Click any offense to see an example and why it fails.
FAKE-RESEARCH Critical −2.4 Generic compliment or claim of familiarity with no verifiable detail. Real personalization beyond first name produces a +340% reply rate vs. none [Outreaches.ai 2025] — only 5% of senders achieve it consistently [Salesso 2025]. The other 95% send FAKE-RESEARCH. ▾
MERGE-FAIL Auto-fail Cap 2.0 Visible template variables, broken dynamic fields, or {{first_name}} in plain text. There is no recovery — the reader knows in the first two words that this message was not written for them. ▾
PREMATURE-ASK Critical −1.8 Calendar request before any value is established. Assumes interest that hasn't been earned. Messages where the CTA appears before a relevant value prop see 67% lower conversion [Lavender 2024]. ▾
VAGUE-ICP Critical −2.4 "Companies like yours" or similar non-descriptors. No industry, role, or use case specificity. A good ICP statement should exclude most companies — when everything qualifies, nothing is targeted. Emails with named ICP dimensions convert 2.3× higher [Outreaches.ai 2025]. ▾
PAIN-ASSUMPTION Major −1.5 Declares a problem the reader has without any evidence it applies to them. If the assumption is wrong, the sender looks out of touch. If it's right, the reader feels manipulated. 85% of buyers say outreach does not feel personalized [Gartner 2025]. ▾
BUZZWORD-LOAD Major −1.1 AI-powered, synergy, scalable solutions, outcomes-driven, game-changing. Density over meaning. Messages with 3+ abstraction-only claims see −44% reply rates vs. those with specific customer outcomes [Gong 2024]. ▾
FOMO-BAIT Major −1.1 Urgency manufactured without cause. "Before your competitors do," "limited slots," etc. Three manufactured pressure tactics in two sentences. Fake urgency announces itself — 78% of recipients report it reduces trust [HubSpot 2024]. ▾
HUMBLE-BRAG-PIVOT Major −1.5 Opens with a compliment then immediately pivots to a sales pitch. Transparent bait-and-switch. One sentence separates the compliment from the pitch. The reader understands the warmth was not genuine. ▾
WALL-OF-TEXT Minor −1.1 No paragraph breaks, no scannable structure. Assumes the reader has already decided to read. Emails between 50-125 words achieve optimal reply rates; messages over 200 words see a −50% decline [Lavender 2024]. ▾
REPLY-ALL-ENERGY Minor −1.0 Overfamiliar or assuming a relationship that does not exist. "As we discussed..." with no prior contact. The sender is asking for a free discovery session — recipient would be doing the work of a discovery call unprompted. ▾
AI-WRITING Auto-fail Cap 2.0 Obvious AI-generated copy: overuse of 'leverage,' 'streamline,' 'I hope this finds you well,' em-dashes, and unnaturally perfect structure. As AI scaled outreach volume, reply rates fell −28% proportionally [Salesloft 2024]. More messages, fewer conversations. ▾
OVER-LENGTH Major −0.5 Email exceeds 150 words or InMail exceeds 100 words. Mobile truncation kills open rates. Emails between 50–125 words achieve optimal reply rates; messages over 200 words see a −50% decline [Lavender 2024]. ▾
UNDER-LENGTH Minor −0.4 Message so short it conveys no value proposition — under 30 words. Brevity is a virtue until it communicates nothing. ▾
READING-LEVEL-MISMATCH Minor −0.5 Flesch-Kincaid reading level mismatched to audience. >12th grade for non-technical readers, or <6th grade for executives. The vocabulary signals who the sender thinks the reader is. ▾
CLICKBAIT-SUBJECT Major −1.3 Subject line promises something the body doesn't deliver, or uses deceptive RE:/FWD: prefixes. Deceptive subject lines are a CAN-SPAM violation and erode trust before the first sentence. ▾
GENERIC-SUBJECT Major −1.0 Subject line could apply to any recipient — no specificity. 'Quick question,' 'Intro,' 'Opportunity.' 40–50% of open rates are determined by the subject line. Generic ones guarantee the delete key. ▾
ALL-CAPS-SUBJECT Minor −0.4 Full or partial caps lock in subject line. Spam signal and screaming tone. Reduces deliverability and alienates readers before the open. ▾
CTA-OVERLOAD Major −1.1 More than one CTA competing for attention. Decision paralysis. 'Book a call, check our site, or reply with questions' — three actions, zero conversions. ▾
CTA-MISSING Major −1.1 No clear next step for the recipient. Message just… ends. Closes with 'Let me know your thoughts' and nothing else. ▾
VAGUE-CTA Minor −0.5 CTA exists but is ambiguous about what happens next. 'Would love to connect sometime' — sometime is never. ▾
VANITY-PROOF Major −0.9 Social proof that's unverifiable, irrelevant, or name-drops without context. 'Trusted by 500+ companies' — no names, no relevance, no proof. ▾
LOGO-SOUP Minor −0.5 Lists big-name clients without explaining relevance to the recipient's situation. 'We work with Google, Nike, and Tesla' — to a 20-person startup. ▾
DESPERATION-SIGNAL Major −1.1 Language that signals low status or begging. 'I know you're busy and probably won't read this, but…' Undermines credibility before the pitch begins. ▾
FALSE-FAMILIARITY Major −1.0 Acts like a friend when no relationship exists. 'Hey!! Hope your week is going amazing!! 🎉' Feels manipulative because it is. ▾
ROBOT-VOICE Minor −0.5 Clearly AI-generated with no human editing. Stilted transitions, em-dash abuse, 'Dear [Name], I trust this message finds you in good spirits…' Overlaps with AI-WRITING but applies to subtler mechanical tells. ▾
CHANNEL-DEAF Major −1.0 Using email conventions in InMail or vice versa. Formal salutation and 6-line signature in a LinkedIn message. Channel conventions exist for a reason. ▾
MECHANICAL-FAILURE Minor −0.4 Spelling, grammar, or punctuation errors. One is forgivable; multiple signal carelessness. Their → there, loose → lose. ▾
EMOJI-OVERLOAD Minor −0.3 Excessive emoji use in professional outreach. 1–2 contextual emoji is fine; 5+ is noise. '🚀🔥💰 Ready to 10x your pipeline?? 📈💪' ▾
SPAM-TRIGGER Minor −0.4 Known spam filter trigger words or patterns in subject or body. 'Free,' 'Act now,' 'Limited time,' 'Click here.' Each one nudges the message toward the junk folder. ▾
NO-OPT-OUT Minor −0.3 Cold email with no unsubscribe or opt-out mechanism. CAN-SPAM requires it. Mass cold email with no way to stop receiving is both illegal and annoying. ▾