The best VCs receive dozens of business plans each week, often creating a daunting pile of executive summaries for the VC to evaluate. In order to keep up VCs need to review each of these plans relatively quickly, often allocating just a few minutes to each executive summary. The fact that these reviews are done relatively quickly isn’t a secret – many entrepreneurs know this. As a result, some of the more aggressive founders employ tactics to draw more attention to their business plan. Some have tried to make their email catchy by referencing other VCs that they are speaking to or linking to recent press coverage that they have received. Others have mailed a follow-on hard copy of the plan, a sample product or even a book related to the topic.

There are two implicit objectives in these tactics. The first is to make sure that the business plan is reviewed and the second is to get the investor interested enough to want to learn more. While some of the attention grabbing tactics can be effective for getting your plan reviewed, far and away the most effective tactic for getting your materials reviewed is to send them to a VC that has a reputation for being responsive. Getting the plan into the right hands from the beginning will do more for your odds of getting read than any tactics you deploy.

The best way to achieve the second objective, getting the investor to want to learn more, is to have a professional looking and complete executive summary submitted through a trusted channel. Since sophisticated investors are focused on identifying investment opportunities that are within their investment thesis their level of interest is essentially a function of the quality o the opportunity (the idea, the team, the market, etc).

With few exceptions, the tactics mentioned above are not only likely not to be helpful in generating interest, but some of them can be harmful.

While a sending a product sample can in some cases be helpful as long as it helps the investor better understand the product, giving investors books or hard-copies of the business plan likely does little to influence decision making. While the investors may appreciate the book, it’s unlikely that they’ll have time to read them before making a decision about your business plan. Furthermore, while submitting hard copies can draw more attention it also might imply to some that you are less tech-savvy, a potential challenge for tech entrepreneurs.

Additionally, citing other investors that you are speaking to is a risky tactic, as it can create problems for you. While this ploy is designed to give you credibility, it can have the opposite effect. If the targeted investor contacts one of the cited VCs and hears that the cited VC does not like the idea or has already passed on the opportunity to invest, your odds of being further engaged may be limited.

On the other hand, citing recent press can be effective as it both demonstrates that your organization is able to attract the attention of news publications and enables the VC to learn more about your business plan through the press coverage.

In sum, do your research before submitting your executive summary. Getting your plan into the hands of a responsive investor who focuses on your time of business is the most effective way to get traction. After you have done that, however, be selective in leveraging tactics. Make sure that you only use tactics that will help you achieve your objectives.