Stop personalizing your cold emails

Hey there,

Kevin here from Astris Partners.

I need to challenge something that might shock you: more personalization does NOT equal better results.

In fact, I see founders every day falling into what I call the "personalization trap," and it's destroying their cold email performance.

Here's what's happening: you're obsessing over mentioning someone's college, their recent LinkedIn post, or that photo of their dog. You think this shows effort and builds connection.

The truth? It's lazy, obvious, and insulting to your prospects' intelligence.

The Personalization Trap Looks Like This

You get a tool that can research prospects at scale. You're excited because now you can mention that they went to Stanford, or that they posted about their vacation to Thailand, or that they just got funding.

So you craft what feels like a thoughtful email: "Hey Sarah, saw you went to Thailand, such a beautiful country! By the way, we help companies like yours increase revenue by 40%..."

Where's the connection between Thailand and your solution? There isn't one. And Sarah knows it.

The Brutal Reality Check

I speak with executives daily who receive 100’s of emails a day using the exact same "personalization" tactics. The same funding congratulations. The same college mentions. The same generic compliments.

You're not being personal. You're being predictable.

Here's what actually happens when you fall into this trap:

Surface-level data everywhere: Everyone uses LinkedIn, funding data, and basic company information. If it's easily discoverable, your competitors are using it too.

Generic core messaging: If your email could work for almost anyone with minimal changes, it's just an email blast with sprinkles on top.

Forced personalization: You're literally forcing irrelevant details into your emails because you think you need to personalize everything.

Wasted time on tactics, not strategy: You spend hours debating whether to mention their alma mater instead of understanding their actual business challenges.

The Cake Analogy That Changes Everything

Think of your email like a cake. If the cake doesn't look good, taste good, or smell good, adding colorful sprinkles on top won't save it.

But if the cake is perfect for the audience - the right flavor, the right size, beautifully made - then the sprinkles add genuine excitement.

Most people are trying to fix bad cakes with better sprinkles. That's backwards.

What Prospects Actually Think

When someone receives your "personalized" email, they can immediately see:

No genuine understanding: You haven't taken time to understand their actual situation or challenges.

Mass production: This was clearly sent to thousands of people with minor variations.

Lack of relevance: Why does mentioning their dog have anything to do with buying your solution?

Transparent tactics: Everyone knows about AI research tools now. You're not fooling anyone.

If you wouldn't walk up to someone at a networking event and say "Hey, I saw your dog photo, want to buy my software?" then don't put it in an email.

The Simple Solution That Actually Works

Here's the game-changer: The list IS the message.

Instead of spending zero time building lists and hoping AI will save you, flip it completely.

Build incredibly tight, specific lists where the message practically writes itself.

Example: Instead of reaching out to 10,000 "VPs at tech companies," create a list of 200 VPs at Series B SaaS companies that just hired their first Head of Sales in the last 60 days.

Now your message isn't about their college. It's about the specific challenge of scaling a sales team after rapid growth. That's actually relevant.

The New Messaging Hierarchy

1. Lead with insight: Understand their situation based on recent changes, industry challenges, or role-specific pain points.

2. Make personalization integral: Don't just mention their company. Explain how your solution specifically addresses their type of business challenge.

3. Answer "why you, why now": Give them a compelling reason why they should care about this message today.

Quality Beats Everything

Stop thinking you need to send 100,000 emails to get results. If your cake tastes terrible, serving it to more people won't help.

Focus on 200-500 highly relevant prospects with messaging that actually resonates. One great list with strategic messaging will outperform 10 terrible lists with ‘perfect’ personalization every time.

The Real Success Metrics

Forget open rates. They're meaningless and distracting.

Focus on positive reply rates and actual meetings booked. If you're getting lots of "not interested" replies, your personalization isn't the problem. Your relevance is.

We consistently see 5-25% reply rates on campaigns because we focus on relevance over personalization tricks.

The Bottom Line

Your prospects are smart. They see through surface-level personalization immediately. They want to know you understand their actual challenges, not that you can copy-paste their LinkedIn headline.

Build better lists. Write more relevant messages. Stop trying to impress people with how much random research you can do.

Talk soon,

Kevin

P.S. If you're tired of spending hours personalizing emails that get ignored, let's talk about a better approach.