example templates for both warm and cold emails.

How to Land Sales, a week-long web-based event, runs all week from May 28 through June 1, but you have to sign up before May 28 to take advantage of all the daily activities and videos that will help you land more clients and grow your business.

Melissa Kamenjarin

Author: Melissa Kamenjarin

Melissa is a Success by Rx copywriter and Spanish/English translator, writer, editor and proofreader specializing in educational materials, health insurance, non-profits, and published fiction and non-fiction books, blogs and websites. Melissa is the Secretary and blog writer for ATISDA (Association of Translators and Interpreters in the San Diego Area). An American Translators Association (ATA) member, she is also the Copy Editor for the ATA Medical Division’s publication, Caduceus.

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