How to make an AI skill for sales emails your whole team uses

What goes in the skill

1. The description: "Writes a first cold email under 90 words from account research, with two subject lines. Use when someone asks for an outreach email, a first email or a cold email."
2. The method: one specific, recent observation; one problem in the buyer's words; one line of proof with a number, or none; one interest question; under 90 words in the body.
3. Three real emails from your best rep that got replies.
4. Banned words: "I hope this finds you well", "just checking in", "quick question", your own list.
5. List rules: only people you researched; never a bought list. For US recipients, every email carries a line that it's a sales message, your company's postal address and an opt-out line (CAN-SPAM).
6. Checks: the first line couldn't go to anyone else unchanged; every claim is in the research, or marked [check].

A worked example

Illustration: a made-up business. A ten-rep team sells scheduling software to physiotherapy clinics. A rep asks for "a first email to Northside Physio", with research notes: a job ad for two receptionists posted last week, and three clinic locations. The draft from the shared skill:

The body is 48 words and both subjects are two to four words. There's no proof line, because the rep had no customer number to cite, and the skill says to skip it rather than invent one. The footer carries what CAN-SPAM asks for: a line that it's a sales message, the postal address and a way to opt out. The rep checks the job ad is still live before sending.

Build and share it

1. Collect ten first emails that got replies, from your best one or two reps.
2. Write the method from what they share, not from a template you like.
3. Test on five fresh accounts and have the rep who wrote the originals read the drafts.
4. Share it on Claude Team or Enterprise, or ChatGPT Business, Enterprise or Edu, and retire the personal prompts.
5. Keep deliverability in view: Gmail asks senders to keep the spam rate below 0.3%, so a skill that writes well is no reason to send more.

Next step: the same skill for every rep

Reps on different plans need the same copy. The cheapest way to share AI prompts with a small team compares the options. For the rest of the sales skills, see Claude skills for sales.

Questions

How do I make an AI skill for sales emails?

Collect your best rep's first emails that got replies, and write down what they have in common: one specific observation, one problem in the buyer's words, an easy ask, a length. Put that method, three of the real emails and your banned words into one skill, test it on fresh accounts, and share it so every rep's AI writes the same way.

What rules should a sales email skill follow?

One observation that could only be about this prospect, one problem, a line of proof only if you have one, an interest question rather than a meeting request, under 90 words, two subject lines of two to four words, and no claim that isn't in the research.

Are cold sales emails legal?

In the US, CAN-SPAM covers commercial email, business-to-business included: say who you are, identify the message as an ad (a line saying it's a sales message), include a valid physical postal address, and give a way to opt out, honored within 10 business days. Gmail's guidelines also advise against bought lists. In Japan different rules apply; see the Japanese version of this page.