Reach vs a spreadsheet and mail merge
Plenty of good businesses started with a spreadsheet, a list of names and a mail merge. It is cheap, and you control every cell. Here is how that compares with Reach, honestly.
Updated
Who does the work?
The same outreach job, step by step. Without Reach (a spreadsheet and mail merge), 10 of these steps are yours. With Reach, 1 is.
- Find the right peopleYou
- Find their email addressesYou
- Check every addressYou
- Read up on each personYou
- Write a personal email eachYou
- Write it in their languageYou
- Send at 09:30 their timeYou
- Follow up on day 3 and day 7You
- Keep the unsubscribe listYou
- Approve each emailYou
Side by side
| Topic | Reach | A spreadsheet and mail merge |
|---|---|---|
| Finding people | Found for your goal, live, at the right companies | You research and paste each name yourself |
| Email addresses | Checked twice with two separate sources | Whatever you found, unchecked unless you add a tool |
| Personal words | One email per person, from what they said in public | One template with a few fields filled in |
| Language | Each person's own language and register | Usually one language for everyone |
| Send time | 09:30 in each person's time zone | When you press send |
| Follow-ups | Day 3 and day 7, stopped by any reply | Manual, by checking who replied |
| Unsubscribes | Honoured at once, automatically | You track them in the sheet |
| Cost | Free to start with 1,000 credits | Close to free |
When a spreadsheet and mail merge is the better choice
- It costs almost nothing beyond your time.
- You already have the people and only need to send a short note, such as an event invite to past customers.
- You want every field under your own hand, in a file you can open anywhere.
When Reach is the better choice
- You do not have the list yet and want the right people found for a goal.
- You want each email to read as if you wrote it for that one person.
- You are writing across countries and languages.
The short version
If you have the list and the time, a spreadsheet works. If finding and writing is the part that keeps slipping, Reach gives you those hours back.