Youâre sending emails left and right, but your response rates are low. Could your sales email subject lines be the culprit?
Your subject line is arguably the most important part of any sales emailâafter all, itâs that first glance that determines whether or not your recipient will even open the email. And if your prospects never open that email, your sales process remains stuck at the starting line.
Are you giving your subject lines the time they deserve?
Sales teams around the world use Close to send millions of emails each yearânow, weâre going to share what weâve learned about the best email subject lines (with real examples you can swipe and use today).
Psst⊠want a shortcut to crafting better email subject lines? Try our free, AI-powered email subject line generator.
High-performing sales email subject lines all have a few traits in common. They include:
Ready for some catchy email subject lines you can use today? Whether youâre sending cold emails, connecting with warm leads, or following up with prospects whoâve gone darkâweâve got you covered.
Weâve broken these subject lines down by category, so you can jump straight to the type of email youâre looking for some fresh SL inspiration on.
And if you are struggling to write an email, worry not! We have developed an AI Email Writer that will help you write perfect email for your customers!
Youâre about to wander into the inbox of a stranger, hoping theyâll give you the time of day. Want to make sure they open your emails? Then try these cold email subject lines:
Use case: This subject line is great for B2B sales or partnership opportunities.
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Use case: If youâre selling outsourced services to businesses, this is a good email subject line to try.
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Use case: When selling to small businesses, this approach is a great way to pique their interest.
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Use case: When you know your ideal customer profile well, you can use subject lines like this to appeal to their goals.
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Use case: Does your service or product relate to a specific department inside a large company? Use this subject line to be clear about who youâre reaching out to.
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Use case: Another great enterprise email subject line to use when selling to large companies.
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Use case: If your company is known for serving a specific audience, other businesses might ignore a cold email from you. Use this subject line to show youâre offering something specific for their type of business as well.
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Use case: Want to focus on benefits, not features? Use this subject line.
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Use case: When reaching out to prospects who are looking to achieve a certain goal, this is a good email subject line to try.
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Use case: If your customers offer services to their clients, use this subject line to show how your product can help them.
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Use case: If your customers sell products to their customers, this is a good email subject line to get them thinking about the results of using your service or product.
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Use case: Help your prospects picture themselves reaching their goals using your product or service with this subject line.
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Use case: This subject line includes a bit of mystery: whatâs going to be inside? Use this to pique interest in your audience.
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Use case: When youâre selling to a specific role inside a company, this is a great subject line to show you get them and their needs.
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Use case: Help your B2B leads see how your company can help them bring in the customers they want with this subject line.
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Use case: Selling to a specific industry? Creating an email sequence for a segmented section of your leads? Try this subject line on for size.
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Use case: Use this subject line selectively, when you really have a great opportunity to share with your recipient. For example, if youâre promoting a special deal or a limited-time offer, this subject line can help create a sense of urgency.
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Use case: If you sell a product or service that helps your customers with something they need to do, this subject line is great.
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Use case: This is a good email subject line to use when the body of your email has actual steps they can follow. In the best case, one of those steps involves using your product or service.
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Use case: This cold email subject line is great to help your leads see that your company is interested in helping them reach their goals, not just sell them something.
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You want to meet with your prospects: but theyâre busy people. Use these subject line examples to get to the point and make your meeting request emails stand out.
Use case: This is a more casual request, best used when you already have some rapport established with the prospect. Bonus points for leveling up this subject line with a specific amount of time for your request.
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Use case: For busy prospects, this subject line example is a great way to clearly ask for a meeting. Theyâll know whether to respond âyesâ or ânoâ even before they open your email!
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Use case: Only use this sales email subject line when youâre genuinely asking for a minute (or two) of their time, maybe for a quick phone call. Donât use this when youâre trying to schedule an hour-long meeting.
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Use case: This meeting request subject line is great to build a sense of urgency in your prospect. But of course: ONLY use this when there is actual urgency for the deal.
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Use case: This is a catchy email subject line for early in the sales process. Maybe youâve exchanged some emails with an interesting lead, and youâre trying to get them into a discovery meeting.
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Use case: When youâve already qualified a lead, but theyâre having trouble making a decision, this subject line (and the subsequent meeting) can help them see how making a purchase decision soon will help them with their goals.
Use case: Whether you sell services that impact a specific goal, or a product that can help the customer reach their goals, this subject line can help you set a meeting where you work together with the potential customer to set clear next steps. If you can be specific based on past conversations with the prospect, even better!
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Use case: After the meeting, donât forget to follow up! This subject line (and the body of the email) brings that meeting back to their minds and helps remind them of next steps.
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When you have a clear idea of who youâre selling to, you can build personalized email subject lines that are insanely relevant to your prospectsâeven when youâre sending bulk email campaigns.
Here are some email subject line examples that are tuned into pain points (simply adjust them to fit your audience):
Use case: People love to know theyâre understood. Use this catchy email subject line (+ the email body) to show you get your prospects and their specific situation.
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Use case: What common issues do your prospects face every day? Dig into that with this subject line.
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Use case: This personalized email subject line is great for pulling out a real pain point that your customers are facing. (Just change that question at the beginning!)
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Use case: When your prospects are looking to get out of a rut or overcome a certain obstacle, this subject line can be a great way to introduce them to your solution.
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Use case: Pique your prospectsâ interest with this subject line. Youâll have them wondering: do I know the best way to do what I do? Could I do it better?
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If youâre running inbound lead generation campaigns, or if youâre getting referrals from happy customers, then youâll want to check out these sales email subject lines for warm leads.
Use case: If youâve already established interest with a new lead and discovered the issues theyâre trying to solve, this email subject line can help clear up the next steps they need to take.
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Use case: Referrals are some of your most valuable sales. Use this subject line to show that you have a mutual connection with your prospect, and watch your open rates go through the roof.
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Use case: When a new lead signs up for a free trial or otherwise connects with your company, you can use this subject line and the email body to introduce yourself to them.
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Use case: If your lead generation efforts include free downloads, like case studies, pricing sheets, or other materials, you can use this subject line on those resource delivery emails.
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Use case: When working with inbound leads, nurture sequences with subject lines like this will keep you (and what youâre selling) top of mind.
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Use case: Again, this is a great subject line for a nurture sequence when working to keep those inbound leads alive and well in your sales pipeline.
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Use case: When youâre using lead magnets for lead generation, your prospects may need to add their email to download a resource. This is a great subject line for that use case.
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Whether youâre following up with a lead youâve been cold calling, or youâre trying to reach out to a prospect thatâs gone cold in the sales process, these sales email subject line examples will give you a great head start to better open rates.
Use case: Youâve built a rapport with your prospect, and they know that you get them and their situationâthatâs what this subject line says. Note: Only use this when you genuinely have the business type or role in common with your prospect.
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Use case: This casual subject line is a great way to open up a conversation thatâs gone cold. (Plus, this exact subject line is being used by one of our sales reps here at Close to get a 12 percent response rate!)
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Use case: Using this follow-up email subject line is a way to bring your product or service back to the mind of your prospect, and show them youâre there to help.
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Use case: If youâre looking to create urgency, this is a great subject line. Again, only use this when thereâs really a limited time for the person to respond.
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Use case: Casually bring the topic or product back to the prospectâs mind after a call or an email thread with this subject line.
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Use case: This is a great follow-up subject line to remind a person of the next steps in the sales processâwhether after a call, a meeting, or even if theyâre going the self-service route.
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Use case: Lost any leads because they needed features your product didnât have? When you update your product, send an email campaign with a subject line like this to show them why your product is the right choice for them now.
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Use case: Plenty of new leads may start a free trial of your product, but how many actually turn into customers? Use this subject line and email body to remind these leads of what theyâre missing out on in your product.
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Use case: When sending a follow-up sequence, this type of subject line will remind prospects why they were interested in talking to you in the first place.
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Use case: Remember those dreams and ideas you talked about in your discovery call? Well, your potential customer remembers them tooâthey might just need a nudge like this to get started.
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Use case: When your prospect didnât show up for a meeting you scheduled, use this personalized subject line to gently bring yourself back to the top of their mind.
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Use case: One of the most frustrating experiences in sales is when youâre towards the end of the sales cycle and your prospect goes dark. Use this subject line to gently (but firmly) bring this back to the front of their priority list.
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If you use the second sales email subject line example here, just be sure you begin the body of your email with something like, â...weâre almost at the finish line.â
Use case: This is another subject line that works for late-stage prospects whoâve gone dark. Use this to remind them of the plan/product they were interested in.
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Closing the sale isnât the end of your communication with prospectsâhere are more sales subject line ideas you can use once the deal is done.
Use case: This is a great onboarding email subject line that you can use for an email campaign that explains how to get started with your product or service.
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Use case: When youâre selling a one-off solution or service, this is a great subject line to send some time later to see if the customer may want to work with you again.
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Use case: Post-sale emails are a great place to ask for feedback from your customers. Use this subject line to bring the topic up with them.
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Use case: Showing appreciation is a great way to build stronger, longer-lasting relationships with your customers. Use this email subject line example and the body of the email to show how much you appreciate your customers.
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Use case: Ah, referrals, the cherry on top of a successful deal closed! Write an email with this subject to see if your new, happy customer is willing to refer someone they know to your business.
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Now youâve got some great examples to work with⊠but what if you want to write your own catchy subject lines? As youâll see, perfecting the art of writing subject lines can take practice, but remember that simple always sells (and gets higher open rates).
Here are 10 tips you can use to make a great first impression:
You donât want your subject line to sound too much like youâre trying to expedite a sale. You also donât want to use clickbait just to get a higher open rate, since it wonât help your sales.
Craft your subject line in a way that you would in a ârealâ email, as you would to a friend or coworker. Communicate like a real human.
Most importantly, make sure the body of the email lives up to what you promise in the subject line.
Good Example: Our [product/service] has your name all over it
Bad Example: Get 5M views TOMORROW with our new product!
Good Example: CRM with predictive dialer
Bad Example: Wasting too much time manually calling your sales leads? Weâve all been there! Our CRM with a built-in predictive dialer will help you!
When you see a subject line that addresses you personally, or seems catered specifically to you, youâre more likely to want to open and read the email. A personalized subject line is far more effective than a âuniversalâ one sent to everybody on your email list.
Good Example: How happy are you with [company name]âs project management tool?
Bad Example: We can offer you [product/service]
This 2016 paper by Stanford showed that including a prospect's name in the subject line increased open rates by 20 percent on average. The more you personalize your cold email subject lines, the better. And if you pique their curiosity with a little cliffhanger, they'll be more likely to open the email. (A tiny bit of FOMO is fine if you keep it light.)
Good Examples:
Bad Example: Steli, web design services 20% discounted
Think about why this person needs your product or service. How does this sales email pertain to them? Also, keep it relevant to the body of the email. Putting unrelated text in the subject line may spark interest for some, but it could also make your email look âspammy.â
Good Example: Declining email deliverability rates with [your current tool]
Bad Example: This could be a game changer for your marketing efforts!
Struggling to come up with new subject lines to test? Close's free email subject line generator is the perfect collaboration tool. Tell it what type of email you're sending, and it will generate ten new subject lines.
Try our free email subject line generator.
Questions can spark interest and encourage someone to open an email, and they're one of the most powerful tools to move a prospect along the sales process. Whether youâre aiming to make them feel useful by asking for information, or making them consider their own needs and wants, sales questions are the key.
Good Example: What does [department] need at [their company]?
Bad Example: This is what you need: our [product/service]
Whatever your subject line promises, make sure the body of your email lives up to that. Whether you promise to make their life easier, give them a good dealâor whatever else it may beâyou need to follow through.
Once you start getting creative with subject lines, itâs easy to get tempted to go too far. Certain subject lines might get you amazing open rates, but you need to look at more than just this one metric. Instead, consider the overall funnel.
Hereâs a real-world example: I got an email with the subject line: âSteli, Iâm disappointed.â I immediately clicked on that email, and then, it went on, basically saying: âIâm disappointed that we werenât able to connect,â and diving straight into a sales pitch.
This may have been the first email I opened in my inbox that day, but I quickly deleted it and never responded.
Good example: I have a follow-up offer that you will want to consider.
Bad example: [First name], Iâm disappointed
A 2023 data shows that 61.9 percent of all emails were opened on a mobile device, and it's safe to say that this number is even higher now.
Make sure that your subject lines are optimized for mobile devices too. One of the best ways to do this is to use an email tool for salespeople that delivers mobile-friendly emails, like Close!
With Close, you can create and share email templates with custom template tags. When linking your email account, youâll have the whole history of your conversation with each prospect, and be able to respond with the right information right at hand.
I canât even begin to tell you how much more effective a sales email campaign will be if every rep takes the time to read their subject lines back to themselves before pressing send.
Youâve seen it yourselfâtypos are common in subject lines. And beyond just doing your proofreading homework like a good boy or girl, pay attention to how you feel when you hear that subject line roll across your mind.
Once youâre pleased with the answers to these questions, itâs time to release your carrier pigeons.
Have you been paying close attention to the performance of your sales emails? You might not have even thought to run experiments with your email tactics, but it can be a great way to improve your results. Here are some tips and advice for the best practices when setting up subject-line experiments:
Following these guidelines, run some experiments to see what types of subject lines seem to resonate well with your target audience and generate the most engagement.
Remember that if you wouldnât open an email with the subject line youâre using, your leads probably wonât either. Entice your prospects with great subject lines for sales emails that are short, relevant, to the point, and sometimes funny, and youâll be improving your cold email response rate with new customers in no time.
Looking for a quick and easy way to create personalized cold emails? Check out our cold email generator.