Cold Email — 4-touch sequence

Principle: speed and specificity win. Short, no pitch, one clear ask, a named observed gap. Multi-touch because most operators reply once and quit; the cadence runs whether you remember it or not (AOA Speed to Lead — Step 4).

Deliverability: send from a warmed domain, plain text, no images/links in touch 1, one soft link max later. See 06-solution-stack/ for the outbound infra (AAIC Outreach Infra).

Touch 1 — Day 0 — the observed-gap open

Subject: quick thing I noticed about [Company]

Hi [First Name],

I was looking at [Company] and noticed [SPECIFIC OBSERVED GAP — e.g. “a form fill on your site gets an auto-reply but no human follow-up for a day or two”]. For a business your size that usually means [CONSEQUENCE IN THEIR TERMS — e.g. “a handful of ready-to-buy leads a month going to whoever answers first”].

Am I reading that right — is [GAP] actually a headache, or handled behind the scenes? If it’s real, I map exactly what it’s costing (and the 2–3 fastest fixes) in a one-week audit — fixed fee, and if I don’t find a fix worth 5+ hours a week, you don’t pay.

Worth 30 minutes to find out? [DAY] at [TIME] or [DAY] at [TIME].

[Your Name] — J&M AI Services, [town/SE Idaho]

Touch 2 — Day 2 — make sure it didn’t get buried

Subject: re: quick thing I noticed about [Company]

Hey [First Name] — wanted to make sure this didn’t get buried. Quick math on [GAP]: if it’s costing even [N leads/month × your average job value — e.g. “2 jobs a month at $400”], that’s [$X]/year walking to whoever answers first. If my math is wrong, tell me and I’ll leave you alone. If it’s close — 30 minutes, [DAY/TIME]?

Touch 3 — Day 5 — value, not ask

Subject: how [SIMILAR BUSINESS TYPE] got 8 hours a week back

[First Name] — quick one. A [SIMILAR CATEGORY] owner I worked with was spending ~90 minutes every morning [SPECIFIC TASK]. We routed it through a Claude skill and it’s now a 5-minute review. That’s the kind of thing the audit surfaces.

If you got that morning back, where would it actually go — more jobs, or just getting home on time?

If reclaiming a day a week sounds useful, I’ll hold [DAY] at [TIME] for you. If not, no worries and I’ll stop cluttering your inbox.

Only send Touch 3 with a real, named-category result you actually delivered. Until you have one, substitute a demonstrated artifact: “I recorded a 3-minute Loom showing what your form-fill response looks like vs. what an instant AI draft looks like — want it?” (that’s a gift, and it’s true).

Touch 4 — Day 10 — the break-up

Subject: closing the loop

[First Name] — I’ll assume the timing isn’t right. I take on [N] audits a month so each gets a full week — I’ll release your slot and stop here. If [GAP] ever starts costing you enough to fix, just reply with one word and I’ll send times. Either way, good luck with [SEASON / GOAL / THING YOU KNOW ABOUT THEM].

Only use the slot line if the cap is real — you actually limit audits per month.

Notes

• Touch 1 subject and first line carry 90% of the open/reply. The [OBSERVED GAP] must be real and specific — pull it from category-hooks.md.
• For local prospects, open Touch 1 with the local variant: “I’m local — [town] — and I was looking at [Company]…”
• Optional disqualifier for Touch 1 or 3 (skeptical categories): “This isn’t a fit for everything — if your intake is already instant, I’ll tell you in the first 10 minutes and we’re done.”
• If they reply with an objection instead of a booking, that’s a win — you’re in a conversation; answer the objection with a question, not a paragraph.
• Never state a price in the sequence. “Fixed fee” + the guarantee is enough. Price is a discovery-call conversation.
• If they reply asking price: give the range and pivot to the call — “For the audit it’s $999 for a solo operation, $1,999 with a team — but let’s make sure there’s something worth auditing first. 30 minutes [DAY/TIME]?”