Cold Email Call to Action Examples that Actually Get Answered

You know how it goes when you’re crafting a cold email. There’s the subject line. There’s the opening line (aka the preview text). There’s the observation. There’s the value prop.

And one of the most important pieces of all…

The call to action (CTA).

The cold email call to action is what’s going to make or break your email.

Without it, your prospect will have no idea what you’re expecting from them.

And with a crappy one, you risk either confusing them, annoying them, or both. And we’ve all written crappy ones at some point (don’t lie!). 

You’ll find examples of those below.

The only option you’ve got left is to come up with a call to action that will entice your prospect to:

1. Not immediately trash your email
2. Not roll their eyes at your predictable CTA
3. Consider replying
4. Hit Reply
5. Write out an answer
6. Hit Send

And you know as well as we do that more often than not, options 1+2 are the default choices.

But with a little bit of help (and by “a little bit,” we mean a fudge ton) from our own sales team + top sales experts on LinkedIn, we’ve put together a list of cold email call to action examples that actually get responses.

TL;DR

This guide is going to help you craft non-boring sales email CTAs. We share quick and dirty tips for effective CTAs, highlight the ones you should avoid, and provide a bunch of examples from our own sales team + LinkedIn sales experts that actually get responses. 

We've got you covered with super short CTAs, conversation starters, social proof, educational, competitor-focused, hypothesis verification, and even some funny and GIF-based CTAs. 

At the end, we also share how you can use super cool email enhancements (for Gmail) to up your chances of landing that reply.

Quick & dirty cold email call to action tips

When we say quick & dirty, we mean it. Here are four tips to always keep in mind before crafting your sales email call to action.

• Do not use more than 1 CTA: It’s hard enough getting an answer to one question; best not to confuse your prospect further. 
• Use close-ended questions: It’s easier to answer a “yes” or “no” question than to have to answer “How,” “What,” and “Why” questions. Leave the open-ended questions for AEs. 
• Interest-based CTAs perform better: According to Gong, interest-based CTAs perform better than asking for a meeting. Numbers don’t lie. Take the advice.
• Include a calendar link in your signature: A cold email CTA’s goal should be to start a conversation, not to push a meeting. But if you want to give your prospect the option to book a meeting right away, just put a link in your signature instead. Low-friction. Easy-peasy.

Watch the full webinar recording with Jason Bay and Jack Wauson
on cold email tactics that boost reply rates.

Cold email CTAs to avoid using (our team has seriously received ALL of these)

These are cold email CTA examples that you should stop using ASAP. They may have worked 10 years ago, but not anymore. 

• Are you free on [date] at [time] for a quick chat?
• Do you have time to chat about this tomorrow?
• Please book a meeting with me here.
• What are some of the initiatives your team is working on in Q3?
• (You should figure this out on your own)
• How about you book some time with me next week?
• How about you shoot me a quick reply?
• Did you receive my previous 3 emails???
• Are you the wrong person to reach out to?
• Can you tell me who the right person to reach out to is?
• What makes sense as a next step?
• Do you have any questions?
• Thoughts?

Cold email call to action examples that actually get answered

Super short CTAs

• Worth a chat?
• Open to checking it out?
• Think this could help?
• Curious to see how?
• Worth discussing?
• Opposed to learning more?

Conversation starter CTAs

• Is [goal] a priority right now?
• Are you happy with your team’s [specific output]?
• Is this something that’s on your radar as well?
• Have you tried this approach before?
• Curious if you’re seeing that? (borrowed from Will Allred)
• Do you think this would make your life easier?
• [Main pain point] sucks. Do you want it to suck less?
• Would you say this aligns with your [year] initiatives?
• Would it help if your team could [outcome]?
• Have you considered this? (borrowed from Josh Braun)
• Even remotely interested?
• Open to seeing how it works? (borrowed from Armand Farrokh)

Social proof CTAs

• Want to see how other companies who wanted [similar goal] were able to achieve it?
• There’s a case study link below my email signature. If you want to learn what [company] would do differently knowing what they know now, let me know. (borrowed from Leslie Venetz)

Educational CTAs

• Mind if I send you a 1-min video on how we do that? (borrowed from Florin Tatulea)
• The [relevant topic] annual report was just published. Would it be helpful to share a copy with you? (borrowed from Leslie Venetz)
• Since [personalized topic] seems important to you, do you want to attend a webinar on [Title]? Let me know and I’ll send an invite.
• Would you be interested in our latest white paper on [personalized topic]?

Competitor CTAs

• Are you using [Competitor 1] or [Competitor 2]?
• Have you ever used a [your type of product/service]?
• Have you been able to achieve [goal] with [Competitor]?
• Open to reviewing another option?

Hypothesis verification CTAs

• Am I completely off with this?
• Am I wrong in thinking [goal] is your main focus right now?
• Is this resonating with you or am I just rambling here?

Intro to another contact CTAs

• Should I loop in [Person’s name] too?
• Do you think [Person’s name] would also be interested in this?

Funny CTAs (to be used with caution)

• Are you remotely interested to learn more or should I www.zipit.com? 🤐
• Open to discussing more or should I just vanish like a magician’s assistant? 
• If you’re down to learn more, reply “Aye Aye Cap’n”

Insane email enhancement features that boost reply rates

Here's the truth about email replies: It's not that prospects don't want to reply, they just don't want to have to write an email to respond. 

So instead of expecting them to write out an email, give them options that make replying easy.

Mixmax has some crazy cool enhancements (semi-boasting) you can add directly to your emails that require the recipient to click one button to reply. No hitting Reply, no writing, no hitting Send.

Sorcery? Nah.

Check them out below.

Supercool feature #1: One-click polls

Mixmax's Polls feature

Supercool feature #2: One-click surveys

Supercool feature #3: One-click meetings

Bonus email enhancements:

Link previews

Embedded GIFs

^^ IYKYK

Conclusion

And there you have it! We've explored the vast world of cold email calls to action, sharing some kickass insights and examples to help you get those much-desired responses. 

The secret lies in asking for interest over asking for meetings, starting conversations, keeping it simple, offering value, and making it easy for your prospects to engage with you.

Boom. Happy prospecting!