Admin Outreach — AI Cold Emails

Overview

Admin Outreach lets you send AI-generated cold emails to scraped leads directly from the BlueClerk admin panel. Select leads from your leads table, preview them, let AI generate personalized emails customized by trade, city, and contact name, review and edit each email, then send via AWS SES. All sent emails include an unsubscribe footer, update lead status to "contacted", and increment the emailsSent counter.

How It Works

Selecting Leads

1. Go to Admin > Marketing > Leads
2. Check the boxes next to leads you want to contact
3. Click "Send Outreach" button
4. Only leads with email addresses can be selected

Generating Emails

The outreach dialog opens with your selected leads:

1. Preview selected leads - See company name, contact name, email, trade, and city
2. Click "Generate Emails" - AI creates personalized emails for each lead
3. AI uses Claude Haiku to write short, casual emails (6-8 sentences max)
4. Each email is customized with the lead's name, trade, city, and BlueClerk pitch points

Reviewing Emails

After generation, you can review and edit each email:

1. Navigate between emails using Previous/Next buttons
2. Edit subject line - Customize the email subject
3. Edit body - Modify AI-generated content as needed
4. Unsubscribe footer is automatically included in every email
5. Review all emails before sending

Sending Emails

1. Click "Send X Emails" when ready
2. BlueClerk sends via AWS SES in the background
3. Lead status updates to "contacted" automatically
4. emailsSent counter increments for each lead
5. Success/failure summary shows results

Email Customization

What AI Considers

The AI generates emails based on:

• Trade: Plumbing, HVAC, electrical, etc.
• City & State: Local context for the lead
• Contact Name: Personalizes greeting
• BlueClerk pitch points: $50/month pricing, unlimited users, property-based history, Jobber import, built by a contractor

Email Style

AI-generated emails are:

• Short: 6-8 sentences maximum
• Casual but professional: Like one contractor texting another
• No buzzwords: Avoids corporate speak
• Clear CTA: One call-to-action at the end
• Signed by Chris Norton, BlueClerk

Unsubscribe Handling

Every outreach email includes an unsubscribe footer:

• Unsubscribe link at the bottom of every email
• Clicking the link marks the lead as unsubscribed
• Unsubscribed leads cannot receive future outreach emails
• Compliance: Meets CAN-SPAM Act requirements

Tips

• Filter leads first - Use status, trade, or enrichment filters before selecting
• Review carefully - AI is good but not perfect - always review before sending
• Edit for context - Add specific details if you know more about the lead
• Track results - emailsSent counter helps you avoid duplicate outreach
• Respect unsubscribes - Never email leads who have opted out

Questions

Q: How many emails can I send at once? A: No limit, but consider starting with smaller batches to test messaging and deliverability.

Q: What happens if a lead doesn't have an email? A: Only leads with contact emails can be selected for outreach. Leads without emails are automatically filtered out.

Q: Can I customize the pitch points AI uses? A: Not yet - AI uses a fixed set of BlueClerk pitch points. Edit the email body after generation if you want different messaging.

Q: How do I know if an email was delivered? A: The send results summary shows sent/failed counts. Check AWS SES logs for detailed delivery status.

Q: What if I accidentally send to the wrong lead? A: You can't unsend emails, but you can follow up with a correction. Always review the lead list and generated emails before clicking Send.