Starter sequence: email-only, give first

This is a starting point, not a finished campaign. Replace the bracketed parts and the sign-off with your own, and keep only claims you can back up. It follows our recommended email-only shape: five short emails that give, give, give.

It uses one AI Personalization field, {company_highlight}, in email 2. Create it before activating (see "Create the AI Personalization field" below), or rewrite that line.

The email-only starter sequence

{
  "variation_a": [
    {
      "id": 1,
      "type": "email",
      "subject": "question about {company}",
      "content": "Hi {first_name},\n\nI help [home services companies like yours] [fill their schedule in the slow months] by [a few words on how].\n\nMind if I send over [the give: a short sample / a quick audit of your listing]?\n\nJordan",
      "delay": 2
    },
    {
      "id": 2,
      "type": "email",
      "subject": "{first_name}, quick one",
      "content": "Hi {first_name},\n\nSaw {company_highlight}.\n\nAre you taking on more [jobs like that] this month?\n\nIf so, [the give] might help. Happy to send it over.\n\nJordan",
      "delay": 3
    },
    {
      "id": 3,
      "type": "email",
      "subject": "an idea for {company}",
      "content": "Hi {first_name},\n\nOne thing that's working for [companies like yours] right now: [one concrete idea, in a line or two].\n\nNo need to reply. I thought it might be useful.\n\nJordan",
      "delay": 5
    },
    {
      "id": 4,
      "type": "email",
      "subject": "[the give] for {company}",
      "content": "Hi {first_name},\n\nI put together [a one-page checklist / a short sample] on [the problem you solve], for [companies like yours].\n\nWant me to send it? It takes [a few minutes] to read.\n\nJordan",
      "delay": 5
    },
    {
      "id": 5,
      "type": "email",
      "subject": "last note",
      "content": "Hi {first_name},\n\nI'll leave it here so I'm not crowding your inbox.\n\nIf [the problem] comes up later, just reply. The offer of [the give] still stands.\n\nJordan",
      "delay": 0
    }
  ],
  "variation_b": []
}

Replace "Jordan" with the sender's name.

Create the AI Personalization field

In the Sequence editor, open email 2, select Insert Variable → AI Personalization → +, and create:

• Field Name: company_highlight
• AI Instructions: "From the company's website, name one specific service, service area or recent project, written as a short phrase that can follow 'Saw' in a message, such as 'that you've added pool resurfacing'. Under 15 words. No generic praise."
• Fallback value: "your website and the work your team does"
• Data Sources: Website

See Personalization that works.

Why it works

• Email 1: the "I help X do Y by Z" opener, then a give-first CTA. No link, no meeting ask. See Openers that get replies.
• Email 2: the question opener: one specific, true observation from the AI field, then one question about it, and the give offered again.
• Email 3: gives an idea outright and asks for nothing.
• Email 4: offers a concrete resource, in two lines, rather than pasting it in. Giving is not a newsletter nobody opted into.
• Email 5: a short close that leaves the offer open and makes "not now" an easy answer.
• Delays: 2, 3, 5 and 5 days, our usual email-only cadence: close together while the first email is fresh, then more room so the sequence never crowds the inbox. The last step's wait is 0 because nothing follows it.
• Personalization: {first_name} and {company}, plus the one AI field in email 2. A lead with no first name gets "Hi there,", and one with no company name gets "your company", so the copy reads correctly either way.
• Who it suits: buyers who answer email more than LinkedIn, such as home services companies. See Who to target and on which channel.

When someone replies, the sequence stops and the Appointment Setter can take over: deliver the give, follow up and work the deal. Before activating, check that the sending domain passes its SPF, DKIM and DMARC check; see DNS setup.