Cold Offer

---
name: cold-offer
description: "Write a sales offer for one buyer in two modes. Full offer: what they get, proof, price, why now, one first step. Give-first: a finding the buyer did not ask for, a short prototype of the fix, and one email that hands both over without selling. Use when the user says: \"write an offer\", \"draft a proposal\", \"price and why now\", \"value-first first touch\", \"a cold email that does not pitch\". Never sends. For a standard signal-anchored cold email, see cold-email."
argument-hint: "[buyer company or public URL | full | score]"
allowed-tools: Read Write(./gtm/**) Bash(python3 ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/scripts/score.py:*)
models: ""
---

# Cold offer

## Pick the mode first

| The user asks for | Mode |
| --- | --- |
| "the offer", "a sales offer", a proposal, or names price, cost, why now, or the first step / next step | **Full offer**: read [modes/full-offer.md](modes/full-offer.md) and follow it. |
| a give-first or value-first first touch, a first email that must not pitch or ask for a meeting, a free finding | **Give-first**: the rest of this file. |
| `score` | Score `gtm/offer.json`; add `--mode full` when it holds `price` and `first_step`. |

When the request names price or why now, never answer with the give-first touch. When it is unclear, write the full offer.

## Rules for both modes

- Work only from the facts given. No customer, number, guarantee, discount, trial, sample or asset the user did not name.
- Never say something is attached unless the user says it exists. Describe what you will send instead.
- Return the deliverable as the buyer reads it. Keep working notes, held-back items and scorer results out of it; put one line under it only if you refused or changed the task.
- No pronouns for a named person unless the source gives them. Plain salutation and sign-off; no em dashes.

## Give-first

A cold offer is not the main service. Email one hands over work already done: a finding the buyer did not request, and a short trial of the solution. The full report is offered only if they want it. There is no meeting ask, no demo, and no pitch.

## Start

If `$ARGUMENTS` is `full`, run [modes/full-offer.md](modes/full-offer.md). If it is `score`, run the scorer on `gtm/offer.json` and report each line. Otherwise `$ARGUMENTS` names the buyer (company or public URL), or is empty; draft the offer with the workflow below. The draft lives at `gtm/offer.json`; create `gtm/` if missing.

## The three parts

1. Leak. The finding, in words the reader already uses. One concrete miss on their public page or product. They did not ask for it.
2. Prototype. The short trial. One page, one sample, or one worked slice of the fix. It shows the system works. It is not the core retainer.
3. Email one. States that offer in words the reader understands. It delivers the finding. It names the prototype. It offers the full report only if they want it.

Two optional fields, scored only when present:

- `scope`. The one deliverable the prototype is: "One page that rewrites the hero." Say "one", or keep it to a short phrase with no list.
- `deadline`. When the prototype lands, as `YYYY-MM-DD`. Pass `--today YYYY-MM-DD` and a deadline before it fails.

Price is not part of the give-first draft. If the user wants the price, why now or a first step, they want the full offer: switch to [modes/full-offer.md](modes/full-offer.md). Take the price from the user or `pricing` in `brand-config.json`; do not invent one.

The prototype is a promise until it exists. Email one describes what it will show and offers to send it; it says "attached" only when the user confirms the file exists (`prototype_ready: true`).

## Inputs

Ask for what is missing before drafting:

- The buyer: company, and the public page or product to look at.
- What the user sells, so the prototype is a slice of it and not the whole thing.

If `brand-config.json` is at the project root, read it first. Take the pain from `psp.primary_pain` and write email one in `psp.vocabulary`. Take the outcome the prototype previews from `evp.outcome`, and keep it inside `evp.primary`. Use them as given; do not ask for them again. If a block is missing, say which pack produces it (`/plugin install psp@gtm-operator-skills`, `/plugin install evp@gtm-operator-skills`) and work from the page and the user's answers. Never invent the values.

If the user gave a URL and the page can be read, find the leak there. Do not invent a finding the page does not show. If you cannot see the page, ask the user for the finding.

## Workflow

Copy this list and tick it in order.

- [ ] 1. Choose one finding the buyer did not request. One, not a list.
- [ ] 2. Fill the shell below: `leak`, `prototype`, `email_one`, plus `scope` and `deadline` if you have them. Write it to `gtm/offer.json` (create `gtm/` if missing).
- [ ] 3. Run `python3 ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/scripts/score.py --file gtm/offer.json --json --today YYYY-MM-DD` with today's date.
- [ ] 4. If it exits 1, apply each `fix` and go back to step 2. Repeat until it exits 0.
- [ ] 5. Show the user the leak, the prototype, and email one. Do not send it. When working in the user's project, end with `Next: /landing-page:page` (or `/pricing:pricing` when they ask what the core service costs); when they asked for the finished copy only, return the copy.

## Banned: found is not sendable

A found email is not sendable until verify returns deliverable. Catch-all and unknown stay off the send list. This pack scores the offer; verification is a separate step before any send.

Exit codes: `0` pass, `1` a check failed, `2` bad input (missing file, broken JSON, not an object). Bad input never echoes the raw draft.

## What the scorer checks

| Check | Fails when | Fix |
| --- | --- | --- |
| `sells` | Email one asks the reader to buy, book, or start the paid thing: retainer, demo, purchase, subscribe, checkout, plans, or pricing of the core service. | Cut the ask. Offer the full report only if they want it. |
| `offer_sells` | The leak, prototype, or scope names the paid thing: retainer, demo, pricing, subscribe. | The leak and prototype are free work. Cut the paid product out. |
| `meeting` | Email one asks for time: book a call, quick chat, 15-minute call, calendar link. Mentioning a meeting is fine; asking for one is not. | Hand over the finding and stop. |
| `complete` | `leak`, `prototype`, or `email_one` is missing or empty, or `scope` / `deadline` is present but empty. | Fill all three with non-empty strings. Fill or drop the optional ones. |
| `finding` | Email one shares too few key words with the leak, so it does not deliver the finding. | State the leak in email one, in the reader's words. |
| `length` | Email one is over 120 words. | Cut to the finding, the prototype, and the offer of the report. |
| `scope` | `scope` has no "one" or "single", and lists items or runs over 12 words. | Name the one thing they get. |
| `deadline` | `deadline` is not a real `YYYY-MM-DD` date, or is before `--today`. | Write a real date on or after today. |
| `attached` | Email one says attached, attachment or enclosed, and `prototype_ready` is not `true`. | Say what the prototype will show and offer to send it. |

Text output prints one `- check (phrase) → fix` line per failure, then `Next: fix the lines above and run this again.`; a pass ends with `Next: /landing-page:page`. `--json` gives `pass`, `failures` (each with `check`, `message`, `detail`, `fix`), and `next`. The output names the phrase that tripped each check. A false positive (for example, "no retainer") is still worth rewording: the reader skims the same way the regex does.

A recruiter note that asks for coffee is a different letter. This pack does not write it.

## Works with the suite

This is step 5 of the GTM operator suite (`/plugin marketplace add cmj-hub/gtm-operator-skills`).

- **Reads:** `psp` (pain, vocabulary) and `evp` (outcome, line) from `brand-config.json` if present.
- **Writes:** `gtm/offer.json` only. Never touches `brand-config.json`.
- **Before this:** psp (`/psp:psp`) and evp (`/evp:evp`), when there is no `psp` or `evp` block; prospect-list (`/prospect-list:who-to-contact`), when you do not yet know who to send it to.
- **Instead of this:** cold-email (`/cold-email:cold-email`), for a signal-anchored first touch with a binary ask and Day 3 / 7 / 14 follow-ups.
- **After this:** landing-page (`/landing-page:page`) for the page the full report points to; pricing (`/pricing:pricing`) when they ask what the core service costs.

If a companion pack is not installed, name it and its install line (`/plugin install <name>@gtm-operator-skills`); do not do its job inline.

## Shell

```json
{
  "leak": "The homepage asks for a meeting before it shows any work.",
  "prototype": "A one-page sample that leads with one finding and the short trial, and stops there.",
  "email_one": "Your homepage asks for a meeting before it shows any work. I wrote one page that leads with that finding. The full report is yours if you want it."
}
```

## Examples

```bash
python3 ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/scripts/score.py --file ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/examples/offer-good.json    # exits 0, prints the three parts
python3 ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/scripts/score.py --file ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/examples/offer-sells.json   # exits 1, names "retainer", "book a demo"
python3 ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/scripts/score.py --file ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/examples/offer-scoped.json  # exits 0, adds scope and deadline
python3 ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/scripts/score.py --file ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/examples/offer-scoped-refused.json  # exits 1: offer_sells, scope, deadline
python3 ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/scripts/score.py --mode full --file ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/examples/offer-full.json  # exits 0: full offer, prints each part
```

Python 3 standard library only. No network. No send.