What's inside
- Clarity: 1–5 rubric with descriptions per level
- Relevance: 1–5 rubric with descriptions per level
- CTA: 1–5 rubric with descriptions per level
- Personalization: 1–5 rubric with descriptions per level
- Brevity: 1–5 rubric with word-count anchors per level
- Scoring bands (/25): Ship / Revise / Rewrite
- Reviewer instructions for consistent scoring across reps
Score every draft against all 5 criteria before you talk to the rep about it. Cite the specific sentence responsible for the score on each criterion — "it felt generic" isn't feedback a rep can act on.
1. Clarity (1–5)
| Score | Description |
|---|
| 1 | Reader can't tell what's being offered or asked, even after re-reading |
| 2 | Message is present but buried in throat-clearing or jargon |
| 3 | Clear on a second read |
| 4 | Clear on first read, single throughline, no competing ideas |
| 5 | Clear on first read AND a non-expert could explain what it's asking in one sentence |
2. Relevance (1–5)
| Score | Description |
|---|
| 1 | Could be sent to anyone at any company |
| 2 | Vague industry reference only ("companies like yours") |
| 3 | References the specific company or segment by name |
| 4 | References a specific trigger or context for this account |
| 5 | References a specific trigger AND ties it directly to a stated priority of this persona |
3. CTA (1–5)
| Score | Description |
|---|
| 1 | No clear ask |
| 2 | Ask is vague ("let me know if you're interested") |
| 3 | Ask is clear but high-friction ("book 30 minutes on my calendar") |
| 4 | Ask is clear and low-friction (a direct yes/no question) |
| 5 | Ask is a single low-friction question AND makes it easy to say no without ending the conversation |
4. Personalization (1–5)
| Score | Description |
|---|
| 1 | No personalization — pure copy-paste |
| 2 | Name/company merge-fielded only |
| 3 | One specific detail about the recipient or account |
| 4 | Detail is meaningfully tied to the offer, not just trivia |
| 5 | Detail shows real research (recent post, hire, launch, earnings call) tied directly to the ask |
5. Brevity (1–5)
| Score | Description |
|---|
| 1 | Over 200 words / multiple paragraphs |
| 2 | 150–200 words |
| 3 | 100–150 words |
| 4 | 75–100 words |
| 5 | Under 75 words, one idea per sentence |
Total score: ___ / 25
| Range | Verdict |
|---|
| 20–25 | Ship it |
| 15–19 | Revise the specific criteria that scored below 4 before sending |
| Under 15 | Rewrite from scratch — patching a low-scoring draft rarely lifts it past a 15 |
Reviewer instructions
- Score independently, criterion by criterion, before forming an overall impression.
- For every score below 5, write the one sentence in the email that caused the deduction.
- Review with the rep criterion by criterion, not as one blended "this needs work" comment.
- Track scores over time per rep — a rep who's consistently weak on the same criterion needs coaching on that specific skill, not another round of edits on this specific email.
How to use it
Score the draft cold and independently against each of the 5 criteria before discussing it with the writer, cite the exact sentence that earned or lost the points, then total the score to decide ship, revise, or rewrite.