Outbound doesn't work for you? Try this checklist.
(before saying outbound is dead)
Read time: 3 min.
No. Outbound is not dead.
Sales teams waste hours on ineffective methods, and poor execution. They follow outdated tactics that don’t resonate. They think outbound is just booking meetings. Their results are disappointing, to say the least. That's why people say outbound is dead. But there’s a hidden key to success.
This checklist unlocks the full potential of outbound.
Your Outbound Checklist
19. Target Market: Talking to the right companies
Use quantitative, and qualitative data to identify and create your Ideal Customer Profiles (ICP).
Common mistake: Confusing Total Addressable Market (TAM) with your ICP.
18. Buyer Personas: Talking to the right rerson
Develop and continuously refine detailed buyer personas based on the revenue closed, who say yes to the first meeting, and who signed the contract.
Common mistake: Reaching out to decision-makers without understanding their challenges.
17. Messaging
Using account-based messaging
Craft messages that directly address the current pain points of your ICP and buyer personas (above the line, and below the line).
Commin mistakes:
Using generic, one-size-fits-all messaging
Features centric
Company centric
16. Biggest Pain
Do you focus on the biggest pain you can solve? Use your case studies and G2 to identify the most critical pain points your product or service can solve and highlight them in your messaging.
Common mistake: Focusing on minor pain points that do not resonate with prospects.
15. Competition
Focus on winning zone. Use your CRM, Reddit, and G2, to understand where you win against competitors: setup, features, support, pricing, etc.
Common mistakes:
Saying they are better than the competitors
Trashtalking their competitors
14. Quantity of activity
Implement a consistent and persistent outreach schedule to maintain top-of-mind awareness.
Mistake: Giving up after a few attempts and not following through with leads.
13. Quality of activity
Would the CEO be proud of the calls being made? The emails being sent? Ensure all communications are relevant to the challenges your ICP, and personas.
Mistake: Sending out low-quality, generic emails and making unprepared calls.
12. Resistance: Are you resilient in the face of objections?
Train your sales team to handle objections confidently and turn them into opportunities.
Mistake: Giving up at the first sign of resistance without trying to address the concerns.
11. Next Steps: Do you set quality next steps?
Always end interactions with a clear, agreed-upon next step to maintain momentum.
Mistake: Leaving conversations open-ended without clear follow-up actions.
10. Management: Are frontline managers GOOD managers? Coaching? Understand outbound metrics? Hiring?
Invest in training and developing frontline managers to be effective coaches and leaders.
Mistakes:
Promoting high-performing salespeople to managers without proper training.
Hiring managers with 0 outbound experience.
9. Desire to Do the Job: do prospectors WANT to do the Job?
Outbound is tough, Foster a positive and motivating work environment that encourages prospectors to excel.
Common mistakes: Promoting or moving “inbound“ reps to the outbound that don't want to do the job
8. Tools: Does the Team Know How to Use the Tech Stack and Do They Use It
Provide comprehensive training on the sales tech stack and ensure regular usage.
Mistake: Investing in technology that the sales team does not use effectively, or doesn't use.
7. Enablement: Does the Enablement Team Drive Continuous Improvement, or Do They Just Hang Out with New Hires?
Establish an enablement program focused on continuous training and development for all sales reps.
Common mistake: Limiting enablement efforts to onboarding only.
6. General Knowledge: Do SDRs Know What They Need to Know?
Ensure SDRs have a deep understanding of the ICP, buyer personas, and their challenges.
Mistake: Only focusing SDR training on Product knowledge.
5. Outbound Training: Are Your AEs Trained to Close Outbound Deals?
Inbound and outbound deals have a different sales process. Provide specialized training for AEs on closing outbound deals effectively.
Mistake: Hiring order takers and assuming AEs will automatically know how to handle outbound leads.
4. Buyer Journey: Do you understand how B2B buyers make decisions?
Map out the buyer journey and tailor your approach to each stage of your outbound sales process.
Mistake: Using the same sales process for inbound demo requests, and outbound deals.
3. Follow-Ups: How many times do you follow up?
Implement a structured follow-up process to ensure consistent engagement during the prospecting, AND deal stages.
Mistake:
Only sending 1 email during the prospecting process
Only sending 1 email after the first meeting, say the prospect isn't interested
2. Source: Do you track the source and signals of the outbound pipeline?
Tracking the source of leads, the account signals, above the line/below the line leads and analyze their performance.
Mistake: Not tracking lead sources, resulting in poor data for strategy refinement.
1. Results: Do you track outbound results?
Regularly measure outbound results with other sales channels to optimize strategy.
Mistake: Focusing solely on outbound without considering its performance relative to other channels.
Now you have a checklist to diagnose your outbound, create more pipeline, and get more ARR!
That’s it!
I hope this helps you on your Outbound journey.
✌️👨🍳
Elric
P.S. Hope you're having a great summer! I'm writing from sunny Marseille, France. 🇫🇷
I'm planning to resume weekly newsletters and working with a designer for the new brand: Outbound Kitchen. Looking forward to sharing the new look soon!
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