Hey guys — quick question for the outbound nerds here. I’m building an outreach system inside Airtable where an AI field generates: 1 subject line 1 initial cold email 3 follow-ups (Short, human, no hype, no made-up numbers) I have access to these models: OpenAI: GPT-5.2, GPT-5.1, GPT-5, GPT-5 Mini, GPT-5 Nano, GPT-4.1, GPT-4.1 Mini, GPT-4o, GPT-4o Mini, GPT-4 Mini, GPT-3, GPT-3 Mini Claude: Claude 4.5 Summit / Office / HighQ, Claude 3.7 Summit, Claude 3.5 Summit / HighQ, Claude 3 HighQ Llama: Llama 3.3 70B, Llama 4 Maverick 17B, Llama 4 Scout 17B, Llama 3.1 8B Gemini: Gemini 3 Pro, Gemini 2.5 Pro, Gemini 2.5 Flash, Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite What I care about most: Sounds human (not “AI-ish”) Follows rules consistently (no random claims, no extra fluff) Strong first line + solid follow-ups Low token cost is a bonus, but conversion > cost If you’ve tested any of these for cold email: Which model wins for writing? Any “best combo” approach? (ex: small model for structure + big model for final polish) Any prompt tweaks that made a huge difference? Appreciate any real-world feedback 🙏

Quick progress log from my “book my first demo call” journey. Sharing it in detail in case it helps anyone (and also to get feedback from people who’ve already made this work). Goal: book 1 demo call first, then close 1 pilot Lead source (current) Using Apollo right now (verified contacts) Sent initial outreach to all 26 No replies yet (so follow-ups matter) The stack Airtable = CRM + content storage Fields: contact, subject, outreach body, FU1/FU2/FU3, status, sent dates, thread id, follow-up flags. Make.com = automation engine Gmail = sending + replying inside the same thread What I automated (2 scenarios) Scenario #1 — Initial email Trigger: I tick “Send Email?” in Airtable Actions: Send the initial email from Gmail Save Thread ID back to Airtable (so follow-ups stay in the same conversation) Set dates: Initial Sent Date = today FU1 Date = +2 days FU2 Date = +5 days FU3 Date = +9 days Mark “initial sent?” = true + status updates Scenario #2 — Follow-ups (the important part) Trigger: Scheduled daily at 11:00 AM New York time (Mon–Fri) Logic: Airtable search formula finds records where follow-up is due: FU1 due if not sent + date <= today FU2 due if FU1 sent + FU2 not sent + date <= today FU3 due if FU2 sent + FU3 not sent + date <= today Then router sends the right follow-up: Replies using the stored Thread ID (so it’s not a new email) Updates the correct flag FU1?/FU2?/FU3? so nothing repeats Stops follow-ups after FU3 What I learned (real quick) The hardest part wasn’t email copy… it was systems + logic to prevent duplicates. Threading matters: replying by Thread ID keeps it clean. Follow-ups are where deals happen, so I built the engine first. What I need feedback on If you’ve landed clients via cold outreach: What’s the one move that got your first demo booked? (Email only? Email + Loom? Call? Free audit?) Subject lines: do you still like “Quick question, {Name}” or do you prefer offer-based subjects?

- Do they have a membership / packages / specials? - Any high-ticket treatment on the menu? - Review count (signals database size) - One personalization line only (don’t overdo it) If anyone wants, I can drop my exact email template.

I’m trying to land my first client / first demo call and I want real mechanics, not theory. If you got your first client from cold outreach, can you break down exactly what you did? Channel: cold email, IG DM, LinkedIn, cold calls, walk-ins, referrals? Volume: how many touches/day and for how many days? What got the first “yes”: a short email, a Loom audit, a phone call, a calendar link, a free pilot? Follow-up cadence: how many follow-ups before you booked? Also: I’m not in the U.S. — did you call businesses directly to book demos? If yes, did they care about the number being international? I’m running a DBR / patient reactivation pilot (pay-per-show) for Med Spas. My goal is to book one demo call this week. Appreciate any real playbooks you used.

Daily plan: Send 10 new emails/day Follow-up 10/day Improve one thing in the template/day I’ll update results at the end of the week (even if it’s zero). Accountability post