Hey, it's Isaac from Leads to Earnings (1 minute read)

Why Your Cold Email Metrics Are Lying to You

Open rates and click rates are vanity metrics. Email servers automatically open emails to scan them. Apple Mail might open every email, giving you artificial rates.

Plus, tracking pixels add weight to your emails, making them more likely to hit spam folders.

Here's my 4-step diagnostic model for finding the holes in your cold email process:

Step 1: Deliverability Check

Benchmark: 1-5% total reply rate

If below 1%, you have deliverability issues Check: DNS settings, email validation, bounce rates under 2%

Step 2: Reply Quality Analysis

Benchmark: 10% positive reply rate (of total replies)

If below 10%, fix targeting and messaging

Focus on: ICP alignment, value propositions, social proof

Step 3: Meeting Conversion

Benchmark: 20-50% of positive replies book meetings

If below 20%, improve speed to lead (under 5 minutes)

Solution: Automation alerts, give specific time slots, answer their questions directly

Step 4: Show Rate Optimization

Benchmark: 80% show rate for booked meetings

If below 80%, fix confirmation process

Include: Automated reminders, pre-meeting materials, personalized videos

The North Star Metric

Lead to meeting ratio: 1 meeting per 1,000 prospects contacted.

This is your baseline. Everything above this is gravy.

Talk later,

Isaac

PS. Build a GTM system that will convert cold traffic and increase revenue per salesperson 👉 levergrowth.io

How I Can Help You

If you like this newsletter and want to work with me, there are a few ways we can do so:

1. I have a ton of free content that will help you get more clients on my YouTube channel. I post insights from operating high converting cold email campaigns for dozens of B2B companies that have added hundreds of thousands in recurring revenue.

2. If you are looking to improve your cold outbound skills but don’t want to hire anyone, I have a free 71-page course that teaches everything you need to know about cold email.

3. If you want a custom cold email campaign specifically designed for your business & ideal target audience, I have a few slots available to show you how it works. Book in here and on the call I will deliver a full 5-angle cold email campaign for you to use to bring on more high paying clients.

4. If you’d like to hear about how I can help you and your company grow, you can book a call with me here. I might be able to help you grow faster, or I might be able to refer you to someone who can.

Share this with 3 people and get a free training showing you how to convert more cold prospects into warm leads with cold email.

I hope you enjoyed this brief email.

Talk later,

Isaac