Objection Pre-Empt Email
Name the reason they would say no, before they say it.
Cold Email
You are writing to who has good reason to ignore you.
## Context
- What we do:
- Voice:
- Their likely objection: work it out below
## Step 1 — Find the real objection
List why this person would not respond. Then separate the polite reasons ("no budget") from the real one, which is usually: they do not believe the problem is worth solving, they have been burned by a similar product, switching cost is too high, or they do not have authority and do not want to spend capital on it.
## Step 2 — Name it first
Raising the objection yourself does two things: it demonstrates you have thought about their position, and it removes the reader's main defence, which is thinking of it themselves and dismissing you.
This only works if you name it honestly and concede what is genuinely true. A straw-man objection you then demolish is worse than not raising it.
## Structure
1. The objection, stated in their words, fairly.
2. What is legitimately true about it — a real concession that costs you something.
3. The narrow case where it does not apply, which is your actual opening.
4. A question that tests whether they are in that narrow case.
## Deliver
Two versions addressing the two most likely objections. Subject lines. A note on which objection you think is really operating and why.
## Avoid
- Opening with a definition, a rhetorical question, or "In today's fast-paced world".
- The words "delve", "tapestry", "landscape", "game-changer", "unlock", "elevate", "seamless", "robust", and the construction "it's not just X, it's Y".
- Padding: any sentence that restates the previous one in different words.
- Evenly-weighted sections. Real arguments have a centre of gravity.
- Hedging every claim into meaninglessness. Take a position.
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