Lavender

What is Lavender?

Lavender (Lavender.ai) is an AI-powered sales email writing assistant and coaching platform founded in 2020 by William Ballance and Chelsea Castle. The tool operates as a browser extension that helps B2B sales representatives (SDRs and AEs) write shorter, clearer, and more effective prospecting emails, using statistical data analysis from millions of sent emails to predict the likelihood of receiving a response from potential clients.

How it works

When drafting an email in Gmail, Outlook, or sales cadence platforms, Lavender's sidebar analyzes the writing in real time. The system assigns a score from 0 to 100 to the email, indicating the lead's response chances. The AI analyzes readability factors: it highlights overly long paragraphs, complex words that hinder fast reading, passive voice sentences, and spam terms that would trigger email security filters. Additionally, it displays the email layout simulating a smartphone screen (Mobile View), allowing the user to rewrite complex passages assertively with one click.

Key features

• Email Score: A dynamic score that predicts the likelihood of the email receiving a reply based on B2B sales best practices.
• Mobile Editor: Analysis that ensures the email does not require excessive scrolling and is easy to read and reply to from mobile devices.
• AI-Assisted Personalization: Quick search of the lead's public information (such as recent job history and LinkedIn posts) to suggest personalized hooks in the email introduction.
• Spam Terms Detection: Preventive scanning to alert the salesperson about words that reduce domain deliverability rates.
• Sentence Rewriter Editor: Generative engine focused on shortening paragraphs and persuasively altering the message's tone of voice.

Available integrations

Lavender stands out for its wide extension integration with the main tools in the sales workflow:

• Channels: Gmail and Microsoft Outlook.
• Cadence Software: Outreach.io, Salesloft, Apollo.io, HubSpot, and Close.

Who it is for

• Business Development Representatives (SDRs/BDRs) who need to write dozens of personalized cold sales emails daily.
• Account Executives (AEs) focused on improving follow-up on active negotiations with corporate buyers.
• Sales Managers interested in monitoring and improving the writing quality of the sales team.

Real-world use cases

1. Increasing Open and Reply Rates: A B2B software salesperson drafts a score-65 email in Lavender. The AI highlights that the text is too formal and wordy. The salesperson uses the AI to shorten the email by 40% and simplify the vocabulary, reaching score 95 and securing a positive reply from the buyer.
2. Mobile Optimization: The AI points out that the email's first sentence is too long and will break into four lines on a phone screen. The salesperson splits the sentence into two short ones, making it easier for the Executive Director to read on a smartphone.

Pricing

Pros and Cons

Pros:

• Surgical focus on improving sales cold email responses (not just a common spell checker).
• Smartphone screen simulation is a vital feature, as most decision makers read emails on mobile.
• Modern visual interface and very fast advice to follow.

Cons:

• Database analytical support and predictive features are optimized almost exclusively for English writing.
• Individual subscription can be expensive if the salesperson does not perform bulk email sends daily.