I once ran the same cold email into two segments.
Same product.
Same value prop.
Same core problem.
SMB replied at 18%.
Enterprise barely moved.
At first, I thought it was targeting.
Cold email isn’t universal.
SMB and Enterprise don’t just buy differently.
They read differently.
They decide differently.
They respond differently.
If your cold email doesn’t adapt, one segment will always underperform.
SMB cold email = speed + simplicity
SMB buyers are busy operators.
They’re juggling hiring, customers, payroll, fires.
They want:
- Clear problem
- Clear outcome
- Clear next step
When I write SMB cold email, I compress everything.
Short. Direct. Slightly urgent.
“Noticed you’re scaling outbound. Most teams your size lose 5–8 hours/week per
rep on manual prospecting. We helped X cut that in half in 30 days.
Worth a 15-min look this week?”
That works in SMB because:
- It’s tangible.
- It’s immediate.
- It respects time.
SMB doesn’t need a strategic narrative.
They need a practical win.
Enterprise cold email = perspective + positioning
Enterprise buyers don’t respond to “save time” angles.
They respond to risk, optics, and long-term impact.
If you send a tactical, time-saving pitch to a VP at a 5,000-person company, it
feels small.
Enterprise cold email needs altitude.
“Companies expanding globally often discover their outbound motion breaks at
scale — not because of volume, but because of signal quality across regions.
Curious how you’re thinking about that as you grow?”
Notice what changed:
- Broader lens
- Strategic framing
- No rush
Enterprise doesn’t move fast.
But when they engage, the deal is bigger.
Length matters (but not how you think)
SMB email:
- 4–6 sentences
- Minimal context
- Clear CTA
Enterprise email:
- Slightly more narrative
- Clear industry perspective
- Insight before ask
Enterprise buyers want to feel like you see patterns across the market.
SMB buyers want to feel like you can fix Tuesday.
The close is different too
SMB close: “Open to a quick look this week?”
Fast. Light. Directional.
Enterprise close: “Does this deserve a deeper
conversation — or is this already handled internally?”
You’re not asking for time.
You’re asking for categorization.
Enterprise cares about whether this is strategic.
SMB cares about whether this is useful.
The biggest mistake
Reps write one cold email template and spray it across segments.
If you’re selling into both SMB and Enterprise, you need two mental models:
SMB = urgency + utility
Enterprise = perspective + positioning
Cold email isn’t about personalization tokens.
It’s about matching the decision speed of the buyer.
Write for how they think.
Not how you sell.
That’s the difference between noise and replies.
Want me helping you and your team within your sales efforts? Let’s talk.
Alan "Modern Seller" Ruchtein.
Act like +1000 heroes:
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