| name | crawford-method |
| description | Write cold emails using the Crawford Method — the list IS the message, built on tension heuristics from public data, then delivered as PQS (pain-qualified) or PVP (permissionless value) copy. Use when designing the targeting + message together, finding the "tension triangle" for a segment, choosing PQS vs PVP, or writing data-driven emails that describe the buyer's situation. Triggers on "Crawford method", "tension triangle", "PVP", "PQS", "permissionless value", "list is the message", "data-driven email", "7-component email", "write backwards from the message". Do NOT use for subject-line/CTA mechanics alone (see cold-email-copy), campaign
operations (see campaign-delivery), or signal sourcing (see signal-detection).
|
The Crawford Method
"The list is the message. If you have a good list, you have a good message."
Targeting IS messaging. Build the list on data heuristics that reflect the buyer's real
situation, then describe that situation back to them. This skill is methodology; it sources its
tension heuristics from ColdIQ endpoints (see callouts) but writes no API calls of its own.
Two message types
- PQS — Pain-Qualified Segment: 2–5 public heuristics identify prospects in the same painful
situation as an existing customer; tell the story of how your customers navigated it. Formula:
name the obvious choice → why your customers made the non-obvious choice → the benefit.
- PVP — Permissionless Value Prop (always superior): synthesize 3–5 public data sources into a
non-obvious insight that is independently valuable. Acid test: would the recipient pay to
receive this even if they never buy? If yes → PVP. Use PVP whenever you can.
The Tension Triangle
Tension = a specific, data-provable, time-bound situation that makes them need you NOW. Not a
single signal — multiple data points pulling against each other.
- Heuristic 1 — a unique, data-provable characteristic
- Heuristic 2 — a second characteristic that PULLS AGAINST the first
- Growth amplifier — funding / headcount / revenue growth that increases the pull
- Existential data point — the metric that separates good-fit from bad-fit (sweet-spot range)
Source these heuristics from public data via ColdIQ:
→ GET /v1/signalbase/funding-signals · ? cr · signalbase.funding_signals (unverified) — funding amplifier
→ POST /v1/limadata/jobs · 2 cr · limadata.jobs — hiring / no-SDR heuristics
→ POST /v1/limadata/research/ai-search · 0.3 cr · limadata.research.ai_search — filings, regulation, public events
→ POST /v1/limadata/enrich/company · 1 cr · limadata.enrich.company — growth, tech, firmographic heuristics
7-component email architecture
- Visceral emotional opening — a moment they've physically felt, not a fact.
- Connection to existing behavior — frame the offer as an extension of what they already do.
- The insight (contrarian) — "Most people think X, but it turns out Y." Must pass the
recognition + articulation tests.
- Social proof / authority (light) — one line, founder credentials not company stats.
- Information gap — enough to create curiosity, never enough to answer everything.
- Qualification as disqualification — a threshold that excludes non-fits.
- Soft CTA (ask for truth, not time) — "Am I close, or is it different at {{companyName}}?"
NEVER "Do you have 15 minutes?" / "Book a time."
11 rules (condensed)
Never mention your product in step 1 · write about their situation not your solution · target on
events not roles · use Cialdini systematically · create information gaps · use their language ·
sell against incumbent behavior not competitors · acknowledge multiple solutions exist · one
perfect email > ten mediocre · data-driven > surface personalization · quantify the meeting in dollars.
Gold-standard example (PVP — Texada)
Earl, your CAT 365 excavator seems to be not on the move right now.
They just filed a large construction project for 123 Main Street — half a mile from you.
AI says it'll likely need your tool for ~six weeks.
Public rental rates put that at about a $170,000 job.
Here's the foreman, their email, their phone. Hope this was useful.
Independently valuable, no product mention, three public sources synthesized, quantified — the
message IS the demo.
The process (zero → finished email)
- Understand best customers (call transcripts: what was their situation when they bought?).
- Extract tension (H1, H2, growth amplifier, existential data point).
- Find the data sources — can you get the heuristics programmatically? (filings, jobs, tech,
ad libraries, funding — source via the ColdIQ endpoints above).
- Build the list on tension, NOT firmographics.
- Write backwards: define the perfect message, then find the data that makes it true.
- Choose PQS or PVP. 7. Apply the 7-component architecture. 8. Run the quality checklist.
Anti-patterns
"I noticed" openings · "companies like yours" · "do you have 15 minutes" · features dump ·
surface personalization (location, mutual connections, LinkedIn posts) · horizontal targeting ·
over-sequencing (max 2–3 touches, each adding new information).
