SDR tactics beyond email templates

I almost fired our best SDR last year. It wasn’t personal. He was a good guy, worked hard, and always showed up on time. But month after month, his numbers weren’t improving. Emails went unanswered. Calls never connected. Demos? Non-existent. We were both frustrated. I started to wonder if he was the problem. Maybe sales wasn’t his thing? Then one afternoon, we grabbed coffee. Instead of talking numbers, we talked openly. I asked him straight-up: “Why isn’t it working?” He took a deep breath and replied: “I’m following our playbook. I send hundreds of emails, but honestly, I’m just guessing. I don’t really know who’s ready to talk, so I try everyone.” It hit me like a ton of bricks. We’d built a system based on volume and hope, not precision. It wasn’t him. it was us. We’d given him the wrong tools, the wrong strategy. So instead of letting him go, we completely changed how we did outbound. We stopped guessing. We started paying attention to signals: Who’s visiting our LinkedIn profiles? (Tracked via Teamfluence™) Who’s engaging silently with our posts? (Tracked via Clay) Who’s spending serious time on our website? (Tracked via RB2B) Suddenly, our SDR wasn’t sending cold messages. He was following signals that said, “Hey, I’m interested. Talk to me.” Within a month, his reply rate doubled. In two months, he became our top performer. Today, he leads our outbound team. It wasn’t about effort. It was about timing and having a system that showed him exactly when to reach out and who to reach out to. Outbound isn’t about sending more messages. It’s about knowing exactly when and how to engage. If your SDRs are struggling, ask yourself: Are they failing you or are you failing them? It might change your perspective. It certainly changed ours. #Outbound #SalesLeadership #SDRlife #RevOps #LinkedInSales #SalesLessons #GTMStrategy #B2BSaaS #SmartSelling #GTMEngineering #AIOutbound #Teamfluence #Clay

In 2023 I spoke to over 300 SDRs from different companies. Here are some key learnings for you to take into 2024: LinkedIn as a channel is still underutilised. Many SDRs aren’t thinking beyond InMails and connection request messages. The best SDRs are finding different ways to stand out from the crowd. Type in your competitors on LinkedIn and see which posts they are being mentioned in. It’s likely your prospects will be commenting on these posts, so use the posts to find a way into an account. Go beyond LinkedIn messages and use LinkedIn voicenotes and videos. These alternative outreach methods aren’t the annoying spammy messages prospects get every day. Cold calling is the most effective outreach channel. Not only is cold calling more effective in generating pipeline (Orum found that over 50% of pipeline is generated from cold calling), but I believe it’s the most efficient way to get a response from your prospect. In the time it takes you to write a personalised email, you could have called 5-10 prospects and had an outcome from at least half of those calls. Best case scenario you book the meeting. Worst case scenario you collect useful data that can inform and initiate your next conversation. Quality of prospecting trumps volume. Acting as a spray-and-pay spam cannon won’t work in 2024 (it didn’t work in 2023 either). Prospect and selling to power should be your ultimate goal. And this can only be achieved with quality outreach. If you don’t spend the time gathering the relevant information you need to initiate intentional outreach, don’t be surprised when you don’t get a response. Your CRM is only as useful as the data you input into it. Investing time in inputting data into your CRM will reward you in the future. Having good insight and information from a prior conversation, no matter how minor it is, is the best way of personalising the next conversation. Effective list building will make or break your prospecting results. Most SDRs are spending their time on bad-fit prospects that aren't in market to buy. And spending even more time manually fixing inaccurate lead lists. Using intent data, verified contact data, and account scoring based on determined criteria (departmental headcount, competitor, tech stack, etc.) will drastically improve your response rates. The SDR role is harder than ever. It takes 200% more touches to create an opportunity than in 2019. Generating pipeline has got harder so the knee-jerk reaction from many leaders has been to increase the volume of activity. This only creates more noise and drastically minimises your chance of replies. Go back to your cadences and reduce the number of touchpoints. Then make these touchpoints more impactful.

If your cold emails aren't converting, read this: The best agencies don't focus on copy. We didn't always know this. At the beginning, I was doing what everyone else does: - Following templates - Optimize open rates - A/B testing subject lines The breakthrough came after 200+ implementations: Cold email is about timing, not copy. Here's how the system actually works: 1️⃣ Research + triggers We're not targeting companies. We're targeting the EXACT moment they need help. - Bad Glassdoor reviews signal churn problems. - Recent hiring sprees mean scaling pain. - New funding creates growth pressure. - C-level appointments shift priorities. One signal isn't enough. We layer multiple triggers. Example: New VP of Sales + 3 SDR job postings +funding round = they're scaling their GTM motion this quarter. That's not cold anymore. We're messaging them while they're dealing with the exact problem we fix. 2️⃣ Opening frameworks Generic openers are DEAD. "I hope this email finds you well" gets deleted instantly. What works: - Trigger-based openers that prove you've done your research - Leveraging their content in your outreach - Ask-before-pitch patterns The standard we use internally: if you remove their company name and the email could be sent to anyone else, delete it and start over. 3️⃣ Value delivery This separates good agencies from great ones. Bad agencies say: "We can help with outbound." Good agencies say: "Here's exactly what we'd do for you based on what we're seeing." We give value before we ask for anything: - Custom case studies for their industry - Competitive intelligence they don't have - Industry-specific insights tied directly to their triggers The correlation became obvious after 200+ implementations: prospects don't care that you CAN help. They care that you've ALREADY thought about their specific situation. 4️⃣ Conversion elements Hard CTAs kill momentum. "Book a 30-minute demo" sounds like work. Soft CTAs start conversations: "Worth exploring?" "Curious if you're seeing the same..." We're not closing deals in the first email. This approach is why we can scale to over 200 clients without compromising quality. It's why we book meetings at 3-5x industry average. It's why clients stay - the system works consistently. TL;DR 1. Find the right timing through signals 2. Layer 2-3 triggers 3. Deliver value upfront 4. Make conversations frictionless This exact system generated $10M+ in pipeline across 200+ agency clients. But knowing the system isn't the same as running it at scale. That's what we teach in the ColdIQ Accelerator: → How to implement this across your entire client base → The systems & hiring frameworks that let you scale to 200+ clients → AI automation strategies we used to hit $6M ARR in 2 years Ready to scale your agency? Comment "SCALE" below and I'll send you the details.

The $1M networking hack SDRs should know before we enter 2025 There's a simpler way to crush your numbers. I've spent years in the trenches of sales, and I've seen the landscape shift dramatically. The traditional SDR playbook is crumbling before our eyes. Cold calls? Prospects screen them. Mass emails? Deleted on sight. Talk time metrics? A relic of the past. It's time for a radical pivot. Here's what actually moves the needle: 1) Grow your network relentlessly    - Send at least 15 personalized connection requests daily    - Engage authentically with industry peers    - Attend virtual and in-person events 2) Make introductions easier      - Connect people in your network who can benefit each other    - Be the go-to person for valuable connections    - What goes around, comes around 3) Leverage your network (ethically)    - Ask for intros to decision-makers    - Share insights and opportunities freely    - Build a strong reputation as a trusted advisor 4) Track new KPIs    - Connection requests sent/accepted    - Network growth (daily/weekly/monthly)    - Warm intros facilitated/received and closed The future of sales isn't about hammering prospects with calls and emails. It's about building a web of relationships that generates opportunities organically. This takes time and patience. But the payoff? A sustainable pipeline of warm leads that actually want to talk to you. Start doing it today, so you won’t regret it next year.

Yesterday, I asked a group of SDRs and AEs what was driving successful outbound prospecting as of this month.. Their answers & the trends may surprise you (was it email, call, gifting, AI?).  Here were the top 9 responses: 1. Warm intros & Network  2. Partner channel referrals  3. Micro events, conferences & community  4. Cold calling was the top traditional outbound channel  5. Strong ABX alignment with marketing IE: Marketing sets up air cover ad campaigns to sales’ target accounts & shares engagement data back to sales 6. In-person meetings, in-person drops &strategic gifting  7. LinkedIn as a multi-channel layer, after initial email & call steps 8. Engaging with prospects if active on LinkedIn - offering up a POV in DMs vs pitching Any my personal favorites (this is what I would do if I were still leading an SDR org): 9. Run strategic ABX plays with marketing. Align on a set of target accounts, run a full funnel ad approach, share back insights to sales & set up in-person micro events, custom micro landing pages & more 10. Exec thought leadership on LinkedIn. Execs who are posting on LinkedIn are seeing ~33% more leads from their content. Just ask Gal Aga Surprisingly pure cold email was the least effective tactic & AI for engaging with prospects was not mentioned once. AI as the research and prioritization layer + less “scalable” engagement approaches is where sellers can combine AI & Human elements in their outbound. Outbound in 2025 is truly an art & a science. Do you agree with this list or are you seeing different tactics work?