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I spent four years wondering why my outbound had terrible conversion rates with C-level and VPs.
Same account. Same messaging. Same ICP.
But emails that should've sparked conversations were getting ignored or delegated into committee hell.
The brutal truth?
I was speaking toCMOs like they were marketing managers.
I was talking about daily problems to executives who only cared about initiatives and business impact.
Here's what I didn't understand: I was making the classic mistake that kills 80% of outbound campaigns, treating all buyers inside an account like they think the same way.
They don't. And once I learned this, my messaging changed.
The ATL/BTL messaging framework
The Two-Buyer Reality That Changes Everything
Every complex B2B sale involves two decision-making layers:
Above-the-Line (ATL): VPs and above
Below-the-Line (BTL): Managers and end-users
They don't just have different priorities, they literally live in different time dimensions.
ATL Buyers (Past/Future):
"What went wrong last quarter?"
"Will this hit next year's goal?"
Revenue impact
Risk reduction
Speed to business results
BTL Buyers (Present):
"What's breaking today?"
"What problems am I dealing with now?"
Daily pain points
Workflow frustrations
This time difference is one reason why your outbound messaging fails.
When you talk about daily operational problems to a C-level executive, they don't care, that's not their world. They immediately delegate you to a front-line manager.
You've been demoted from the strategic conversation to the tactical one.
Here's what I learned: ATLs want validation, BTLs want problems solved.
The Message Makeover
This completely flipped how I wrote outbound messages:
For ATL Buyers (Validation-Based):
❌ Old way: "Our analytics dashboard provides real-time insights"
✅ New way: "If you could identify revenue leakage 3 months faster than you do today, what would that mean for next year's targets?"
For BTL Buyers (Problem-Focused):
❌ Old way: "Increase company-wide efficiency by 20%"
✅ New way: "Stop spending 3 hours every week fighting with Excel to get your reports done"
Account-Level Example:
Let's say you discover the company just missed Q2 revenue targets by 15%. That single insight becomes:
ATL message: "If you could identify what caused the Q2 shortfall 2 months earlier next time, what would that mean for hitting your annual number?"
BTL message: "Tired of scrambling every month-end because you can't see revenue problems until it's too late?"
Same account insight. Two completely different conversations that both feel relevant.
How to Apply This Tomorrow
Step 1: Audit Your Current Messaging
Look at your last 10 outbound emails. For each one, ask:
Am I speaking to someone's daily pain (BTL) or business outcome (ATL)?
Would a CRO care about this, or delegate it?
Step 2: Build Account-Level Relevance
Find one company insight that matters (missed targets, new initiative, leadership change), then adapt it:
ATL version: Focus on business outcomes and validation
BTL version: Focus on daily problems and frustrations
Step 3: Match the Mental Model
Before hitting send, ask: "Does this message match how this person thinks about time and priorities?"
The Bottom Line
Find account-level insights that matter, then speak validation language to executives and problem-solving language to operators.
Your outbound converts when your message matches your buyer's mental model.
Stop treating VPs like managers. Stop pitching ROI to end-users. Start having the right conversation with the right person.
What's been your biggest ATL vs BTL blind spot?
Hit reply and let me know!
Let's get cooking!
See you in the next newsletter.
👨🍳 Elric
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