sdr-email-sms-playbook

name	sdr-email-sms-playbook
description	5-touch email/SMS cadence for Epiphan BDR outreach. Full templates for Higher Ed, Courts, Gov, Healthcare by touch. Companion to epiphan-call-playbook (phone). Writing rules, subject line patterns, and SMS guidelines. Use when: email playbook, email template, outreach email, sdr email, cold email template, sms outreach, follow up email, 5 touch cadence.
version	1.0.0

Give Epiphan BDRs a ready-to-send email/SMS cadence that earns replies without burning the lead. This is the WRITTEN sibling of epiphan-call-playbook (phone). Every touch leads with the buyer's problem, asks exactly one question, and holds back the product name until the prospect has engaged.

Core rule (from epiphan-call-playbook): never just send info. Earn one qualifying answer first, then send the info email using the matching template.

<quick_start>

1. Identify the vertical (Higher Ed, Courts/Legal, Government, Healthcare, Corporate AV, Houses of Worship, K-12) and the personalization hook (org name + a known trigger: budget cycle, new building, accreditation, Extron SMP EOL, a failed recording).
2. Pull the Touch 1 template for that vertical. Fill the [brackets].
3. Enroll into the 5-touch cadence (Nooks handles enrollment; this skill is the CONTENT for each step). Send-from is always [e-mail].
4. Create Gmail drafts for review before send (Tim's workflow: draft → review/edit → send).
5. When a prospect replies with a qualifying answer, STOP the cadence and send the tailored info email — or hand to epiphan-call-playbook for the call. </quick_start>

<success_criteria>

• Touch 1 subject line names the buyer's problem, NOT a product.
• Exactly one question per email. Zero emails with two asks.
• SMS is max 2 sentences and always opens with the first name.
• Every email signs: Tim Kipper | Sr. BDR, Epiphan Video | [e-mail]
• Closes are soft and permission-based — drawn from the Soft Close Phrases bank. No hard "book a call" CTAs on cold touches.
• Personalization hook present in Touch 1 and Touch 2 (org name + trigger).
• Cadence stops the moment a reply lands. No touch fires after engagement. </success_criteria>

<core_content>

5-Touch Cadence Overview

Touch	Day	Channel	Job	Question
1	1	Email	Challenger insight + diagnostic	One diagnostic Q, no product
2	3	Email	Add vertical stat/case, re-ask	Re-ask, reframed
3	5	SMS or short email	Pattern interrupt, ask permission	"Worth a look, or wrong time?"
4	8	Email	Value-add (spec compare, doc)	Soft CTA, low-commitment
5	12	Email	Break-up	"Say the word and I'll close this out"

Methodology: Challenger (Teach → Tailor → Take Control) applied to writing. Touch 1 TEACHES a reframe. Touch 2 TAILORS with a vertical proof point. Touches 3-5 TAKE CONTROL by making the next step obvious and easy.

Discovery through the whole cadence, borrow Tim's proven line where natural: "Where do you tend to lose the most time — capture, switching sources, or getting recordings out the door?"

---

Touch 1: Cold Email (Day 1)

Teach a reframe. One diagnostic question. No product name. No product name in the subject line either.

Higher Ed template

Subject: Lecture capture that survives finals week

Hi [First Name],

Most [University Name] teams I talk to don't lose lecture capture to budget — they lose it to reliability. A software encoder on a classroom PC works great until the one week enrollment doubles and it drops a recording nobody can get back.

The programs that stopped firefighting moved capture off the PC entirely, so an unattended room records the same way every time.

Where do you tend to lose the most time right now — capture, switching sources, or getting recordings out the door?

Tim Kipper | Sr. BDR, Epiphan Video | [e-mail]

Courts template

Subject: When the record fails, who owns it?

Hi [First Name],

For a court, a dropped recording isn't an inconvenience — it's a gap in the official record. Most [Court/County Name] setups I see still run on software that was never built to record unattended for eight hours straight.

The clerks who sleep at night moved to dedicated hardware that records the same way every session, with no PC in the loop to crash mid-hearing.

How are you handling it today when a recording drops in the middle of a proceeding?

Tim Kipper | Sr. BDR, Epiphan Video | [e-mail]

Government template

Subject: [Meeting] recordings without the AV headcount

Hi [First Name],

[Agency/City Name] meetings have to be captured and posted whether or not an AV person is in the room that day. Most teams I talk to are one sick day away from a missed council recording.

The move that fixes it: capture that runs unattended and hands you the file automatically, so coverage doesn't depend on who's on shift.

What's your fallback today when nobody's available to run the recording?

Tim Kipper | Sr. BDR, Epiphan Video | [e-mail]

Healthcare template

Subject: Capturing the OR without adding IT load

Hi [First Name],

In medical education the hard part isn't recording the procedure — it's doing it reliably without pulling clinical IT into every session. Most [Hospital/ System Name] teams I speak with are stitching together software that needs a babysitter.

The programs that scaled moved to dedicated capture that runs itself, so med-ed doesn't compete with clinical systems for attention.

Where's the friction today — capturing the procedure, switching between sources, or getting the recording to the learners?

Tim Kipper | Sr. BDR, Epiphan Video | [e-mail]

Generic / Corporate AV pattern

Fill-in-the-blank:

Subject: [Buyer problem, 4-7 words, no product]

Hi [First Name],

Most [Company Name] teams I talk to don't lose [outcome] to [obvious suspect] — they lose it to [real root cause]. [One concrete failure scenario the buyer will recognize.]

The teams that stopped [firefighting behavior] moved to [reframed approach, still no product name].

[One diagnostic question — where do they lose the most time?]

Tim Kipper | Sr. BDR, Epiphan Video | [e-mail]

---

Touch 2: Follow-Up (Day 3)

Add a vertical-specific proof point or stat, then re-ask the Touch 1 question reframed. Reference the original thread lightly; don't apologize for following up.

Pattern:

Subject: Re: [Touch 1 subject] (or a fresh 4-7 word problem line)

Hi [First Name],

Quick follow-up with something concrete: [vertical stat or one-line case reference — e.g. "a [peer org type] moved 40 rooms off classroom PCs and hasn't lost a recording in two semesters"].

Curious how that maps to [Org Name] — [re-ask the diagnostic, reframed: "is reliability actually the pain, or is it more about getting recordings distributed after the fact?"].

Tim Kipper | Sr. BDR, Epiphan Video | [e-mail]

Proof-point bank (swap by vertical):

• Higher Ed: peer institution moved N rooms off classroom PCs, zero lost recordings across two semesters.
• Courts: county replaced software recording with dedicated hardware after a dropped-record incident; clean record every session since.
• Government: city automated council capture; coverage no longer depends on who's on shift.
• Healthcare: med-ed program scaled OR capture without adding clinical IT tickets.
• Extron SMP angle (any vertical): "Extron discontinued the SMP line — a lot of teams are quietly asking what happens when support ends. Worth getting ahead of it."

---

Touch 3: SMS / Short Email (Day 5)

Pattern interrupt. Acknowledge the silence, ask permission to continue. If SMS: max 2 sentences, open with the first name.

SMS option:

[First Name] — Tim from Epiphan here, I sent a couple notes on making [capture/ recording] bulletproof. Worth a quick look, or is this just the wrong time?

Short-email option:

Subject: Wrong time, or worth a look?

Hi [First Name],

No worries if this isn't a priority right now — just want to make sure I'm not chasing a dead end.

Is [reliable capture / the recording gap] something on your radar this quarter, or should I circle back later?

Tim Kipper | Sr. BDR, Epiphan Video | [e-mail]

---

Touch 4: Value-Add (Day 8)

Give something useful with no strings — a spec comparison, a relevant doc, a one-line differentiator. Soft, low-commitment CTA.

Subject: Hardware vs software capture — the short version

Hi [First Name],

Regardless of where [Org Name] lands, this is the comparison that usually settles the debate:

• Software (vMix/OBS on a PC): cheap, flexible, but it's sharing a machine and an OS that can crash mid-record. Fine when someone's watching it; risky unattended.
• Dedicated hardware: one job, records the same way every time, runs unattended for hours. Higher up-front cost, far lower "lost recording" cost.

If it's useful I can send a one-page spec breakdown for your exact room setup — want me to?

Tim Kipper | Sr. BDR, Epiphan Video | [e-mail]

Value-add bank: spec comparison sheet, Extron SMP EOL migration note, a 90-second reliability explainer, a peer-vertical case one-pager, an Epiphan Connect remote- management overview (only if fleet/multi-room came up).

---

Touch 5: Break-Up (Day 12)

Last reach out. Make it easy to say "not now" — the negative-reply close often gets the response the other four didn't.

Subject: Closing the loop

Hi [First Name],

I'll stop reaching out after this — the last thing I want to do is clutter your inbox.

If reliable capture isn't a priority right now, just say the word and I'll close this out. And if timing's the only issue, tell me when to check back and I'll make a note.

Either way, thanks for the read.

Tim Kipper | Sr. BDR, Epiphan Video | [e-mail]

---

Subject Line Patterns

Rules: 4-7 words. No ALL CAPS. No "Just checking in." No product name in Touch 1. Lead with the buyer's problem or a question they'd ask themselves.

Good:

• "Lecture capture that survives finals week"
• "When the record fails, who owns it?"
• "Recordings without the AV headcount"
• "Wrong time, or worth a look?"
• "Hardware vs software capture — the short version"
• "Closing the loop"

Avoid:

• "Just checking in" / "Following up" / "Touching base"
• "EPIPHAN PEARL MINI — 4K CAPTURE" (caps, product-led)
• "Quick question" (empty, overused)
• Anything with the product name in Touch 1

---

Soft Close Phrases

Tentative, permission-based lines for asking to reconnect — open-ended, low-pressure, no pitch. Use one at the end of any touch instead of a hard CTA. Pick the one that fits the tone; don't stack them.

• If it's alright with you, I'd love to hear your take on this — maybe we could connect sometime this week.
• I don't want to intrude, but if you're open to it, I'd like to swap thoughts on this before too long.
• Whenever it's convenient for you, I'd be curious to know how you're thinking about this.
• If you're up for it, I'd appreciate the chance to pick your brain on this at some point.
• No pressure at all, but I'd value hearing where your head's at on this whenever you have a moment.
• If you don't mind me asking, I'd like to understand how you're approaching this — maybe we could find some time soon.
• I'd be grateful for your thoughts here, whenever works for you.
• If it's not too much trouble, I'd like to learn more about how you see this playing out.
• Would you be open to sharing your view sometime? I'd like to follow up when it's convenient.
• If you have a few minutes at some point, I'd genuinely like to hear your perspective.
• I'm curious how you'd approach this — maybe we could chat whenever your schedule allows.
• If you're comfortable with it, I'd like to get a better sense of your thinking, perhaps later this week.
• Whenever suits you, I'd welcome the opportunity to hear more about your perspective.
• If it works on your end, I'd like to circle back and learn more about how you're seeing things.
• I'd love to know your thoughts on this, if you're willing to share — happy to follow up whenever's good for you.

---

Writing Rules

1. No product name in Touch 1 subject or body. Lead with the problem. The product enters only once the prospect has engaged (Touch 4 at the earliest, or a reply).
2. One question per email. Never two. If you have two, cut to the sharper one.
3. Use soft closes, not hard CTAs. End emails with a phrase from the Soft Close Phrases bank above — tentative, permission-based, no pitch. Never "Book a 30-minute call here" as a first touch.
4. SMS: max 2 sentences, always start with the first name.
5. Subject lines: 4-7 words, no ALL CAPS, no "Just checking in."
6. Personalization hook required in Touch 1 and Touch 2 — org name plus a known trigger (budget cycle, new building, accreditation, Extron SMP EOL, a failed recording, a job posting for AV staff).
7. Every email signs: Tim Kipper | Sr. BDR, Epiphan Video | [e-mail]
8. Send-from is always [e-mail]. Never any other sender.
9. Teach → Tailor → Take Control. Touch 1 teaches, Touch 2 tailors, 3-5 take control.
10. Stop on reply. The moment a qualifying answer lands, kill the cadence and send the tailored info email or route to the call playbook.
11. Never just send info. Earn one qualifying answer first, then the info email.

Competitive hooks to weave in (never as the lead):

• Extron SMP is EOL — "What's your plan when support ends?"
• Matrox exited the encoder market — abandoned-platform angle.
• vMix/OBS are software — unreliable for mission-critical unattended recording; Pearl is dedicated hardware built for one job.

---

When to Use vs Call Playbook

Use THIS (email/SMS) when:

• No phone number, or dials aren't connecting.
• The prospect prefers written contact, or replied by email.
• You're running the async legs of a Nooks sequence.
• You need to send info AFTER earning a qualifying answer.

Use epiphan-call-playbook (phone) when:

• You have a good number and a live-dial window.
• A prospect replied and is ready to talk — book or run the call.
• You need real-time discovery instead of a one-question-per-touch drip.

Hand-off: when email earns a reply, pass the context to epiphan-call-playbook so the call opens where the thread left off — never restart discovery from zero.

</core_content>

Emit Outcome Sidecar

After generating a cadence or set of drafts, write an outcome sidecar so the self-improvement framework can track this skill.

Write to ~/.claude/skill-analytics/last-outcome-sdr-email-sms-playbook.json (outside the repo — the PreToolUse observer hook bypasses external paths):

{
  "ts": "<ISO-8601 timestamp>",
  "skill": "sdr-email-sms-playbook",
  "version": "1.0.0",
  "variant": "control",
  "status": "success",
  "runtime_ms": <int>,
  "metrics": {
    "vertical": "<higher-ed|courts|government|healthcare|corporate|worship|k12>",
    "touches_generated": <int>,
    "drafts_created": <int>,
    "channel_mix": "<email|sms|mixed>"
  },
  "error": null,
  "session_id": "<session id if available>"
}

Set status to "error" with a short error string if the cadence couldn't be built (missing vertical, no personalization hook, etc.). The PostToolUse sweep hook ingests this into outcomes.jsonl at next session start.