Cold Email & Deliverability | Growth | Partner @ Vinna.ai

If you're interested in improving your cold emails, you've come to the right place.

I’ve worked with clients like Discord, HP, Jellysmack, L'Oréal Paris, Fourthwall, Creative Juice, PearPop, and many more — sending over 60 million cold emails across different industries.

I combine cold email and outbound GTM expertise with AI solutions, smart automation, and deliverability optimization to help businesses scale their outreach and consistently book meetings.

My passion is sharing the knowledge I’ve gained from 5+ years in outbound sales, lead generation, and email deliverability with businesses and individuals who want to get the most out of their cold emailing process.

If you think there’s any way we can help each other, feel free to DM me!

Jovan Shojlevski

How most cold emailers clean their lead lists:

1. Export their contact list
2. Upload it to a verification tool
3. Wait
4. Download the results
5. Re-import the clean list
6. Suppress the bounces

That's 2+ hours per week.

8 hours per month.

Almost 100 hours per year.

On something that should take 0 minutes.

And don't get me started if you do crazy sales volume.

I switched to Bouncer AutoClean since it came out.

It: 

1. Connects to your CRM.
2. Verifies new contacts every hour.
3. Reverifies existing ones automatically.
4. Suppresses undeliverable emails on its own.

I haven't touched a verification CSV since.

And my bounce rate has been as low as ever.

Automate the boring stuff.

Spend your time on what actually makes you money.

Landing 1.2M+ cold emails/month in the inbox at Grow Surely

I check 6 things before sending any sales email campaign.

(Skipping even one can destroy your deliverability)

1. DNS setup → MxToolBox

SPF, DKIM, DMARC must be perfect.

If anything is in red, I let the domain warm up for longer.

No exceptions.

2. Domain reputation → Cisco Talos

If a domain's reputation isn't perfect, nothing is sent from it.

3. Email verification → Bouncer

Every email gets verified before it touches a campaign.

It also identifies spam traps, breached addresses, and complainers.

Invalid/untrusted emails = bounces = reputation damage.

4. Copy readability → Hemingway Editor

Grade 7 reading level or below.

If a 14-year-old can't understand it, simplify it.

5. Mailbox warm-up → Instantly.ai

Every mailbox needs at least 14 days of warm up.

I also always leave backup inboxes to warm up for longer.

6. Sequencing → Instantly.ai

Randomized times. Random intervals.

Predictable patterns trigger spam filters.

That's it.

6 checks. <15 minutes. Every campaign.

I track a metric that most cold emailers ignore.

It's not reply rate.

It's not open rate.

It's lead-to-valid-email rate.

Here's what I mean:

You build a list of 1,000 leads.

You run them through an email finder.

Only 400 come back with valid emails.

That's a 40% lead-to-valid-email rate.

Which means 60% of your research was wasted.

I used to deal with this every week.

Hours spent building lists.

Half the leads had no usable contact info.

It was the most frustrating bottleneck in my workflow.

Then I switched how I source leads.

I start with Prospeo.io 

And it's not just for enrichment.

But for the entire list build.

Here's why it changes everything:

→ 280M+ contacts with pre-verified emails
→ I filter by ICP before I ever export
→ Every email is verified at the source
→ My lead-to-valid-email rate went from 40% to 90%+

That means from 1,000 leads, I get 900+ valid emails.

Not 400.

Same effort. More than double the output.

Here's what that looks like in practice:
Old workflow:

→ Scrape leads from 3 different tools
→ Cross-reference in Clay
→ Run emails through a verifier
→ Lose 50-60% of the list
→ 4 hours of work for 400 usable leads

New workflow:

→ Build the list directly in Prospeo
→ Enrich for personalization
→ Push to Instantly.ai
→ few minutes for 900+ usable leads

The best campaigns don't start with better copy.

They start with better data.

If you're losing half your list before you even send, fix the source.

I help B2B companies land 3-5 high-paying clients per month with cold email | Co-Founder @ grow surely.

I’m Adam, Co-Founder of Grow Surely, a leading outbound agency.

Our clients have booked 1,500+ sales calls, generated $3M+ in revenue, and landed meetings with companies like Google, Apple, and Microsoft.

30+ B2B companies trust us to fill their calendars with dream clients.

Some of our client wins:

Recruitful – Closed $100K+ in new revenue in 3 months.

JARS Digital – Booked 86 meetings and generated $150K in a saturated market.

Consultex PM – Generated $300K+ in revenue with 76 booked meetings.

Courimo – Broke into the U.S. market, booked 33 meetings, and generated $100K+.

Br8kthru – Landed 74 qualified leads and added $500K+ to pipeline revenue.

Email Magic – Booked 55 meetings and generated 152 leads after being rejected by other agencies.

If you’re a B2B company ready to scale and land new clients every month, check my featured section to book a 1:1 call.

Adam Rahmouni

Prospect ghosted you?

Try sending this email:

“Hi Adam – It seems like you’re putting this on hold, which is not a problem.

Maybe I messed up somewhere along the way.

Here’s my ask, and I know it’s a big ask because you don’t owe me a response:

Would you be open to sharing some feedback so we can help you better in the future?

Either way, thanks for considering us.”

This email takes all the pressure off.

No pushy sales vibes.

You’re owning the situation (“maybe I messed up”).

Prospects like humans, not sales robots.

Saying “you don’t owe me a response” makes it feel safe to reply.

No one likes feeling trapped.

You’re not trying to “close” them on the spot.

You’re leaving the door cracked open.

Who knows?

They might respond and reveal why they ghosted.

If they don’t?

That’s a gift.

You now know who NOT to focus on.

Ghosting is normal in sales.

Focus on prospects who are ready to talk.

Follow for more outbound tips.

Co-Founder @ Grow Surely ($1.5M ARR) | Helped 100+ B2B companies scale with outbound

Do not hire a cold email agency.

Most new founders make this mistake: 

Hire a “done-for-you” agency → Expect instant revenue → Burn $10k+ → Blame the agency. 

Here’s the truth: 

Cold outbound agencies are built to scale your business. 

Not build it. 

So, before you even think about hiring a lead-gen agency.

Ask yourself.

1. Do I have PMF? 
 ↳ Do you have a proven offer? 
 ↳ If not, you’re just paying to amplify a broken process. 

2.  Do I have case studies?
 ↳ People buy from people they trust. 
 ↳ No case studies = 0 trust messaging = 0 result. 

3. Can you commit for 3+ months?
 ↳ Cold outreach isn’t a magic button. 
 ↳ It takes 60-90 days to refine targeting, messaging, and results. 

If you answered “no” to any of these: 

Stop. 

What to do instead: 

Take 4 hours per day to prospect. 

If you need help, work with an agency to run the maintenance and ensure deliverability for a lower cost.

5 cold outbound openers I used to land 5 clients.

(In the last 4 weeks)

“Personalized compliments” are dead.

Whenever I see someone I don’t know compliment me.

I delete the message (or email).

Why?

It screams “I’m gonna sell you something.”
It sounds fake and dishonest.
It doesn’t stand out.

Busy decision-makers like you and me.

Receive “compliments” all the time.

And it just doesn’t work anymore.

What should you do instead?

Make. Yourself. Useful.

1. Be drastically honest.
2. Do your research.
3. Provide insights.

Do these things, and you'll double your replies (and deals).

I added 5 tested examples below.

Steal them.

5 cold email openers

How to eliminate objections in your cold emails:

(By adding just 2 words)

99% of cold emails never address objections. 

They only talk about what their product can do. 

And ignore their prospects' biggest concerns.

You can fix that with just 2 words:

"Even if."

Here's the formula:

{Even if} + {Objection}

It's really simple.

Think about all the objections you get from prospects.

By adding "even if", you address them head-on.

Here's an example: 

"You'll appear on the 1st page of Google, even if your market feels saturated."

Pro tip:

You can A/B test different objections:

- Use the same email copy.
- Just change what comes after "even if."
- Analyze which version works best.

You'll discover your prospects' number one concern.

P.S. How do you handle objections in your cold emails?

Our outbound tech stack generated over $5M. 

Here's everything explained:

1. Email Infrastructure

- I split between Google and Outlook
- This way, I don’t rely on a single provider.
- And I keep deliverability high.

2. Data

- I use Clay to build my lead lists.
- LinkedIn as a source for bigger companies.
- Google Maps for local businesses.
- Then I enrich data with Claude.ai

After that, I run all emails through a waterfall of:

- Prospeo.io
- Hunter.io
- Icypeas
- Wiza
- Findymail

3. Email Verification

I validate emails with these top 3:

- Bouncer
- ZeroBounce
- LeadMagic

They keep my bounce rates minimal.

No point emailing addresses that don’t exist.

4. Email Sending

- I push everything to Instantly.ai.
- It warms up all my inboxes automatically.
- And I manage all campaigns from one dashboard.

5. Appointment Setting & CRM

- Calendly to schedule meetings.
- HubSpot to keep track of our pipeline and close deals.

Why this works?

1. Avoids spam traps.
2. Keeps data clean.
3. Automates 80% of the workflow.
4. Ensures consistent, predictable meetings.

P.S. What’s in your tech stack?

My 3-step cold outbound framework is unbeatable.

If your emails aren’t converting, read this:

Most cold emails focus on themselves.

They’ll say things like:

“We get you 10 appointments a month.”
“Our proprietary 4-phase framework.”
“Look at how cool we are.”

But the best ones?

They focus on the reader.

Here’s a simple framework I always use. 

With examples:

1. Start with your best case study
↳ "We helped a SaaS founder go from referrals → 10 booked calls/week."

2. Build a list of companies just like them
↳ Use tools like Icypeas to find companies in the same industry.

3. Write your copy from your client's perspective.
↳ Show your results, don't tell them.

Here's a full example

"I've been working with Zack, founder at [Case Study], also in fintech.

He used to rely on referrals. Now he’s booking 10 sales calls/week,
with zero effort on his end.

Open to seeing if we could do the same for [company name]?"

That’s it 🫳 🎤 .

You’re not bragging.

You’re showing real proof.

Your clients are your best salespeople.

Use their results to start new conversations.

P.S. Repost if you found this useful ♻️.

I've tested 20+ cold email tools in the past year.

I'm still using only these 6:

1. Clay

 Real-time, deep personalization starts here.

- Automated prospecting
- AI research
- Unbeatable enrichment options

2. Prospeo.io

- Email finding
- Mobile finding 
- Best waterfall enrichment within Clay

3. Bouncer

The only verifier that stopped me from double-verifying lead lists. 

- Predicts bounce rate with a free toxicity score
- Great catch-all verification
- Identifies spam traps

4. Mailerr

 Buy domains + Google mailboxes in minutes.
 
- Automatic DNS setup
- Domain reputation monitoring
- Full admin access on accounts

5. Hemingway Editor

A writing assistant I use every day.

- Spelling check and word replacement
- Readability grading
- Synonym recommendations

6. Instantly.ai

The most popular sending tool for a reason.

- AI powered optimization
- Campaign analytics
- Auto inbox rotation
- Built-in warm-up

P.S. Let me know what you use in the comments!

Tech Stack 2026

We booked B2B 4,000+ sales calls in 2 years.

(For our clients and us).

Here's the exact allbound strategy based on where you are right now:

Under $500K/year?

Stop.

Before sending a single email, you need a compelling offer.

Dig deep into your ICP's pain points.

Understand what keeps them up at night.

Cold email without a strong offer is just noise.

Get that right first.

You need to figure out PMF before going over next steps. 

Between $500K and $3M/year?

Cold email at scale is your best move.

Here's how to do it right:

First, build revenue-focused case studies.

"I helped X improve their website" won't book meetings.

"I helped X generate $200K in new revenue" will.

If you don't have those case studies yet, go interview your best clients today.

Then, send a minimum of 1,000 emails per day.

Find 5 lookalikes for each of your best case studies.

Replicate what worked. At scale.

Don't overcomplicate it with triggers yet.

Just find people who look exactly like your best clients.

That's your TAM. Work it.

Over $3M/year with 10,000+ monthly website visitors?

Now you can layer in allbound.

Your inbound is already proving demand.

Use that signal to supercharge your outbound:

RB2B to identify and email your website visitors

Inflow to target people engaging with your content

Keyreach to run LinkedIn campaigns for anyone who replies to your cold emails or engages with your posts

That last one is where the magic happens.

Someone replies to your cold email.

They immediately see your LinkedIn content.

They get a connection request.

They're now seeing you everywhere.

That's not outbound anymore.

That's authority at scale.

The 15 terms you need to know to build this system

P.S. Which stage are you at right now?

This email booked 15+ meetings in its first week.

Here’s why:
1. The subject line was clean.
 → One word: “partnership.”

 Short, non-spammy, and curiosity-driven.

2. The first line was personalized.
 → Mentioned the prospect’s industry and location.

 No fake compliments or random icebreakers.

3. It focused on pain points, not the product.
 → Two real challenges that the audience faces daily.

 Specific enough to feel relevant, broad enough to resonate.

4. The offer was clear.
 → A short forecast; tangible and low commitment.

5. The CTA was simple.
 → “Would you be interested?”
 No overthinking, no pressure.

The best-performing cold emails don’t sound like marketing.

They sound like conversations.

And that’s exactly why this one worked.

P.S. Want me to break down the exact structure behind this template?

How I got a client to 24+ meetings per month.

(With just 100 new contacts per day.)

Most people still cold email like it's 2023.

One campaign. One message. One list.

With a decent offer, you get 1 lead per 250 contacts.

So here’s what you need to do differently.

Our client sells digital ad screen time at venues.

Very small TAM. 3 locations.

Phoenix, El Paso, and Fort Worth.

Instead of running 1 campaign for everything.

We ran 1 campaign per venue (3), per ICP (8).

That’s 24 campaigns total.

Here's what happened.

6x more leads. 1 per 40 contacts instead of 250.

And one of the highest close rates we've ever recorded.

Because every email spoke to one specific pain point.

Not a market. One person.

The lesson:

Volume will always matter in cold email.

Anyone who says otherwise is completely lost.

But hyper-targeting multiplies your results per contact.

More work? Yes, 10x more.

Worth it? Absolutely.

P.S. How targeted are your campaigns right now?

5 cold email “hacks” to 2x your sales meetings.

(I tested all of them this year.)

1. Add a phone number to your copy.
↳ Works extremely well with SMBs.
↳ Most of them will either reply or ask you to call them.

2. Use humor to your advantage.
↳ If you can make your recipients laugh, you win.
↳ People connect with others based on how they feel.

3. Go for “No.”
↳ When making decisions, people like to feel in control.
↳ Give all the power to your recipients.

4. Show, don’t tell.
↳ Your clients are your best salespeople.
↳ Prove your claim by offering a demonstration.

5. Use a personalized line in your PS-section.
↳ Email inboxes are filled with boring, automated emails.
↳ Show your human side by finding some common ground.

I added some examples in the carousel below.

You don’t have to use all 5 hacks in your copy.

But one hack can turn an average campaign into a banger.

PS: Grab my 10 winning copies here: https://tally.so/r/3jVL9J

5 Cold Email "Hacks" 

I’ve sent and analyzed 500,000+ emails.

Here’s what the winners have in common:

1. Subject line under 5 words.
↳ Easy to scan on mobile.
↳ Curiosity-driven, not boring.

2. Personalization in the first line.
↳ Mention their company, role, or a trigger.
↳ Make it feel written just for them.

3. Keep it short.
↳ 50–75 words max.
↳ Respect their time.

4. Pain-first.
↳ Start with what they’re losing.
↳ Not your features.

5. Clarity.
↳ 7th-grade reading level.
↳ No jargon, no fluff.

6. Curiosity gap.
↳ Don't reveal everything.
↳ Give just enough info to make them reply.

7. Social proof.
↳ One short client name or case study.
↳ Build trust instantly.

8. “Even if” objection killer.
↳ Think ahead.
↳ Remove the #1 objection upfront.

9. Human tone.
↳ Quit the corporate jargon.
↳ Write like you’d text a friend.

10. Follow-ups.
↳ Don't quit after 1 attempt. 
↳ 3–4 polite nudges beat one long pitch.

11. Clear CTA.
↳ One simple question.
↳ No Calendly yet.

Every cold email should check these 11 boxes.

If it doesn’t, replies drop.

P.S. Which of these tips do you already use?

It takes 8 touchpoints to book a meeting.

Up to 20 to land a new B2B client.

Most founders are doing 2 and calling it outreach.

That's a problem.

One channel isn't enough anymore.

And more volume won't fix a broken system.

What actually works is being everywhere your prospect is.

We call it an allbound engine.

Here's what it looks like in practice:
You start with one ICP.
You find the right trigger events.
A new hire. A funding round. A tool they just adopted.
These signals tell you they're ready.

Then you show up, in sequence:
LinkedIn first, then email, then retargeting.
Not spammy. Not aggressive.
Just consistent.

The tools we use to make it happen:
Clay for ICP research and firmographics
RB2B to identify website visitors
Taplio for LinkedIn content and engagement
Instantly.ai for email sequences and lead magnets
Zapier to connect it all and nurture into deals

The result?

1. Your prospect sees you on LinkedIn.
2. Gets your email.
3. Sees your ad.

By the time you follow up, you're not a stranger.

You're the obvious choice.

That's how predictable revenue actually gets built.

"Adam, I see we have a lot of mutual connections."

No, we don’t.

"Adam, I see you’re a leader in the marketing space."

No, I’m not.

"Adam, I can help you make 100k in 30 days."

No, you can’t.

These generic openers put prospects on high alert.

They scream “I just want to sell you something”

And makes your prospect lose complete trust.

What do top marketing leaders truly want?

Research-backed insights that show you know their world.

They don’t want tired lines or empty promises.

They hate superficial pitches that miss the mark.

They’re afraid of wasting time on generic approaches.

And they haven’t cracked this themselves

Because personalization takes real effort.

Instead
↳ Dig into industry trends
↳ Share a quirky insight
↳ Or tell a brief, authentic story.

Stand out by proving you did your homework.

Because your audience deserves more than clichés.

P.S. What’s your secret to breaking the ice without sounding like everyone else?

In 2026, I booked 500+ sales calls for my clients and me.

And half of them were because of this one "hack". 

The Halo Effect.

Here's what it means in cold email:

When you mention a well-known client, brand, or mutual connection early in your email...

Your prospect instantly assumes you're credible.

Their brain skips the skepticism.

And jumps straight to curiosity.

Example:

"We helped [Famous Brand] cut their sales cycle by 40%."

That one sentence does more work than 5 paragraphs of pitch.

You didn't earn the trust.

You borrowed it.

And it works every time.

I've tested 8 more psychology hacks that boosted my reply rates across hundreds of campaigns.

Check them below.

I use this "hack" to 2x my client's sales meetings.

(Without changing the offer or strategy.)

Most cold emails sound like this:

"Here's what we do. Want to chat?"

You're pitching. The prospect feels it. They ignore you.

Here's what we changed.

Instead of selling, we started choosing.

Every email explained exactly why we picked them specifically.

With a real, specific reason.

For instance, if I'm reaching out to a wealth management firm. 

I could say something like:

"Our ads target high-income earners already looking for financial advice."

But then if I run the same campaign for HVAC companies.

I would say:

"Our campaigns go out in May, right when the heat becomes a problem."

Same offer. Completely different feeling.

They're not being sold to. They're being selected.

Before this switch: 1 reply per 300 contacts.

After: 1 reply per 150 contacts.

Same offer. Same list. Same targeting.

This works especially well for ad placement, PR, billboards, and venue-based advertising.

Anything where you're choosing who gets a limited number of spots.

The hack:

Know your prospect well enough to explain why they specifically make sense.

Use Clay to pull the right data. Then make it undeniable.

taplio

The Battle

Jovan Shojlevski

Adam Rahmouni

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taplio

The Battle

Jovan Shojlevski

Adam Rahmouni

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Jovan Shojlevski's LinkedIn Performance

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