Outbound sales: reaching buyers before they reach you

Outbound lets you choose who you talk to. Inbound brings whoever happens to find you. Outbound goes after the accounts you most want. It is also quick to start, since a new team can send its first messages this week.

A typical outbound motion looks like this:

1. Build a list of accounts and contacts that fit.
2. Research each one enough to write a relevant first line.
3. Send a sequence of emails, calls and messages over a few weeks.
4. Qualify the people who reply and book meetings.

Its weakness is timing. Most people on any list don't have the problem this month, so reply rates are low. Sending more can damage your email domain's reputation.

Teams usually fix this with signals: reasons to contact a person now. Some are account signals, like a funding round or a new hire. The strongest are things a person writes, such as a public post asking for what you sell.

Here are sample sentences, scored 0 to 100 for buying intent the way HearBuyers scores posts:

• Sample, score 90. "We need a new payroll provider before January. Ours keeps missing deadlines." This person has given you a reason to reach out today.
• Sample, score 46. "Payroll is such a headache for small companies." It's a theme, not a request, and it makes a good topic for content.
• Sample, score 1. "Looking for an outbound SDR, commission only." A job post.

Replying to the first post isn't cold outreach, because they asked. You're helping someone, not interrupting them.

• Volume over relevance. Sending more messages to the wrong people just gets more of them ignored.
• Fake personalisation. "Loved your recent post" with no detail reads as automated.
• No stop rule. Sequences that keep going after a "no" annoy people and get reported.
• Treating outbound and signals as separate. A list tells you who could buy. A signal tells you who might buy now. Use both.

• Inbound vs outbound: how the two motions compare.
• Prospecting: building the list outbound runs on.
• Warm lead: what a signal turns a cold contact into.

To add stated intent to your outbound, set up X keyword alerts for the phrases your buyers use when they ask for help.

For the channels and where to find people to contact, see outbound lead generation.