Every cold email that begins "I hope this finds you well" announces, in six words, that no thought went into the first line.

Your reader has seen it four hundred times. It is the email equivalent of clearing your throat.

Start with the reason instead. "You mentioned on the panel last month that onboarding was your bottleneck." "Your pricing page changed last week and I have a question about it."

If you cannot write a specific first line, you do not have a reason to send the email yet. That is useful information.

Same applies to "just following up" and "circling back". Say what you want.

If you cannot write a specific first line, you are not ready to send.