Industries
Cold email for logistics and transport companies, from one carrier's three weeks
Green Shield Logistics, a licensed carrier of medical and pharmaceutical waste in Bulgaria, ran an AI agent that wrote as its founder. Named heads of quality, procurement and logistics replied at 8.2%, against 2.2% for clinic and lab inboxes. Three companies reached a concrete next step in about two and a half weeks.
Published by Sellinger AI. Numbers and settings checked on 19 October 2026 against the fact register. Report an error.
- contacts reached by email from 21 September 2026 (contacts, not companies)
- 546
- human replies, 6.0% of contacts contacted
- 33
- reply rate from named owners (29 of 353), against 2.2% for generic inboxes (4 of 185)
- 8.2%
- companies at a concrete next step: a meeting and an offer, a second offer, an announced request for quotation
- 3
Who the letters went to
Every clinic, pharmacy warehouse and consumer goods producer has written off stock or medical waste, and an inspector who wants the paperwork. Few think about their waste carrier until something goes wrong. The agent wrote to the person who owns that risk, in the formal Bulgarian business register buyers expect.
| Wave | Who | Contacted | Hook |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dental group practices, vet clinics | 65 | The inspector asks for a carrier contract and a waste work sheet |
| 2 | Medical and diagnostic centres, labs, hospices | 120 | Medical waste ordinance, ADR transport, the annual waste report |
| 3 | Pharma wholesalers, retail chains, producers | 353 | The expired goods procedure and the destruction certificate that writes the batch off for tax |
The letter
- 120 to 180 words in classic business register: who we are (licence, ADR, national coverage), the regulation that applies to this buyer, the three documents the buyer receives after every handover, and one question.
- Strict reply rules: no prices, qualify the request, offer a 15 minute call, and hand meetings and offers to the founder.
- The follow up that worked asked who is responsible. 5 of the 15 replies to the first follow up were referrals.
- 11 replies said the letter had been forwarded to the responsible colleague. Two of the strongest leads came from people never emailed.
What did not work
- Reminders. Small regulated markets remember who mailed them three times. Three of the four replies to the second follow up were opt outs, and no strong positive came after it.
- Clinic and lab inboxes replied at 2.2% and produced one of the 18 positive replies.
- The first follow up drew more replies than the intro but also more refusals: of its 15 replies, 9 were negative.
- The shape this audience wants is one excellent letter and at most one follow up that adds something new.
Compliance note
The letters went to business contacts at registered companies, with the carrier's identity and licence stated first. Opt outs close the thread and add the contact to the suppression list, as described in the fact register. The study does not make an opt out handling claim beyond that.
Common questions
Does cold email work for freight brokers?
How many follow ups should logistics outreach use?
Are these companies or contacts?
Did it produce revenue?
Sources and method
Every number comes from the linked case study, which states its base, its data date and what did not work. Source: Green Shield Logistics case study, Sellinger production data, read only, snapshot 9 October 2026. Every reply was read and classified by hand.
Related: full case study, the playbook, email agent, outreach rules.
