# hire-ai Email Drip: 5-Email Cold Outreach Sequence

**Target ICP:** Small business owners (5-50 employees) who are actively hiring or have a history of posting on Indeed, Craigslist, or ZipRecruiter. Industries: restaurants, retail, home services, construction, logistics.

**Voice:** Direct, no-nonsense, respects the owner's time. No buzzwords. Numbers where possible. Every email under 150 words.

---

## Email 1 -- The Time Sink (Day 0)

**Subject:** You spent 11 hours on your last hire

**Body:**

Hi [First Name],

The average small business owner spends 11 hours screening resumes for a single open position.

That is one full workday before you ever talk to a candidate.

hire-ai reads every application, flags the top 10%, and sends you a ranked shortlist in under 15 minutes.

No recruiter fees. No resume pile. Just the three candidates worth calling, with a one-paragraph summary of why.

See how it works in two minutes: [link]

[Sender]

---

## Email 2 -- The Mis-hire Cost (Day 3)

**Subject:** The $15,000 mistake most small businesses make twice

**Body:**

Hi [First Name],

A bad hire at the $18/hr level costs roughly $15,000 once you factor in onboarding, lost productivity, and re-hiring.

Most owners make this mistake because they moved too fast on the wrong candidate -- or too slow and lost the right one.

hire-ai screens for signals that predict 90-day retention: schedule fit, experience gaps, response consistency.

You see the red flags before the interview, not after week three.

Want to see what a screen report looks like? [link]

[Sender]

---

## Email 3 -- The Shortlist (Day 7)

**Subject:** What your next hire looks like before you ever call them

**Body:**

Hi [First Name],

Before your next candidate call, hire-ai gives you:

- A 3-line summary (no resume-reading required)
- A schedule-fit check against your open shifts
- Two suggested interview questions based on their specific gaps

Most owners tell us the first call feels like the third.

Takes 10 minutes to post your first role. Works with Indeed, Craigslist, and direct applicants.

Free for 14 days: [link]

[Sender]

---

## Email 4 -- The Objection (Day 12)

**Subject:** "I already have a system"

**Body:**

Hi [First Name],

Most small business owners who say this mean one of two things:

A) They forward resumes to their phone and decide on the drive home.
B) They have a spreadsheet they update when they remember.

hire-ai is not a replacement for your instincts. It is the prep work that makes your instincts more accurate.

The shortlist it builds takes 15 minutes. Your current process takes how long?

If you want to compare: [link]

[Sender]

---

## Email 5 -- The Close (Day 18)

**Subject:** Last note on this

**Body:**

Hi [First Name],

I will keep this short.

If you are hiring right now -- or expect to within the next 60 days -- hire-ai will save you at least 8 hours on that search.

If not, no problem. Reply "not now" and I will stop.

If yes: [link] -- free for 14 days, no card required.

Thank you for reading.

[Sender]