Cold Outreach Readiness Quiz

Answer all 15 questions against the actual list and draft you're about to send, not a hypothetical better version. Score each 0, 1, or 2 using the bands given. Add up your total out of 30, and add up each section out of 10.

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Section 1: Targeting (/10)

T1. Can you name the 3+ filters that define your ICP for this list (not "mid-market SaaS")?

• 0: No, I'm working whoever's on the list I was handed
• 1, I have 1 filter (e.g. industry only)
• 2, I have 3+ filters and can defend each one

T2. In the list you just pulled, what % of contacts match your ideal persona's actual job title?

• 0, Under 50%
• 1, 50–80%
• 2, Over 80%

T3. Do you know the trigger event (funding, hire, tech change, expansion, news) that makes each account worth prioritizing right now?

• 0: No trigger; worked the list top to bottom
• 1: Sometimes, for a few accounts
• 2: Yes, for every account you plan to touch this week

T4. Have you excluded accounts your company has already burned: churned customers, active support escalations, existing champions elsewhere?

• 0, Haven't checked
• 1, Checked CRM only
• 2, Checked CRM + support history + existing relationships

T5. Can you name who else at the account should be looped in (multi-thread) before touch #1?

• 0: No, targeting one contact only
• 1: Have a guess, haven't mapped it
• 2: Yes, 2+ stakeholders identified

Section 1 subtotal: ___ / 10

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Section 2: Messaging (/10)

M1. Does your opening line reference something specific to this account, not the industry generally?

• 0: No, same opener for everyone
• 1: Sometimes
• 2: Yes, every send

M2. Can you state the one problem this specific persona loses sleep over, in their words, not your product's?

• 0: No
• 1: Roughly
• 2: Yes, verbatim language from their world

M3. Have you stripped all internal jargon, feature-speak, and acronyms from the draft?

• 0: Haven't checked
• 1: Removed some
• 2: Yes, read-aloud test passed

M4. Is your CTA a single, low-friction ask, not "let me know if you're interested"?

• 0: No CTA, or a vague one
• 1, Clear CTA but high-friction (e.g. "grab 30 minutes on my calendar")
• 2: Single low-friction ask (a yes/no question, or one time slot)

M5. Would this email survive being forwarded to their boss without embarrassing them?

• 0: No, too salesy or pushy
• 1: Probably
• 2: Yes, reads like a peer sharing something useful

Section 2 subtotal: ___ / 10

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Section 3: Cadence (/10)

C1. Do you have a defined number of touches (8–12) and channels mapped before touch #1 goes out?

• 0: No plan, improvising
• 1, Rough plan
• 2, Full sequence mapped and written

C2. Is there at least 1 business day of spacing between touches in week 1?

• 0: No
• 1: Mostly
• 2: Yes, enforced spacing

C3. Does your sequence include at least 2 channels, not email-only?

• 0: Email only
• 1: 2 channels
• 2: 3+ channels (email, LinkedIn, call, video)

C4. Do you have a defined exit signal (positive reply, hard no, or max-touch reached) that stops the sequence?

• 0: No, runs indefinitely
• 1: Informal sense of when to stop
• 2: Documented exit rule, enforced in the tool

C5. Have you checked this list against suppression rules: do-not-contact, recent unsubscribe, another rep already engaged?

• 0, No
• 1, Checked CRM only
• 2, Checked CRM + team channel for active threads

Section 3 subtotal: ___ / 10

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Scoring

Total score: ___ / 30

Retake trigger: any time reply rate drops below half your trailing 4-week average, retake this quiz against the current list and draft before sending more volume. Volume on top of a broken system just burns the list faster.