Okay okay, we know we are very biased here but have a read just to show you WHY one huge part of trumpet is moving your cold outreach away from PDFs.

PDFs and email attachments are a relic from the past. It's time to close deals quicker by leveraging analytics and giving customers the experiences they want.

Why PDFs and attachments are over

Many salespeople are still in love with PDFs. They still use them to send:

• Sales decks
• Presentations
• Case studies
• Proposals and more

While the PDF has been a valuable tool since its invention in 1993, surely it's had its day? 

Sales technology is ever-changing and evolving. Salespeople have embraced analytics, automation, and advanced communication to drive efficiency and effectiveness. However, email attachments have somehow stuck around through all this change.

Reasons to ditch attachments 

Control distribution

Once you send an email attachment, you instantly lose control over how it's distributed. That's fine when the information is of little consequence, but if it contains anything sensitive or confidential, it's a big problem.‍

Emails with attachments harm your domain rep

Email still has a significant role to play in sales. However, if you're sending cold emails with attachments, you could harm your domain rep.

ISPs, corporate email servers, and spam prevention tech all look at emails with attachments as potential spam. Unfortunately, this can lead to your emails getting blocked. 

Once your domain is blocklisted, your email open rates will plunge, which is devastating for sales outreach.

They get blocked more often than opened

Because of the problems mentioned above, emails with large attachments are frequently blocked by email servers, spam filters, or corporate mail servers.

Servers have different size limits, and if you send large attachments, you risk having your email blocked. Some servers will block emails of just 10MB, which really limits the scope of the content you can send.

Most files aren't optimised for mobile

Sales decks, presentations, and other attachments are often designed for desktops. However, mobile devices are the primary way customers access emails and attached information.

If you’re sending out attachments that aren’t mobile-friendly, they might get opened, but the experience will be so unsatisfactory that they’ll almost certainly be closed straight away.

Attachments can be heavy

Email attachments with videos, large PDFs, or presentation decks can be really large. In an era where people are accessing files on the go on handheld devices, asking users to download and store large files doesn't make much sense.

Prospects don’t open attachments

Only 6% of email attachments get opened. Prospects don’t want to download large files and store them on their devices. Links provide less friction, quicker load times, and a great customer experience.

Reasons to switch to links (and trumpet)

Links can expire

Links give you far more control. You can set each shared link to be valid for a set duration of time or turn them off when you need.

For example, your link can be accessible while you discuss things with a particular prospect. However, once the business is concluded one way or another, the link — any confidential information it contains can be locked down.

Links can be updated easily

90% of B2B sellers don’t use sales material because it is irrelevant, outdated, and difficult to customise. Live links can help you keep your content fresh and up-to-date with any changes you make reflected in real-time.

They allow for rights management

Links allow you to maintain control over your documents. Once you've sent an attachment, you don't know how the recipient is using it. While there are some situations where that won't be a major issue, if you send out confidential or sensitive information, you may want to ensure that the data stays in close quarters.

Gather insights and engagement data

One of the biggest advantages of links over attachments is the data they produce. Sending files via attachment can maybe show you that your prospect opened your email. However, links open up a whole world of engagement data, such as:

• How the prospect engaged with the information
• How much time they spend looking at your link
• Which areas they seem interested in
• Which areas they neglected
• Where they are clicking
• When they opened the link/when they are engaged

When salespeople are armed with this data, they can adjust their pitches to be more relevant and effective.

Share as many files as you want

When you have a lot of information to send, attachments are too cumbersome. For starters, emails have a size limit. You can get around that by breaking your attachments up into several emails. But no one wants five or more emails on the same subject.

Sending several links is much tidier. Or, for a far better experience, you can send a single link that takes your prospects to a dynamic microsite with all the information they need in one place.

Leverage collaboration and interactivity

Sales has evolved considerably. Prospects have so much access to information that the salesperson's role has shifted. Customers want to have discussions with salespeople rather than a one-way conversation.

Collaboration and interactivity are the future of sales. It allows for a far more dynamic relationship between salespeople and prospects.

Potential customers can leave comments on sales materials or add or edit shared documents. If multiple parties are involved in the deal, a link (via a trumpet sales Pod) can act as a repository for needs, requirements, concerns, and other areas that are critical to your service.

Restrict forwarding

Once you send out an attachment, you have no idea where it gets forwarded. Often, that's not a problem. But, lots of sales materials contain sensitive or confidential information that you won't want to get into just anyone's hands.

Links allow salespeople a few options to restrict forwarding. You can set your links up so that once a prospect clicks on it, they receive an email that verifies their credentials before allowing access.

Additionally, you can password-protect each link with a one-time or permanent password to enhance the security of your shared data.

Get notifications

When you send attachments, you might get a notification that your prospect has opened your email. However, you won't know for sure that they've downloaded or read the attachment.

Using links means that you can receive notifications that your prospects have engaged with your materials. That means that when you follow up, you have a better idea of where they are and what they've seen, which allows you to pitch more effectively.

Better security

Links provide far more security options. A shared attachment is vulnerable to data leaks because you immediately lose control of it once it's shared. However, links allow you to manage access via logins or passwords. 

This feature is invaluable for deals with a high level of confidentiality. Links allow you to set varying degrees of security for each shared file, which can help you either warn or prevent users from sharing information you need to protect.

How trumpet helps you replace attachments with links

trumpet allows you to share links that lead your prospect to a custom-designed sales room. A sales Pod is something like a salesroom or a data room for each pitch, where all the information they need is accessible in one place - all the way from cold outreach to deal close.

You can personalise your digital sales room to contain video (which you can record directly in trumpet), mutual action plans or get deals signed using e-signature.

Additionally, digital sales rooms allow you to communicate and collaborate with your prospects and measure their engagement. 

Instead of guessing that your prospect has read your sales material, you can understand where they're at and swiftly answer their questions or objections in live chat or sharing surveys and forms.

Trumpet integrates into your CRM or sales stack, letting you know where each prospect is on their customer journey, helping you accelerate your sales velocity and close deals faster.

Using a digital sales room means that your sales information is always up-to-date. Modern-day prospects want a better sales experience. That includes having all the information they need to evaluate a product or service at their fingertips and the ability to go back and forth with salespeople when they need them.

Attachments are passive. They're designed to just sit there. A link that leads to a sales Pod creates a more immersive experience that uses analytics to speed up the sales process by providing the information prospects need when they need it. 

It's time to ditch attachments and give your prospects the experience they expect.