What is MERGE-FAIL in cold outreach?

MERGE-FAIL is a cold outreach offense type coined by YourOutreachSUCKS. 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. It is classified as critical severity. Example: "Hi [First Name], I came across your profile and was really impressed by your background.", There is no recovery. The reader knows in the first two words that this message was not written for them.

What is PREMATURE-ASK in cold outreach?

PREMATURE-ASK is a cold outreach offense type coined by YourOutreachSUCKS. 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]. It is classified as critical severity. Example: "Would love to connect and learn more about your challenges. Do you have 15 minutes this week?", The sender wants to learn about the recipient's challenges - which means the recipient would be doing the work of a discovery call for free.

What is VAGUE-ICP in cold outreach?

VAGUE-ICP is a cold outreach offense type coined by YourOutreachSUCKS. "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]. It is classified as critical severity. Example: "We help companies like yours drive revenue faster with our AI-powered platform.", A good ICP statement should exclude most companies. When everything qualifies, nothing is targeted.

What is PAIN-ASSUMPTION in cold outreach?

PAIN-ASSUMPTION is a cold outreach offense type coined by YourOutreachSUCKS. 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]. It is classified as major severity. Example: "I know you're probably losing sleep over your pipeline right now.", If the assumption is wrong, the sender looks out of touch. If it's right, the reader feels manipulated.

What is BUZZWORD-LOAD in cold outreach?

BUZZWORD-LOAD is a cold outreach offense type coined by YourOutreachSUCKS. 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]. It is classified as major severity. Example: "Our AI-powered platform delivers scalable, outcomes-driven solutions that accelerate your revenue motion.", This sentence could describe 4,000 SaaS products. It describes none of them.

What is FOMO-BAIT in cold outreach?

FOMO-BAIT is a cold outreach offense type coined by YourOutreachSUCKS. 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]. It is classified as major severity. Example: "A few of your competitors are already using this - I'd hate for you to fall behind.", Three manufactured pressure tactics in two sentences. Fake urgency announces itself.

What is HUMBLE-BRAG-PIVOT in cold outreach?

HUMBLE-BRAG-PIVOT is a cold outreach offense type coined by YourOutreachSUCKS. 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. It is classified as major severity. Example: "Love what you're building at Acme - we help companies like you scale their revenue motion.", One sentence separates the compliment from the pitch. The reader understands the warmth was not genuine.

What is WALL-OF-TEXT in cold outreach?

WALL-OF-TEXT is a cold outreach offense type coined by YourOutreachSUCKS. 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]. It is classified as minor severity. Example: "Hi there! I hope this message finds you well. I wanted to reach out because...", No paragraph breaks, no scannable structure. Assumes the reader has already decided to read.

What is REPLY-ALL-ENERGY in cold outreach?

REPLY-ALL-ENERGY is a cold outreach offense type coined by YourOutreachSUCKS. 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. It is classified as minor severity. Example: "I'd love to connect and learn more about your goals and the challenges you're facing this year.", The sender is asking for a free discovery session.

What is AI-WRITING in cold outreach?

AI-WRITING is a cold outreach offense type coined by YourOutreachSUCKS. 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. It is classified as critical severity. Example: "I wanted to reach out because I believe there's a tremendous opportunity to leverage our cutting-edge platform...", This reads like it was generated by AI in under 4 seconds. Because it was.

What is OVER-LENGTH in cold outreach?

OVER-LENGTH is a cold outreach offense type coined by YourOutreachSUCKS. 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]. It is classified as major severity. Example: "[A 247-word LinkedIn InMail covering company history, three case studies, a product overview, and two CTAs]", LinkedIn truncates at ~300 characters in the preview. If your message needs a scroll bar, you've already lost.

What is UNDER-LENGTH in cold outreach?

UNDER-LENGTH is a cold outreach offense type coined by YourOutreachSUCKS. Message so short it conveys no value proposition — under 30 words. Brevity is a virtue until it communicates nothing. It is classified as minor severity. Example: "Hey, wanted to chat. Free Thursday?", Seven words. No context, no value, no reason to reply. The reader can't evaluate what they'd be saying yes to.

What is READING-LEVEL-MISMATCH in cold outreach?

READING-LEVEL-MISMATCH is a cold outreach offense type coined by YourOutreachSUCKS. 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. It is classified as minor severity. Example: "We facilitate synergistic methodology alignment to optimize your go-to-market operational framework.", The recipient is a VP of Sales, not a doctoral committee. Vocabulary that obscures meaning doesn't signal intelligence, it signals a template.

What is CLICKBAIT-SUBJECT in cold outreach?

CLICKBAIT-SUBJECT is a cold outreach offense type coined by YourOutreachSUCKS. 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. It is classified as major severity. Example: "Re: Our conversation last week", There was no conversation last week. The fake RE: prefix tricks the reader into opening, then destroys trust in the first line.

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The offense canonv2.0

Offense Taxonomy

Every offense type on file, defined and cross-referenced. Click any entry to expand its definition, example, and case links.

OVER-LENGTH appears in 94 of 151 filed cases on YourOutreachSUCKS - more than any other offense type. Each offense type below is a term coined by YourOutreachSUCKS to describe a specific, recurring failure pattern in cold outreach.

Messages with MERGE-FAIL are capped at 2.0/10 regardless of other content quality. Messages with AI-WRITING are capped at 2.0/10 regardless of structural quality. These are the only two auto-fail triggers in the current YourOutreachSUCKS taxonomy.

Severity key

AUTO-FAIL Score capped at 2.0CRITICAL −2.1 per instanceMAJOR −1.1 per instanceMINOR −0.4 per instance

Category

Opening

1 offense type · 31 instances

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.

FAKE-RESEARCH is a term coined by YourOutreachSUCKS to describe 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.

"I came across your profile and was really impressed by your background."

Why it fails: "Impressed by your background" names no background, no achievement, no moment. It is the template speaking.

Found in 31 cases

#0042 #0041 #0040 #0050 #0030A+26 more

Co-occurs with

PAIN-ASSUMPTION34%REPLY-ALL-ENERGY34%PREMATURE-ASK33%

Category

Targeting

1 offense type · 26 instances

Category

Execution

16 offense types · 326 instances

Category

12 offense types · 254 instances

Related resources

Scoring Methodology →

How offenses are weighted, scored, and graded. The deterministic formula behind every case audit.

Writing Guide →

How to write outreach that avoids these offenses. Phase-by-phase with real examples.

Analyze Your Message →

Paste any cold outreach message and get instant heuristic + AI scoring against the full taxonomy.

By The Numbers →

Offense frequency, co-occurrence rates, and scoring distributions from the 300-case reference set.