{"id":"wri-sales-cold-email-cuts","audience":"sales","category":"writing-feedback","technique":"constraints","title":"Find what to cut from your cold email","free":false,"task":"Your cold email is too long, and you want to know what to cut, not get a rewrite. Ask for exactly 3 numbered cuts, each quoting the exact phrase to delete and giving a reason under 10 words. Then one final line starting 'Keep:' that quotes the single sentence that must stay. Plain text, nothing else. Write a prompt that gets that.","materialLabel":"Your cold email draft and prospect notes (attached to your prompt automatically)","material":"MY COLD EMAIL DRAFT (to Grace Lin, Facilities Director, Oakmont School District)\n\nSubject: Quick question\n\nHi Grace,\n\nI hope this email finds you well and that the school year is off to a great start! My name is Tom Reyes and I'm an Account Executive at BrightPath Energy, a leading innovative provider of cutting-edge LED lighting solutions for K-12 schools across the country. We've been in business since 2009 and have won several industry awards.\n\nLast year, we helped Riverside Unified cut lighting costs by 38% across 12 schools, saving $214,000 in the first year.\n\nI'd love to set up a 30-minute call to walk you through our full product catalog and learn more about your district's goals, challenges, and priorities for the coming years.\n\nLooking forward to hearing from you!\nTom\n\nPROSPECT NOTES\n- Oakmont has 9 schools. Their board approved an energy-savings goal in September.\n- Grace replies to short emails; she ignored our last 3-paragraph one.","rules":[{"type":"numberedItems","count":3},{"type":"plainText"}],"mistakes":[{"title":"Asking to \"make it better\"","why":"The AI rewrites the whole email, so you never learn what was dragging it down.","fix":"Set it: \"Exactly 3 numbered cuts, each quoting the phrase to delete.\"","checks":["numberedItems","r0"]},{"title":"Cutting the proof","why":"When trimming, the AI may shorten or drop the Riverside result, your strongest line.","fix":"Add: \"Final line: Keep: and quote the Riverside sentence.\"","checks":["r1"]},{"title":"Getting a rewrite anyway","why":"AI adds \"Here's a tighter version:\" after the cuts.","fix":"Add: \"Nothing else. No rewrite, no new sentences. Plain text.\"","checks":["r2","plainText"]}],"promptHints":[{"label":"Sets the number of cuts","patterns":["\\b(3|three)\\b.{0,15}(cuts|phrases|deletions)","numbered"]},{"label":"Asks for exact quotes","patterns":["quote","exact (phrase|words)"]},{"label":"Protects the best line","patterns":["keep:","must stay","riverside"]},{"label":"Bans a rewrite","patterns":["don'?t rewrite","no rewrit","not (a )?rewrite","only the"]},{"label":"Asks for plain text","patterns":["plain","no bold","no markdown","no formatting","no headings"]}],"hint":"Cutting teaches you more than a rewrite does. Ask for specific cuts with reasons, and name what must survive.","rubricLabels":["Each of the 3 cuts quotes an exact phrase from the draft (such as 'I hope this email finds you well', the 'leading innovative provider of cutting-edge' line, 'won several industry awards', or 'walk you through our full product catalog') with a short reason","The final line starts with 'Keep:' and quotes the Riverside Unified result (38% cut, $214,000 saved)","Nothing else: no intro, no rewritten email, and no suggested new sentences"]}