11 ways to use AI for outbound
(Without spamming your TAM)
Read time: 3 min
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LinkedIn is full of this:
“Here’s how I send 10M emails with ChatGPT + Clay.”
SprAI and PrAI.
No wonder outbound is getting harder.
Top 1% teams don’t play that game. They use AI to:
Focus BDRs/AEs on the right accounts.
Cut non-revenue tasks.
Boost outbound conversion rates.
Increase rep efficiency
Here’s how they do it:
11 ways to use AI for outbound (without spamming your TAM)
1. Study ICP & personas
When I work with a new customer, I use AI to quickly understand their ICP, market trends, and buyer personas, their challenges, needs, and day-to-day.
Then, I build an Impact Matrix to map how my product solves their problems and drives real business impact
2. Build account lists
Back in the day, account lists were just size + industry.
Now? With AI + tools like Clay, it’s a whole new game.
You can use AI agents to scrape LinkedIn, Crunchbase, Forbes, or even Google Maps to collect:
Firmographics, tech stack, hiring trends, growth signals, etc.
Creative hacks: Selling solar panels? Use AI to measure roof sizes on Google Earth to find companies with the biggest roofs = biggest deals.
You can create AI agents that can automatically scrap websites (LinkedIn, Crunchbase, Forbes, etc) based on your criteria for your ICP.
Examples:
At Chili Piper (seat-based pricing), we prioritized ACV by finding the # of sales reps, not just company size. 2000 employees but 20 reps < 1000 employees but 300 reps.
At Agorapulse (social media tool), multi-location businesses = higher ACV. AI agents helped scrape location data that common tools miss.
3. Predictive account scoring
This is the future, and I’m hyped about it. Not many teams use it yet, but by 2025, it’ll be everywhere, either built in-house (like Owner.com did with their data/ops team) or bought as a tool.
Here’s how it works:
Use customer data (win rates, churn, LTV, firmographics, etc.) and scrape external data.
Train a machine learning model to predict which prospect accounts are worth your time.
Only send high-scoring accounts to your team, so they don’t waste time on low-LTV, high-churn leads.
Right now, I’m trying to learn this with AI + Python + machine learning to build those scoring systems.
4. Find competitors
Tools like Ocean.io use AI to help me find competitors of my prospects/customers fast. I use this to run targeted outbound campaigns. Why? Targeting competitors is one of the easiest ways to book meetings.
5. Contact data: finding + accuracy
As an SDR leader, I hated how much time reps wasted searching for contact info. Now, with tools like Clay + other data sources, it’s way easier to:
Find accurate emails/phone numbers (B2B databases or online).
Validate the info before using it.
No tool is perfect, but accurate data is key. Better contact info = better, faster outreach.
6. Knowledge base/playbook
Alan (French company) built an AI chat using Dust, connected to their knowledge base + Salesforce, so AEs/BDRs can learn the sales process or product without bugging anyone.
Owner.com: They use call transcripts (sales + cold calls) to keep their knowledge base fresh and accurate.
For managers: Less time on documenting.
For reps: No waiting around for answers.
7. Account/Prospect Research
Stop wasting time digging for info. AI-powered tools like Perplexity analyze unstructured data from:
10-K filings
Earnings calls
Video/Podcast transcripts
LinkedIn profiles
They deliver insights faster than manual research, so you can:
Personalize outreach
Focus on what actually converts
Understand why the info matters
One project I’m working on: building account summaries for outbound SDRs, digesting all the online info + giving recommended actions.
AI does the research, reps just execute.
8. Update SFDC
FINALLY.
SDRs and AEs can stop wasting time on this. Tools like Momentum AI now pull the data you need from calls and auto-fill your CRM.
No more notes. No more manual updates. Just focus on selling (or prospecting).
9. Cold call Roleplay
ChatGPT’s Advanced Voice Mode lets me practice cold calls like I’m talking to a real prospect, perfect for building musle memory without the pressure.
Last week, I shared Your 24/7 Cold Call Coach (v1) for solo practice with ChatGPT.
Next level? Companies are building tools that use your own data (cold call + customer recordings) to train reps on real scenarios, not just generic prompts.
In my chat with Kyle Norton (CRO at Owner.com), he shared how his BDRs use Avarra during onboarding.
10. Cold outreach
4 creative ways to use AI in prospecting:
1️⃣ Write outbound messaging
As a non-native English speaker, I use AI (ChatGPT/Claude) to craft analogies and tighten my messaging.
Example: A prospect did springboard diving in college—AI helped me tie that to my pitch with a diving analogy I’d never come up with alone.
2️⃣ Custom images
This one was shared by Maureen Lavigne, Ex-BDR at Alan.
They used AI to create custom mascot images for prospects. Example: For a food transport company, the mascot was shown driving a cute little food truck.
They’d add a playful line like, “Here’s our mascot diving into your world!” Cheesy? Sure. But it works!
3️⃣ AI-generated songs
Shared by Max Kouris (Altisales):
His SDRs make custom songs for prospects with tools like Suno.com. Choose a genre (rock, rap, etc.) and write a prompt. It’s fun, creative, and gets responses!
Saw someone on X use ChatGPT + Suno to create an Eminem-style rap about quantum mechanics. Gotta admit, that was pretty impressive.
4️⃣ Poems
ChatGPT makes it easy to stand out with poems.
Example: For Nike’s Chief Data Officer, here’s what ChatGPT whipped up:
11. Account summary:
Alan (French company) built an AI chat that pulls data from Salesforce, Outreach, and Modjo (Gong's competitor) to create account summaries:
Previous calls
Past emails
Key insights reps need—all in one place.
Yes, tools like Gong do this, but only with Gong data. Alan’s approach takes it to the next level.
Now imagine adding external research for closed-lost opps or ongoing convos.
Reps get everything they need to personalize outreach and close faster.
Curious, how do you use AI in your outbound strategy?
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Awesome post!