Inbound vs outbound: who starts the conversation

The two approaches cost different things and fail in different ways.

Most teams run both. Inbound brings people who are ready, but they arrive on their own schedule. Outbound lets you choose who to talk to, but many of the people you reach have no need today.

A third pattern sits between them: responding to a request someone made in public. The buyer started the conversation, as in inbound. But they started it in a thread or a post instead of on your website, so you have to go find it, as in outbound. It is sometimes called signal-based outreach.

Sample sentences, scored 0 to 100 for buying intent the way HearBuyers scores posts:

• Sample, score 92. "We need a fractional CFO for a seed-stage startup, ideally someone who's done SaaS. Recommendations?" An inbound-style request, posted on Reddit instead of on your site.
• Sample, score 45. "Is it worth hiring a CFO before Series A?" Early research. It calls for a helpful reply rather than a pitch.
• Sample, score 2. "Selling my CFO course, link in bio." Outbound from someone else.

Replying to the first post isn't cold outreach, because the person asked.

• Treating it as either/or. Inbound and outbound feed each other. A prospect who ignored your email may search for you later.
• Calling every lead inbound. A lead who downloaded a guide is not the same as a lead who asked for a demo.
• Running outbound with no signal. Messages to people with no stated need get low reply rates and burn domains.
• Waiting for inbound alone. Many buyers ask peers before they ever visit a vendor's site.

• Inbound sales: selling to people who came to you.
• Outbound sales: reaching out first.
• Warm lead: someone already showing interest.
• Lead source: where each lead came from.

To find requests that sit between the two, set up X keyword alerts for the phrases your buyers use when they ask for help.