How to go from "Personalised to Personable" cold email outreach using new AI tools.

B2B sales outreach can feel like a constant battle for attention. Budgets are tight, decision-making has slowed, and getting a response often feels like a monumental task.

In an effort to cut through the noise, many professionals have turned to automation to personalise outreach at scale.

The promise is simple: show your prospect you know them, and they'll be more likely to engage.

But what happens when that 'personalisation' feels hollow? What if the very thing designed to build a connection is actually signalling the opposite?

The 'Show Me You Know Me' Trap

Something to be aware of if you use email outreach tools like Apollo.io is that they tend to try and create personalisation through “Show Me You Know Me”.

This is when a tool takes a generic description of the company, shortens it to a sentence, and uses this to suggest the email is 'personalised'. What then follows is a totally unrelated product pitch that has nothing to do with the first piece of content.

This approach doesn't show anyone anything, except that you're using an automation tool to send the message. It can feel disjointed and insincere, quickly indicating to the recipient that the email is spam. As a result, these messages are increasingly filtered out, either by automated systems or by frustrated prospects.

Instead of demonstrating that you know your recipient, this tactic can have the opposite effect. It highlights a lack of genuine research and understanding, eroding trust before you've even had a chance to build it.

From Personalised to Personable: The Power of Relevance

So what's the alternative? The key isn't just to show you know something about your prospect; it's to show that what you have to offer is relevant to them. Achieving this requires in-depth research. It means casting a wide net to understand everything you can about your prospect, such as:

• Their role
• Their company's recent activities
• Industry trends
• Their professional interests

Then, it's about finding that one specific insight that makes your offer genuinely timely and valuable.

Think about it from their perspective. An email that starts with a generic line about their company feels like a mail merge. But an email that references a specific point they made on a recent podcast, or connects to a new initiative their company just announced, feels different. It feels human. It shows you've invested time and effort, and it immediately establishes a foundation of credibility.

Building Connections That Matter

When you focus on relevance, you move away from just trying to get a response and toward building a meaningful relationship. It's about demonstrating that you care about their success, not just your sales target. However, this approach requires a different mindset.

1. Is it about them? Your message should focus on the prospect's needs and context, rather than just highlighting your product's features.
2. Is it relevant to your request? The connection between your research and your offer must be clear and logical. A comment about their cat on LinkedIn probably doesn't tie into your accounting software.
3. Is it timely? Connecting your outreach to a recent event, like a new hire or a company announcement, makes it far more impactful.
4. Is the reference succinct? Get to the point. Show you've done your research without writing an essay. A brief, insightful reference is all you need.

Focusing on relevance doesn't just improve your reply rates; it changes the nature of the conversation. You're no longer a salesperson pushing a product; you're a valuable partner offering a relevant solution.

How AI Can Help You Achieve True Relevance

Conducting this level of in-depth research for every prospect can feel overwhelming, especially when you're trying to reach out at scale. This is where the right kind of AI tool can make a significant difference.

While basic automation tools fall into the 'Show Me You Know Me' trap, platforms like Super Benji are designed to facilitate deep relevance. Instead of scraping generic information, Super Benji scans multiple sources - blogs, podcasts, news articles, and LinkedIn activity - to uncover meaningful, timely insights for each prospect.

Benji then helps you craft ultra-personalised messages that connect these insights directly to your value proposition. The goal is to create outreach that feels authentic and human, because it's built on a foundation of genuine research.

By automating the most time-consuming parts of the research process, you're free to focus on what you do best: building relationships and having valuable conversations.

Moving Your Outreach Forward

The standards for B2B communication are higher than ever. Prospects are inundated with messages, and their tolerance for generic, automated outreach is low.

So let's do better. Now is the time to shift our focus from superficial personalisation to more relevance. We can create outreach that not only cuts through the noise but also builds lasting, valuable relationships. It requires more thought and effort, but the return is well worth it.