This made October our best pipeline month ever
The Q4 Outbound Planner
The Outbound Kitchen is brought to you by:
Stop juggling 5 data tools. Get every contact in one click.
One customer increased verified emails 30% in month one using FullEnrich’s waterfall enrichment. Access 20+ premium sources with triple verification, without the tool chaos.
And here’s a bonus:
Normally, you’d only get 50 free leads. But with my link, you get 150, just for being a reader of Outbound Kitchen.
👋 Hey chef, Elric here! Welcome to this week’s free edition of Outbound Kitchen. Each week I dive into reader questions about creating outbound systems for sustainable growth. Thinking about going paid? Here’s what you’ll unlock right away:
Instant access to 40+ paid newsletters, including:
My Outbound Chef Kit: 130+ resources (20+ email templates, cold call scripts, AI prompts, top tools, and more). Value: $1,000+
And the best part? You can try it free for 7 days. Cancel anytime.
But I think you’ll love it!
👉 Start your free trial today.
A few months ago, a podcast host asked me one question:
What single tool boosted my team’s performance the most?
I answered right away: our Q4 Outbound Planner.
This system turned October into our biggest pipeline month ever. Why? Because we planned the whole quarter instead of going month by month. We built the plan around Thanksgiving and the holiday slowdown.
Every year Q4 feels short, we know Thanksgiving and Christmas are coming, but most teams don’t prepare for it.
Here’s how we used the planner:
First, we reviewed Q3 and found the gaps.
Then, we time-blocked revenue activities for maximum impact.
Now it’s your turn. Whether you lead a team or sell as a rep, use the last 2 days of Q3 to prep. Q4 is right around the corner.
Each rep should analyze their Q3, find gaps, and create their Q4 plan.
As a leader, your goal is to let your team run this themselves. That builds their self-awareness.
Review each person’s plan to spot gaps in productivity, coaching, or training.
Look for solutions like better tools or new skills.
Run the exercise at the team level too, so you can see common trends and areas to improve together.
Using the Q4 Outbound Planner:
Step 1: Review Q3
Step 2: Plan Q4
Step 3: Time block
Step 4: Understand the value of your RGAs.
Step 5: Keep testing
P.S. In this week’s paid newsletter, I’ll share the leadership version so you can roll this out with your team.
The Q4 Outbound Planner
Step 1: Review Q3
Check Your Sales Numbers to Plan a Better Q4.
Sales data is like a map; it shows you where to go. By looking at Q3, you can see what worked and what didn’t. This helps you spend more time on what actually makes money (Revenue Generating Activities).
Here’s what to do today:
Open your CRM or sales engagement platform.
Write down all the meetings you booked, grouped by channel: email, calls, LinkedIn, or video.
Find your conversion rates for each channel.
Check the quantity and quality of your work:
How many emails did you send? How many demos were booked?
How many calls and LinkedIn messages?
How many accounts did you target, and were they a good fit?
Look at your calendar: how much time went to money-making work vs. non-revenue tasks.
Spot patterns: what’s bringing results?
If you don’t have enough personal data yet, use your team’s averages as a guide.
Use this info to sharpen your Q4 prospecting plan.
Step 2: Plan Q4
(with realistic timeframes and clear goals)
A good plan turns goals into wins. Knowing how many workdays you have and setting clear targets keeps you focused.
Your workdays in Q4:
October: 23
November 20 → 18 after Thanksgiving slowdown
December: 23 → 16 after holiday slowdown
66 business days in Q4 2025
57 effective business days after holidays + end-of-year slowdown
Set clear goals:
Target 36 qualified demos
Your objective?
51 booked meetings at a 70% show-up rate.
Daily: 0.9 meetings booked
October: 21
November: 16
December: 14
Align with your conversion rates:
Use Q3 data to estimate how many activities (emails, calls, etc.) you’ll need for each channel.
Focus on what worked and scale it up in Q4.
2,571 cold calls made to book 15 demos
3,117 emails sent to book 15 demos
1,029 LinkedIn messaged to book 21 demos
Your daily and weekly game plan:
Step 3: Time Block
Plan Your Day Around Revenue-Generating Activities (RGAs)
If you stay consistent with Revenue-Generating Activities (RGAs), you hit results. Time blocking helps you focus on what grows pipeline and makes your day more productive.
Here’s your schedule:
Calls: 2 blocks of 1 hour each to make 23 calls.
Emails: 2 blocks of 1 hour each to send 27 emails.
LinkedIn: 1 hour to engage with 18 prospects.
Total RGAs: 5 hours on high-impact activities.
Remaining time: 3 hours for prep, meetings, and other tasks.
Stick to it:
Treat time blocks like meetings you can’t miss.
Don’t multitask. Focus on one block at a time.
Step 4: Measure the Value of Your Work
Knowing how each task helps you earn money (and helps the company grow) keeps you motivated. On the flip side, remember that doing nothing also has a cost.
Here’s what to do:
Calculate earnings: If you made $10,000 in Q3 toward a $100,000 goal, break down how each task added up.
Put a price on tasks: Estimate how much revenue each call, email, or meeting brings in.
Track the impact: Use a chart or spreadsheet to see how your daily work adds to your income.
Stay focused: Let the numbers push you to keep going. Share with your team so everyone builds a results-driven mindset.
Step 5: Keep Testing and Improving Your Prospecting Recipe
Doing the same thing every day gets boring, and it stops working as well. To stay sharp, you need to try new things and see what works best.
Here’s what to do today:
Think like a chef:
Test new “recipes” for prospecting.
Mix up your ingredients, messaging, channels, and tools.
Add creativity to your outreach. Need ideas? Check this out: 37 Creative Ways Top Performers Are Booking Meetings.
Try new tools:
Use AI tools like ChatGPT for Account research, Claude for writing your messaging, or Clay to save time and focus on revenue work.
With Clay, you can manage your territory, research accounts fast, and write a point of view (POV) at scale. I really wish I had Clay back when I was a rep.
Use tools like Sales Navigator to refine your account lists.
Refine and share:
See what works and what doesn’t, then make small tweaks.
Share your best “recipes” with the team so everyone learns.
The more you test, the closer you get to Q4 success!
What’s your favorite way to end the year strong?
If you don’t know how to do all of this, I created a spreadsheet you can use to break it down and hit your quota in Q4.
You can find it here, and make a copy.
Let’s get cooking!
See you in the next newsletter.
👨🍳 Elric
Thinking about upgrading to the paid newsletter? Here’s what you’ll get:
Instant access to 40+ paid newsletters, including:
My Outbound Chef Kit: 130+ resources: 20+ email templates, cold call scripts, AI prompts, top outbound tools, and more, everything the best outbound teams use. Worth $1,000+
And the best part? You can try it free for 7 days. Cancel anytime.
But I think you’ll love it!
👉 Start your free trial today.
As soon as you’re ready, here’s how I can help:
Outbound Consulting Call: Need quick help? Book a 40-min session here.
Outbound Private Chef:
Part-time, I’ll build, optimize efficiency, and execute your outbound strategy.
Coaching/Advising: get tailored advice to fix your strategy, boost efficiency, and drive results.
Interested? Reply to this email or hit me up at bonjour@elriclegloire.com
Great read! Thank you, Elric