cold-email

cold-email

Team Pick
Outbound & Prospecting
Corey Haines
B2B cold email and follow-up sequences written to a peer standard, with a four-level personalization system and a test for whether yours is doing any work.
REPO
coreyhaines31/marketingskills
INSTALL
npx skills add
NEEDS
A research signal
Last updated
August 4, 2026

Preview

cold-email

What it is.

You give it the role you are writing to and why them, the outcome you want, your proof and one research signal. It writes the email and the follow-up sequence, and it works from partial answers instead of blocking.

The check worth stealing runs on the sequence you already have: delete the personalized opening and reread. If the email still makes sense, the personalization was decoration. Four personalization levels are documented so effort can match account value.

What you get.

  • Subject lines, opening lines, body copy and calls to action for one campaign
  • Multi-touch follow-up sequences, where each touch builds on the one before
  • A four-level personalization system, with research signals listed per level
  • The deletion test for whether your personalization connects to the problem
  • A note on which missing input would have improved the draft
HOW TO USE IT

How to set it up.

1

Install with npx skills add coreyhaines31/marketingskills --skill cold-email -a claude-code.

2

Run product-marketing first, so the skill reads your positioning from .agents/product-marketing.md instead of asking again.

3

Name the role and the company, and say why them specifically. A segment is not an answer here.

4

Give it one research signal, whether that is funding, a hiring pattern, a LinkedIn post or a stack change. This is what the opening line is built from.

5

State your proof as a result or a case study, because the skill allocates a line to it instead of to adjectives.

6

Apply the deletion test to the draft. Cut the personalized opening and reread. If nothing breaks, the opening is decoration.

Pricing Plans

Free. MIT license.

Checked against the repo in July 2026.

Use cases

Outbound from one signal

You have a funding announcement and a proof point, and that's the whole file. Give it the role you're writing to plus that signal, and the opening line gets built from the signal with a line allocated to your proof.

Autopsy on a silent sequence

The sequence gets no replies and nobody agrees why. Paste it in and run the deletion test: cut the personalized opening and reread, and if the email still makes sense the personalization was decoration.

Follow-ups that build

Your follow-ups restate the first email with a nudge on top. Ask for the sequence in the same session and each touch builds on the one before it.

A standard for the team

Each rep writes outbound their own way. The four personalization levels match research effort to account value, and that rule travels to the whole team with consistent output coming back.

Best for

Diagnosing a sequence that gets no replies

The deletion test and the personalization levels give you a concrete read on why, instead of a general opinion about your copy.

Writing outbound with one strong signal

It is built to work from a single signal plus a clear value claim, which is the realistic input most reps have.

Setting a standard for an SDR team

Peer voice, contractions and a read-aloud check are rules you can hand to five people and get consistent output.

Read the source

Published by Corey Haines. Opens in a new tab.
Open the Tool

Questions about cold-email

Does it handle deliverability?
What if I have no research signal?
Will it write nurture emails?
How do I know my personalization works?

Questions about Outbound & Prospecting

What makes a cold email get a reply?
How long should a cold email be?
Strengths
  • The deletion test is a falsifiable check on personalization, which most email tools treat as a vibe.
  • It works from partial inputs and names the gap instead of stalling on a form.
  • Personalization is graded across four levels, so effort can be matched to account value.
  • Separates cold outreach from lifecycle email and points you at the right skill for each.
Limitations
  • Copy only. Sending, deliverability and list building sit outside it.
  • Output tracks the signal you bring. With no research signal you get a competent generic email.
  • Last touched in May 2026, so the platform-specific advice is older than the library's newer skills.
Skip this if
  • Skip it if you already have sequences getting replies.

The team behind these plays.

We build inbound GTM engines for B2B software teams, and these are the plays we build from. Tell us the pipeline target and we'll show the plan under it.