Cold email template · by situation
Referral ask email template: who owns this?
When you do not know who decides, say so. Asking for the right person is easier to answer than a pitch, and the person you get pointed to arrives with a warm opening.
When to use it
- You know the company fits but not who owns the topic.
- The first contact is a gatekeeper, an assistant or a person one level too junior.
- Your outreach has hit an out-of-office or a role that left.
The template
Copy it, then replace the brackets with what you read on their pages.
Subject: Who looks after [the topic] at {{company_name}}?
Hi {{first_name}},
I am trying to reach whoever owns [the topic] at {{company_name}}. I saw on [the page] that [the fact that made me write].
Is that you, or could you point me to the right person? One name is all I need, and if not, no problem.
[your first name]Outlevo adds your sender name, postal address and a one-click unsubscribe link under every email it sends, so a template ends at the sign-off.
{{first_name}},{{company_name}}and{{job_title}}are filled for each contact.- Anything in [square brackets] is yours to write, from a page you read.
Why it works
- It asks for a name, which most people can give in a few seconds.
- It states why you are asking, so it reads as research, not a blast.
- Mentioning the referrer in your next email gives you a real reason to be read.
Filled in: an example
Illustrative. Quarry Lane Realty (quarrylane.example) is an invented company, and so is Ben at Showingly. The pages quoted do not exist. The email goes to its Office Manager.
| What the email says | Quote on the page | Page (illustrative) |
|---|---|---|
| your about page says you opened a commercial division | “Quarry Lane Realty now has a commercial division.” | quarrylane.example/about |
Subject: Who looks after your commercial listings?
Hi {{first_name}},
I am trying to reach whoever owns commercial listings at {{company_name}}. I saw on your about page that you now have a commercial division.
Is that you, or could you point me to the right person? One name is all I need, and if not, no problem.
BenVariants
After a bounce or a departure
Subject: Is [the name] still the right contact?
Hi {{first_name}},
I wrote to [the previous contact] about [the topic], and the email came back. Who owns this at {{company_name}} now?
[your first name]Ask to forward
Subject: Could you forward this?
Hi {{first_name}},
If [the topic] is not yours, could you forward this to whoever owns it? [One sentence on why they would care, from the page.]
[your first name]When not to use it
When should I not use the referral ask template?
This template and its variants pass the check Outlevo runs on its own outbound emails: only known merge tags, no number without a source, no spam wording, at most one link, no fake “Re:” or “Fwd:”, and under a hundred and twenty words.
Related
Follow-up with one question
A follow-up cold email template that adds one new question instead of repeating the ask, with the reason it works and a filled example.
New in role
A cold email template for a leader who just started a new role: reference the announcement, speak to the first months, offer a small first step.
First touch from one observation
A first-touch cold email template built on one fact from the prospect’s own page, one reason it matters and one low-pressure question.
Every template
All cold email and AI prompt templates.
Let Outlevo write each one from the prospect’s own pages
It reads your website, builds the ICP, researches each company and quotes the page behind every fact.