How to write a sales prospecting email with ChatGPT

The brief to copy

Keep it in a note for now; once you've used it a few weeks, save it so you don't paste it.

A worked example

Illustration: a made-up business. Jamie sells a stock-tracking app to independent bike shops in the US. From the shop's own website he learns that Spoke & Chain in Portland opened a second shop last month. His brief gives that fact, the problem ("two shops, and nobody's sure which one has the part"), and the question.

Jamie checks the opening date on the shop's site and sends it from Gmail. Gmail adds nothing on its own, so he adds three lines under his signature: that this is a sales message from his company, the company's postal address, and "Reply 'no thanks' and I won't email again". He keeps a list of who opted out and stops within ten business days.

Check before you send

1. The fact is true and you can say where it came from.
2. Nothing confidential went into a personal AI account; see what not to paste.
3. It sounds like you: read it out loud.
4. The subject line is honest about what the email is.
5. The law is covered: in the US, CAN-SPAM applies to business-to-business and single emails, so identify the message as an ad, include your postal address and an opt-out, and honor opt-outs within ten business days. Writing to UK businesses? PECR applies instead, and sole traders and some partnerships count as individuals who need consent or the soft opt-in.

Next step: stop retyping the brief

If you send these weekly, you'll soon be pasting the brief and your two best emails every time. Sales prompts, saved shows where to keep them so you just ask for "a first email to Spoke & Chain". New to AI at work? Start with how to start using AI at work.

Questions

How do I write a cold email with ChatGPT?

Give it one specific, checkable fact about the prospect, the one problem you solve for companies like theirs, and a one-line question such as 'Worth a look?'. Ask for under 90 words and two subject lines of two to four words, then check the fact and cut anything you wouldn't say.

Why do ChatGPT sales emails sound generic?

Because the request was generic. Without a real observation about the prospect and examples of your own emails, it fills the space with stock phrases. Give it both.

Do email marketing rules apply to one-to-one sales emails?

Often, yes. In the US, the FTC says CAN-SPAM covers single emails and business-to-business email: identify the message as an ad, include your postal address and a working opt-out. In the UK, PECR applies, and emails to sole traders and some partnerships need consent or the soft opt-in. Other countries have their own rules.