Remember: The psychology is proven. Think about your own behavior. You value more what you ask for—less what people offer you. Right? So think about it. You will have more success helping the right customers develop an urge to ask for the PDF.

Even better, they may call YOU ... asking for the information.

This is the most important reason to not include your PDF.

Reason 5: Buyer qualification

Let's say you send the PDF/case. Maybe you're not convinced. So let's say you send it ... and it gets through. They receive it AND read it. Success, right? Not really. Because you won't get the chance to understand anything about their reaction to it ... and lose a perfect excuse to follow-up.

“If they’re not into (motivated by) your offering after reviewing your deck, there is literally no reason to hop on a call with you,” says Mr. Britton.

Bang on. Let that sink in.

Here's the rub: If a prospect asks you for the information they qualify themselves to you. You know they're interested enough to want the knowledge. They're hungry for it. You know because they just told you. I know this sounds obvious but bear with me.

So... if you freely give the information (first) you get left in the dark. You:

1. are unsure they received your message
2. lose the chance to qualify them -- understand if the knowledge matters (or not) WHY & how much
3. won't know how they felt upon reading it (did they have questions? was something unclear? exciting?)
4. lose an excuse to follow-up with the prospect ("were you piqued by the case, Jim?")

When you deliver requested information you should hold customers accountable for reading it. Why? Because it helps them remain accountable to their own request. Nifty eh?

"Jim, when would be a good time to call for 5 minutes -- to get your reaction and understand IF you'd like to proceed... or not?" It's simple to ask, "howmuch time to do you need to look it over?" and, thus, hold Jim accountable to his own request to know more!

And if Jim answers you with a tap-dance? (if he's not willing to commit a date) No worries.

You know Jim's priority level for this project, at this moment! (it's not a priority)

As Scott says, “Don’t take yourself out of play, own the sale.”

Because if you rely on that PDF... well... you are all but giving up. You are also just like 95% of sales people out there. You're not at the top of your game. Heck, you're not even in the dang game!

Don't rush your case study

It's common to use case studies in cold emails, as attachments. But the goal of your first email is not to earn purchase consideration, nor a meeting. It is to earn a reply. Period.

Stop pushing case studies at prospects who don't, yet, have enough interest to look at 'em.​

How to get in the conversation: An example

Quick example from a client I'm working with. The goal of their first touch email is to get into conversation about potential clients' trade shows. They provide a wide array of products & services to marketing professionals who invest in trade shows.

But many sellers on their team feel urges to get-in-the-game right now. And I get that. But they are wanting to rush the conversation by including case study PDFs ... on their first touch.

We developed a provocative approach ... asking the potential client, “Are you open to a different way of attracting decision-makers to your booth? I have an idea for you.”

Rather than asking for a meeting, or if they're interested in talking about an upcoming trade show, we conclude the email with, “How are you currently earning meeting commitments from prospects prior to the event?”

Because this is the conversation we want to be in! This is the “slow go” type of approach I'm referring to ... and you can learn. Ask for the discussion—not for the meeting or qualification (reading your PDF).

But many sellers on our client's team felt an urge to add:

“I can send you the case study / testimonial of our client who increased their qualified traffic by 90%.”

Do you see how this pushes rather than pulls? It promotes. Instead, consider attracting that conversation to you. Tempt the prospect to ask you for the case.

Why do we rush the conversation? Because you feel you should. Why? Because you're worried—what you've said in the email is not going to be enough.

Be confident. Don't attach PDFs or any literature to your cold email. Come and let me show you other options. Provocations.

A PDF should never be able to explain the value or merits of your product within a specific context as well as you can.

What is your experience? I'm open to hearing it.

Good luck!

With your success in mind,