One-question opener

Subject lines

• Stock counts at {{company}}(used in the template)
• Quick question, {{first_name}}
• {{company}} and stock counts

Follow-ups reply in the same thread, so they’re sent as “Re:” the first subject.

The sequence: 3 emails

1. Email 1 · day 1

   Stock counts at {{company}}

   {Hi|Hello} {{first_name}}, Does {{company}} still do full stock counts by hand, or have you moved to cycle counting? {Thanks|Cheers}, {{sender_first_name}}

2. Email 2 · day 4 (3 days after the previous one, if there’s no reply)

   Re: Stock counts at {{company}}

   Hi {{first_name}}, Asking because we make cycle counting software for warehouses your size, and the answer tells me whether it's worth explaining more. A one-word reply is plenty. {{sender_first_name}}

3. Email 3 · day 10 (6 days after the previous one, if there’s no reply)

   Re: Stock counts at {{company}}

   Hi {{first_name}}, Last one from me. If stock counts become a headache later, just reply and I'll pick it up. {{sender_first_name}}

{{first_name}} and similar are filled from each lead; after a “|” is the text used when the field is empty. {a|b} picks one option per lead. Written for a warehouse software company writing to operations managers.

When to use it

When your audience is busy and receives a lot of email, and the qualifying question is simple.

Why it works

• Short emails get read completely, on a phone, in a few seconds.
• A question with an obvious one-word answer lowers the effort of replying to almost nothing.
• Spintax varies the greeting so a large send doesn't look identical in every inbox.

How to adapt it

• Replace the stock-count question with the one question that tells you whether they're a fit.
• Keep it a real question. 'Would you like to grow faster?' is not one.