Announcement ·SaaS ·Professional
Have the customer understand the new price and the date without contacting support.
Write a plain-text email from [SENDER] telling an existing [PRODUCT] customer that the price is changing: [THE CHANGE], from [WHEN]. Words only — no HTML, no layout notes.
The reader should finish this email knowing what they will pay, when, and what their options are, without needing to contact anyone.
Rules:
- 120 to 170 words. Neutral, precise, unhurried.
- Put the old number, the new number and the date in the first three lines. A price email that makes the reader hunt for the number reads as an attempt to hide it, and that is what generates the angry reply.
- Give the reason in one sentence: [WHY]. One. A paragraph of justification signals that we do not think the increase is defensible.
- Do not apologise, and do not thank them for their understanding before they have given any.
- State [WHAT THEY CAN DO] plainly, including the option that costs us money. Burying the downgrade path is what turns a price rise into a cancellation.
- Do not bundle this with a feature announcement. Pairing a price rise with new features reads as a justification and cheapens both.
- Never invent a number, percentage, cost figure or customer count beyond what I have supplied.
- No exclamation marks. No emoji. Sentence case.
Write a subject line under 45 characters that says a price is changing. Do not soften it into "an update to your account". Return subject, preheader, body, sign-off.
Event ·SaaS ·Professional
Get the registration. Attendance is a different email's problem.
Write a plain-text webinar invitation for [THE SESSION], running [WHEN]. Words only — no HTML, no layout notes.
The single action this email drives: registering.
Rules:
- 100 to 150 words.
- Lead with [WHAT THEY LEAVE WITH] — what the attendee can do afterwards that they cannot now. An agenda is not a reason to attend; an outcome is.
- Put [WHEN] on its own line, with the timezone. A reader deciding whether to register is really deciding whether they are free, and making them hunt for the time loses them.
- Name [WHO IS RUNNING IT] in one clause. Credentials in a full sentence read as insecurity.
- Say [THE RECORDING] explicitly. A large share of registrations come from people who already know they cannot make it, and hiding the recording policy costs those sign-ups for nothing.
- Three bullet points maximum if you use any at all, and only for what is covered.
- One ask, written as an ordinary sentence with the link inside it.
- Never invent a number, statistic, attendance figure or testimonial. Where a figure belongs and I have not supplied it, leave a bracketed placeholder.
- No exclamation marks. No emoji. Sentence case.
Write a subject line under 45 characters naming the outcome or the topic, not the format. Return subject, preheader, body, sign-off.
Follow-up ·SaaS ·Friendly
Deliver what was promised, and give the interested ones one next step.
Write a plain-text follow-up to [ATTENDED OR NOT] for [THE EVENT]. Words only — no HTML, no layout notes.
Rules:
- 90 to 130 words.
- First line delivers [WHAT WAS PROMISED], with the link. That is what the email is for, and burying it under a thank-you is why these get closed unread.
- Adjust the opening to [ATTENDED OR NOT]. Someone who came should not be told what they missed; someone who did not should not be thanked for coming. Getting this wrong is the most visible way an automated follow-up shows its seams.
- State [THE ONE IDEA] in a sentence or two — the thing worth remembering. An attendee who never opens the recording should still get value from this email.
- Give [THE NEXT STEP] once, at the end, as an ordinary sentence with the link inside it. If there is no genuine next step, leave it out rather than inventing one.
- Do not include a feedback survey and a resource link and a sales call in the same email. Pick one.
- Never invent a number, statistic, attendance figure or quote from the session. Where a figure belongs and I have not supplied it, leave a bracketed placeholder.
- No exclamation marks. No emoji. Sentence case.
Write a subject line under 45 characters naming what is inside. Return subject, preheader, body, sign-off.
Newsletter ·SaaS ·Friendly
Get the reader to read to the end. The click is a side effect, not the point.
Write a monthly plain-text founder letter about [PRODUCT], in first person, signed by [SENDER]. Words only — no HTML, no layout notes, no section dividers.
Three beats in this order: [WHAT SHIPPED], then [WHAT BROKE], then [WHAT IS NEXT].
Rules:
- 200 to 280 words total. Three or four paragraphs. Let them get shorter as the letter goes on.
- Open on the substance. No greeting about the month, no "hope you are well", no throat-clearing.
- The shipped paragraph explains why it matters to the reader, not what the feature is called.
- The broke paragraph is the one that earns the next open. Say what went wrong plainly, without apology theatre and without making it a lesson.
- The next paragraph is one sentence. Do not promise a date I did not give you.
- At most one link, written inside a sentence. This letter is read, not clicked. Do not add a postscript full of links.
- No headers, no bullet lists, no bold. This is a letter.
- Never invent a number, statistic, growth figure or customer count. If a number belongs, leave [XX] and I will fill it in.
- No exclamation marks. No emoji. Sentence case.
Write a subject line under 45 characters that names the month's actual subject rather than "[PRODUCT] monthly update". Return subject, preheader, body, sign-off.
Product launch ·SaaS ·Professional
Get existing users to try the feature once.
Write a plain-text feature announcement from [PRODUCT] to existing users about [THE FEATURE]. Words only — no HTML, no layout notes.
The single action this email drives: trying the feature once.
Rules:
- 110 to 160 words.
- Open on [THE OLD PAIN], not on the feature. One or two sentences naming the workaround people have been living with. A reader who does not recognise the problem has no reason to read about the solution.
- Then say what shipped, in one sentence, in the words a user would use. Not the internal name, not the version number.
- Say exactly where to find it: [WHERE TO FIND IT]. A path, not a vague location. This is the line that decides whether anyone actually tries it.
- One ask, written as an ordinary sentence with the link inside it.
- Do not tease what is coming next. Do not thank anyone for their patience. Do not describe the engineering.
- Never invent a number, statistic, time saving, adoption figure or customer count. Where a figure belongs and I have not supplied it, leave [XX].
- No exclamation marks. No emoji. Sentence case.
Write a subject line under 45 characters describing what the user can now do, not what we built. Return subject, preheader, body, sign-off.
Re-engagement ·SaaS ·Professional
Learn why they left. Winning them back is not this email's job.
Write a plain-text email from [SENDER] to someone who has just cancelled their [PRODUCT] subscription. Words only — no HTML, no layout notes.
The cancellation has already gone through. This email does not try to reverse it.
Rules:
- 80 to 120 words. Calm, short, no theatre.
- Confirm the cancellation in the first line, plainly, with no attempt to make them feel it.
- Say what happens to their data: [WHAT HAPPENS TO THEIR DATA]. This is the most useful thing in the email and most cancellation emails leave it out.
- Ask exactly one question about why they left, and make it answerable in a sentence. No survey, no rating scale, no link to a form.
- Do not offer a discount to stay. Do not offer a pause. Do not mention a feature that is coming. They have decided, and arguing with the decision is what makes people tell other people about it.
- One line saying the door is open, phrased so it costs them nothing to ignore.
- Never invent a number, statistic or customer count. Where a figure belongs and I have not supplied it, leave [XX].
- No exclamation marks. No emoji. Sentence case.
Write a subject line under 40 characters that confirms rather than pleads. Return subject, body, sign-off.
Transactional ·SaaS ·Spartan
Get the right person to the reset link and reassure the wrong one.
Write a plain-text password reset email for a [PRODUCT] account. Words only — no HTML, no layout notes.
Two people receive this email: someone who just asked for it, and someone who did not. Serve both.
Rules:
- 50 to 80 words. Nothing in this email that is not about resetting the password.
- First line says what this is and that someone requested it. The reset link goes immediately after.
- State [HOW LONG IT LASTS]. A reader who does not know the link expires will open it tomorrow and be confused; a reader who does will act now.
- Give [IF IT WAS NOT THEM] its own line, and be calm about it. An unrequested reset email is alarming, and the correct reassurance is that the password has not changed and nothing happens unless the link is used.
- No branding paragraph, no marketing, no links to anything else. Not the blog, not the help centre, not the app. One link, one purpose.
- Never invent a number, figure or timestamp — that includes any IP address, device or location. If I have not supplied it, leave it out entirely rather than guessing.
- No exclamation marks. No emoji. Sentence case.
Write a subject line under 35 characters. Plain and unmistakable. Return subject, body, sign-off.
Welcome ·SaaS ·Friendly
Get them to complete the one action that makes the product make sense.
Write a plain-text day-one welcome email from [SENDER] to someone who just started a free trial of [PRODUCT]. Words only — no HTML, no layout notes.
The single action this email drives: [THE FIRST ACTION].
Rules:
- 100 to 140 words. Short sentences.
- Do not tour the product. Name one action and explain what it proves: [WHAT IT PROVES]. A list of five features is a list of five ways to do nothing.
- Say what the trial is in concrete terms: [TRIAL LENGTH], including whether a card is required and what happens on the last day. Vagueness here is what makes people cancel early out of caution.
- One ask, written as an ordinary sentence with the link inside it. No second link, no help-centre tour, no calendar booking.
- Invite a reply and mean it. One line, at the end, from a person.
- Do not congratulate them for signing up. They did not achieve anything yet.
- Never invent a number, statistic, customer count or time saving. Where a figure belongs and I have not supplied it, leave [XX].
- No exclamation marks. No emoji. Sentence case.
Write a subject line under 45 characters naming the first action. Return subject, preheader, body, sign-off.