👋 Welcome to a 🔒 paid edition 🔒 of my weekly newsletter: Outbound Kitchen. Each week I dive into reader questions about creating outbound systems for sustainable growth. For more: Podcast | Launching Outbound | Scaling Outbound | Deep Dives
You set up your email infrastructure.
You spend hours writing cold emails. Research prospects. Personalize every line.
Then nothing.
Your open rate sits at 20%. Maybe 30% if you’re lucky.
Here’s the worst part: Your product could genuinely help them.
But they’ll never know.
Because they never opened your email.
Decision-makers get 100+ emails per day.
Your message competes with urgent requests, vendor pitches, and that coworker who replies-all.
Sales gurus tell you to use clickbait. Trick people with “Re:” to fool them into opening.
The truth: Tricking someone is the fastest way to get marked as spam.
Or ignored forever.
Every misleading subject line damages your credibility.
They might open it once.
They’ll never trust you again.
Today I’m sharing my guide on how to write subject lines that:
✓ Stop the reader from scrolling
✓ Get the open
Using these principles and my prompts in Claude, I’m getting 60-74% open rates with Directors and C-Levels at 10-500 employee companies (October 2025).
🚨Remember: We’re in sales. Context matters.
What works for me might not work for you.
What works for your ICP might not work for mine.
Test everything I share.
Track your results.
Double down on what works for your prospects.
Guide: Write Subject Lines (without tricking your prospects)
Part 1: Cold Email Subject Lines (2-3 Words)
Use these 90% of the time. Standard cold outreach. No prior contact.
1. Boring/Neutral Tone
For context, I learned this one from Lavender, and they are my go-to for cold outreach.
Think about the emails you send and receive internally at work.
They’re typically short. Descriptive. Boring.
This is exactly what works best for your cold emails.
Why? Because these are quick to read and set the correct expectations for what’s inside.
When we say boring, we’re talking about neutral tone. Emotionless.
Real Example
Let’s say you wrote this email:
Hi Sarah,
I noticed you’re hiring 3 new sales reps according to your LinkedIn post.
Most teams struggle when they scale from 5 to 8 reps.
The biggest issue? Reps using different messaging and getting inconsistent results.
We built a template library that ensures every rep sends
the same high-performing emails. Companies using it see
35% more consistent reply rates across their team.
Worth a quick call?
Best,
ElricExamples:
“Template Consistency”:
Why it works: References the core problem (inconsistent messaging) and your solution (templates) in 2 words. Neutral and descriptive.“Rep Messaging”: Why it works: Directly describes what the email is about. Sounds like an internal discussion about sales messaging.
“Scaling Challenge”: Why it works: Ties to her situation (hiring 3 new reps) and the problem you’re solving. Factual and objective.
“Team Performance”: Why it works: Gets at the outcome (consistent results across team). Professional and boring in a good way.
“Reply Rate Consistency”: Why it works: Very specific about the metric you improve. 3 words but highly descriptive.
You’d probably pick #1 or #2 - short, boring, directly tied to your email content.
When to use: Your default. First touch cold emails. When you want to sound like an internal colleague.
Why it works: Sets correct expectations. Quick to read. No tricks. No hype. Just describes what the email is about.
Key rule: Use factual and objective words. Skip superlatives. They’re emotional.
Instead: “Reply Rates” not “Amazing Reply Rates”
2. Open a Loop
Examples:
dealing with this?
open to this?
seen this?
know about this?
When to use: First touch. No prior relationship. You need curiosity.
Why it works: Creates curiosity without being clickbait. They need to open your email to close the loop.
3. Something About Them
Reference specific content they created.
Or something unique about their company.
Examples:
about your website
your LinkedIn post
your episode
When to use: When they create content. When you can reference something very specific about them.
Why it works: Shows you did your homework. People who create content love seeing that others engaged with it.
4. via [Connection]
Mentioning a connection in 2-3 words.
Examples:
via Elric
via Nick
Elena’s interview
When to use: When you have a loose connection. When you can name-drop but it’s not a strong referral.
Why it works: Even weak connections reduce friction. It signals you’re not a complete stranger.
5. Your Company Name
“Chili Piper”
“Outbound Kitchen"
Just your company name.
When to use:
They probably know your brand. You’re in their space. They might have seen your ads or heard about you.
If they don't, it creates curiosity.
Why it works: Simple. Direct. If they know you, they’ll open. If they don’t, at least you built awareness.
Part 2: Context-Specific Subject Lines (Use When Applicable)
These are longer. More specific. Used in particular situations.
1. When You Have a Strong Referral
“Jake suggested I contact you”
Use the full sentence when someone explicitly told you to use their name.
Not just “we have a mutual connection.” But “Jake said to reach out and mention him.”
The referral strength justifies the extra words.
2. When You’ve Touched Them on Another Channel
Examples:
just called
my voicemail
left you a VM
When to use: You called and left a voicemail. You’re following up via email.
Why it works: Multi-channel builds familiarity. They might have seen your name already.
3. When They Changed Jobs (And You Have Context)
“Salesforce → Figma”
“Previous Company → New Company”
When to use: They moved from a company using your product to a company that’s not. They just started a new role.
Why it works: Shows you’re paying attention. Signals you have relevant context about their career move.
4. When They Ghosted You or Last Touch
Examples:
Did I lose you?
wrong timing?
When to use: Last email in your sequence. Or they engaged before but went silent. Or you’ve tried 3-4 times with no response.
Why it works: Direct. Honest. Gives them an easy out or a reason to re-engage.
5. When You Reference Their Content (Detailed)
Examples:
about your post on rep productivity
your episode with Sarah
saw you on Sarah’s podcast
loved your article on outbound
When to use: When the content is so specific and relevant that you need the extra words for context.
Why it works: Ultra-personalized. Shows you consumed their content and have something valuable to say about it.
Notice the difference?
Short and boring for cold.
Longer and specific when context requires it.
The Results I'm getting:
✓ My open rates are 60-70% (October 2025)
✓ Directors and C-levels actually reading my emails
✓ You build trust instead of burning bridges
✓ Reply rates go up because more people are opening
This works because you’re not trying to trick anyone.
You’re simply making it clear why your email matters.
And you’re using the right subject line for the situation.
🔒 Cold Email Subject Line Generator
Here are the 2 exact prompts I use for Claude and Clay:
Copy-paste into Claude for individual emails
Scale with Clay using Claude
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to Outbound Kitchen to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.