Recruitment Agency Targeting VP Sales

COLD EMAIL SEQUENCE - Recruitment Agency for VP Sales

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EMAIL 1 - DAY 0: PAIN POINT HOOK
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Subject Line Options:

1. “{{FirstName}}, still can’t find SDRs who actually get it?”
2. “Quick question about {{Company}}’s SDR hiring”
3. “{{FirstName}}, noticed {{Company}} is hiring SDRs again…”
4. “What if you could hire 3 SDRs in the next 30 days?”
5. “{{Company}}: tired of interviewing mediocre SDR candidates?”

Body:
Hey {{FirstName}},

Saw {{Company}} posted another SDR role on LinkedIn — I feel your pain.

Here’s what we’re hearing from VPs of Sales at growth-stage startups:
• You’re getting 200 resumes but 90% have zero tech sales experience
• The good ones are getting 5 other offers and ghosting you
• Your last SDR hire flamed out after 90 days

Sound about right?

We specialize in finding hungry, coachable SDRs for companies at your stage
({{CompanySize}} employees, {{FundingStage}}). Not resume-spammers — actual
candidates who’ve already sold to your ICP and know how to work outbound.

Quick question: How many SDR seats are you trying to fill right now?

If it’s 2+, I’d love to show you our sourcing process. We typically place
candidates within 3-4 weeks (vs. 8-12 weeks in-house).

Worth a quick chat?

— [Your Name]

P.S. We only work on retained search, so you’re not competing with 10 other
companies for the same candidates.

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EMAIL 2 - DAY 3: CASE STUDY FOLLOW-UP
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Subject Line Options:

1. “How {{SimilarCompany}} filled 4 SDR roles in 21 days”
2. “Re: Quick question about {{Company}}’s SDR hiring”
3. “{{FirstName}}, thought you’d want to see this”
4. “Case study: Series {{FundingStage}} startup hired 5 SDRs in one month”

Body:
Hey {{FirstName}},

Following up from Tuesday. Wanted to share a quick win:

{{SimilarCompany}} ({{SimilarCompanySize}}-person startup, similar stage to
{{Company}}) came to us in Q3 needing to build out an SDR team fast. Their VP
of Sales had spent 2 months trying to fill 3 roles in-house — got nowhere.

Here’s what happened:
• We presented 8 qualified candidates in Week 1
• They interviewed 6, made offers to 3
• All 3 accepted (no counteroffers, no ghosting)
• Total time-to-hire: 21 days

The difference? We only surface candidates who are already doing tech sales,
not career-switchers or BDRs from non-tech companies. Your ramp time drops from
4 months to 6-8 weeks.

If you’re hiring 2+ SDRs this quarter, worth comparing our process to what
you’re doing in-house?

I’ve got Thursday afternoon or Friday morning open for a quick call.

— [Your Name]

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EMAIL 3 - DAY 7: OBJECTION HANDLING
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Subject Line Options:

1. “{{FirstName}}, is now just not the right time?”
2. “One quick question before I close your file”
3. “{{FirstName}}, which of these is it?”
4. “Should I follow up next quarter on SDR hiring?”

Body:
Hey {{FirstName}},

Haven’t heard back, so I’m guessing one of these:

1. You already have a recruiter — Fair enough. Just know most generalist
   recruiters don’t have a bench of tech SDRs, so you’re still waiting on inbound
   applicants.

2. Hiring is on hold — Makes sense. Economy’s weird right now. Want me to
   ping you next quarter?

3. You’re handling it in-house — Respect. But if you’re 60+ days into a
   search and still interviewing, might be worth a benchmark conversation.

4. Something else I’m missing

Which one is it? Just hit reply and let me know. If it’s #1 or #2, I’ll happily
close your file. If it’s #3, maybe we can compare notes — I won’t be offended
if you stick with your current approach.

— [Your Name]

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EMAIL 4 - DAY 10: FINAL ASK
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Subject Line Options:

1. “Closing {{Company}}’s file tomorrow”
2. “Last email, {{FirstName}}”
3. “Final follow-up on SDR hiring”

Body:
Hey {{FirstName}},

This is my last email — don’t want to be that recruiter who won’t take a hint.

Before I close your file: We’re only taking on 2 more clients this quarter
(we cap it at 8 so we can actually focus on quality). If SDR hiring is on your
roadmap for Q1 and you want first dibs, let me know by Friday.

If not, totally cool. I’ll check back in Q2 to see if anything’s changed.

Good luck with the hiring — I know how much of a grind it is.

— [Your Name]

P.S. If you ever want to benchmark your SDR comp packages or interview process,
happy to jump on a quick call even if you’re not hiring through us.

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PERSONALIZATION STRATEGY
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Tokens to Research (2 minutes per contact):
• {{FirstName}} - LinkedIn or company website
• {{Company}} - From your lead list
• {{CompanySize}} - LinkedIn company page or Crunchbase
• {{FundingStage}} - Crunchbase (Seed, Series A, Series B)
• {{SimilarCompany}} - Pick a case study in same vertical/stage

Where to Find Data:
• LinkedIn Sales Navigator (job postings, team size, VP of Sales profile)
• Company careers page (open SDR roles, team structure)
• Crunchbase (funding round, employee count)
• LinkedIn job postings (how long roles have been open = hiring urgency signal)

Time Investment:
• Essential tokens (FirstName, Company, CompanySize): 60 seconds
• Funding stage: 30 seconds
• Similar company case study: 30 seconds
• Total: ~2 minutes per contact

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SPAM FILTER AVOIDANCE
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Words Flagged:
• None - casual tone avoids typical spam triggers

Best Practices Applied:
✓ Strong {{FirstName}} and {{Company}} personalization
✓ Email 1 word count under 150 words
✓ No images in first email
✓ Peer-to-peer conversational language (VP to VP)
✓ No ALL CAPS or excessive punctuation
✓ Natural contractions and casual phrasing

Recommendations:
• Send from personal email (@yourrecruitingfirm.com)
• Avoid “recruiter” in email signature on first touch
• Reference specific LinkedIn job postings to prove legitimacy
• Use industry-specific language (SDR, BDR, ICP, ramp time)

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A/B TESTING RECOMMENDATIONS
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Test 1: Email 1 Subject Lines
• Variant A: Pain-focused question (“still can’t find SDRs who actually get it?”)
• Variant B: Personalized observation (“noticed {{Company}} is hiring SDRs again…”)
• Metric: Open rate after 24 hours
• Sample size: 50 emails each

Test 2: CTA Style
• Variant A: Direct question (“How many SDR seats are you trying to fill?”)
• Variant B: Meeting request (“Worth a 15-minute call this week?”)
• Metric: Positive reply rate
• Sample size: 100 emails each

Test 3: Tone Calibration
• Variant A: Casual/peer tone (current approach with contractions)
• Variant B: Slightly more formal but warm
• Metric: Reply rate + sentiment of replies
• Sample size: 100 emails each