Partnership is not an act of goodwill. It's a sales funnel. The more correct touches you have, the more chances you have to sign a win-win deal. But in B2B, such deals rarely fall from the sky. You have to look for them. And sometimes even fight for them.
And this is where outreach begins.
If you want to negotiate partnerships through cold emails, this article is for you. We will show you how to find the right people, write to them in a way that won't be ignored, and not go crazy in the process. Everything will be demonstrated with examples and an overview of working with Coldy.
What is partner outreach
Partner outreach is when you find a potential partner and take the first step: you write an email, suggest a call, explain why they need you at all.
Partnership options can vary:
Joint webinars
Integrations between products
Client exchanges
Partner sales
Joint articles or newsletters
Referral programs
Collaborations in Telegram or on other platforms
Important: partnership is not about “we want, and you give us.” It's mutual benefit. If the emails sound like “help us,” there will be no responses.
What influences the success of partner outreach
Here are five ingredients that we see in successful campaigns:
1. The right target audience
Do not write to everyone indiscriminately. If the company is not suitable, even a perfectly polished email will not help.
Check:
Do you share a target audience?
Do the niches and styles of the brands match?
Is the amount/format of collaboration appropriate?
Use filters in Contour.Compass, 2GIS, or exports from websites to search. Make sure the recipient has at least theoretical interest.
2. Domain reputation
If your emails don’t reach the recipients, everything else doesn’t matter. Before starting, do the following:
A separate domain for mailings
SPF, DKIM, DMARC — mandatory
Warming up the domain and boxes through Coldy (10–14 days)
Poor reputation = emails go to spam = 0 open rate.
3. Personalization
Don’t shower them with compliments like “You have a great project.” Better show that you are in the know:
Use variables: {{Name}}, {{Company}}
Mention a recent information event: a release, a post, an interview
Link your idea to their tasks
4. A simple but beneficial offer
What will they get from the partnership? What result, what numbers?
The worst option is: “Let’s talk, maybe we’ll find something useful for each other.” Better: “I see that you are actively developing in {{niche}}, we have an idea for a joint webinar — 200+ registrations in 2 weeks.”
Talk about the results, not the process.
5. The right contact
Do not write to info@. Find a specific person with the right role — marketing, partnership, community. Use Tenchat, Hunter, SignalHire.
How a good email looks
Here is a structure that works:
Hello, {{Name}}! 👋 My name is Nikita, I am responsible for partnerships at {{your company}}. I noticed your project — it looks cool, especially {{insert point of interest}}. We have an idea for a joint activity that may be useful for you: [1 sentence with a benefit]. We did something similar with {{partner's name}} — we achieved {{result}}. Can we discuss this in more detail? I would be glad to have a 15-minute call. Have a great day! |
What else affects the response
Sending time: Tuesday–Thursday, from 9:00 to 11:00
Follow-up emails: 2–3 messages, after 2–3 days
Database validity: use validation in Coldy to avoid sending to trash boxes
A/B testing of email subjects: “Partnership with {{company}}” vs “Idea for {{company}}”
Channels: you can use Tenchat, Telegram, but the foundation is email
Conclusion
Partnership does not start with “let's call.” It starts with an email that the person actually opened. And that means everything starts with the right outreach.
Look for relevant partners
Warm up the boxes and clean the database
Write in a human way and with benefits
Work on infrastructure and follow-up
Coldy helps you go through all this — from validation to email performance analytics. Which means you can focus on what matters: finding strong partners and making great collaborations with them.
