You’ve had the whirlwind honeymoon phase, the new data model, the ICP clarity and the signal-driven targeting.
But as any long-term couple will tell you, the real magic happens after the honeymoon.
Welcome to the “keeping the spark alive” stage of your go-to-market love story, where outbound motion gets more intentional, mature, and (yes) a whole lot more effective.
In modern B2B, outbound isn’t just about shooting your shot. It’s about timing, relevance, and knowing when to text “thinking of you” versus when to back off and give them space.
You’re no longer chasing strangers; you’re building relationships across email, phone, LinkedIn, and even paid channels, with people who could actually become your next great love (aka customer).
But here’s the catch: outbound has changed. The days of smile-and-dial, generic cadences, and mass outreach are fading fast.
Buyers are wiser. Inboxes are fuller. Attention spans are shorter. And if your message doesn’t feel personal, timely, or helpful, you’re ghosted before the first date.
This is your playbook for improving outbound motion so that every touchpoint, whether it’s an email, a cold call, or a LinkedIn DM, feels less like a desperate pickup line and more like the start of something meaningful. 💘
We’ll walk through:
By the end, you’ll have the tactics and mindset to turn more cold prospects into warm opportunities and, more importantly, relationships that go the distance.
Ready to reignite your outbound spark? Let’s get into it. 💌
Every good love story starts with knowing who you’re looking for. Outbound is no different.
If you’re still chasing every prospect who vaguely fits your category, it’s time to raise your standards.
The best outbound motion starts with a crystal-clear picture of your Ideal Customer Profile (ICP), the companies and people who not only could buy from you, but are most likely to convert, stay loyal, and become full-blown evangelists.
Your ICP is your dating criteria: job titles you click with, industries that vibe with your product, company sizes that match your offer’s maturity.
Without this clarity, you’re essentially asking strangers out on the street and hoping for chemistry.
Build your ICP using a mix of firmographic, technographic and behavioural filters. That might include:
Don’t forget to define your anti-ICP, too.
Knowing who not to pursue saves time and protects your team’s energy. It’s the equivalent of learning what kind of exes you’re never dating again.
The best ICPs aren’t built on assumptions, they’re modelled from data.
Look at your last 50 closed-won deals and ask:
Backtesting like this shows you who’s genuinely compatible, not just who looked good on paper. It takes the guesswork out of targeting and helps every rep focus on the most promising matches.
Sales teams can run into a surprising issue: prospects sometimes don’t fully understand their own buying needs.
Shivan Pillay, Cognism’s Sales Coach & ‘Why Did It Fail?’ podcast host, says:
“In SMBs & small businesses especially, you’ll find prospects who don’t actually know their day-to-day needs inside out. It’s sales’ job to navigate that ambiguity and help them realise what a good fit looks like.”
A strong match is only possible if your B2B data isn’t a mess:
Bad data leads to bad first impressions, like showing up to a date and calling them the wrong name.
Interested in learning how to help your SDRs even more? We have a full playbook: Matching Data With Your SDR Team.
Not all high-fit prospects are in-market today. Create tiers or segments that reflect not just fit, but intent and timing.
For example:
|
Tier |
Fit Level |
Intent Signals |
Recommend Motion |
|
Tier 1 |
Strong ICP match |
Active signals (intent + trigger) |
High-touch, immediate outbound follow-up |
|
Tier 2 |
Good fit |
Mild or passive signals |
Nurture via email, soft ads, light call touch |
|
Tier 3 |
Low fit or unclear |
No clear signals |
Long-term nurture, content syndication |
This way, your hottest prospects get high-touch, personalised outreach, and lower-priority ones still get thoughtful nurture without draining your team’s time.
It’s about knowing who to text back right now and who to keep on the radar for later.
If you’re finding that your Tier 1 list is looking a little thin, it might be time to revisit whether your data provider is giving you enough fuel to build a meaningful pipeline.
Here’s how to evaluate that properly in our volume-focused playbook.
The first email is your opening line, your digital first impression. It’s not the place for a hard pitch or a 500-word monologue. It’s your chance to show you’ve done your homework, understand their world, and are worth a reply.
Because let’s face it: nobody wants a message that screams “copied and pasted this to 100 other people this morning”.
Effective outbound starts with relevance. Use what you know about the person, their company, or even their recent activity to write something that feels intentional.
That might include:
You’re not writing a poem, but you are showing you paid attention. A little context goes a long way.
Struggling for a subject line? Here are 185 examples to give you a helping hand.
Personalisation starts with brevity, because your prospect is likely scanning on mobile.
Shivan says:
“If your message says ‘read more’ in the preview, you’ve already lost them. Keep it sharp, to the point, and respect that they’re reading it on their phone, not sitting at a desk with time to spare.”
You wouldn’t open a first date with your full CV. So don’t start your email with a product dump.
Instead, lead with:
Then, introduce yourself as the one who can help, not as the centre of the story, but as the enabler of theirs.
In full, here’s: How to Create an Email Marketing Campaign.
No one is reading War and Peace in their inbox.
The best cold emails are:
End with a soft, easy ask: “Worth a quick chat next week?” or “Open to a short call to see if this is relevant?”.
You’re not proposing marriage. You’re just asking for five minutes to get to know each other.
Joe McLaughlin, Senior Demand Generation Manager at Cognism, says:
“If you’re going to send something to someone who doesn’t care about it, it doesn’t matter how good your messaging is, they just won’t care.”
Follow-ups aren’t just reminders, they’re second chances to add value.
Mix things up across your sequence:
Keep it conversational. Keep it light. Keep it useful. Think of it as a gentle nudge, not a “just circling back” chase.
Outbound email should feel like someone starting a genuine conversation, not just shouting your name across the room.
Interested in finding out more about email prospecting best practices? You’re in luck. We have a full playbook for you: Email Prospecting That Actually Connects.
Cold calling gets a bad rep, but when done well, it’s still one of the fastest ways to spark real conversations.
Unlike email or ads, the phone gives you something incredibly powerful: a two-way dialogue. You’re not waiting for someone to read, click, or reply. You’re creating a moment in real time.
And just like asking someone out face-to-face, that moment can feel a bit daunting… but incredibly effective when you get it right.
Before you pick up the phone, take a minute to know who you’re calling.
Check:
Even a small nugget of insight gives you a more confident, relevant opening and makes the call feel less “cold”.
You’ve got 10 seconds to avoid being hung up on. Make them count.
Instead of asking, “Is this a good time?” or launching into a monologue, try:
Lead with something about them, not you. Curiosity and relevance open doors.
When a prospect pushes back, “Not interested”, “We’re all set”, “Send me something”, don’t panic. That’s not a no. It’s an opening.
Try gently digging with:
Half the battle is just staying in the conversation. If you can keep them talking, you’re winning.
Sometimes, a little unexpected honesty is the best response to a brush-off.
Shivan says:
“I’ve used a simple line, ‘probably should stop the conversation right here then’ and it often gets a laugh or re-engagement. It’s disarming, and different from the last six pitches they’ve heard that day.”
Interesting in seeing how top reps handle objections in real time? Watch the pros in action with our Cold Calling Live past events archive.
You’re not trying to close the deal on a cold call, just earn the second date.
Aim for:
Keep it casual. Keep it confident. A good cold call feels more like a quick chat with potential than a high-pressure pitch.
When outbound teams embrace calling as a relationship-building tool, not just a numbers game, everything changes.
Suddenly, it’s not about “getting through a list”. It’s about opening doors, starting conversations, and making memorable first impressions.
There’s so much more to understand about the art of cold calling. Here’s a full report: The State of Cold Calling in 2025.
Sometimes love needs a little nudge. In outbound, that nudge can come from a well-placed ad, a subtle “hey, notice me” before the direct approach begins.
Paid ads don’t replace email or calling, they complement them. Think of them as your digital pheromones: signals floating out in the world, helping prospects recognise your name before your SDR reaches out.
To give you some extra context on the effectiveness of ads:
Liam Collins, Cognism’s VP of Paid Acquisition, says:
“We know that when an account sees an ad between nine and fourteen times, they generally convert to an MQL, so we model our frequency targets around that window.”
Ever had a prospect say, “Oh yeah, I think I’ve seen you around”? That’s the goal.
Ads create familiarity. When someone’s seen your brand in their feed, whether it’s a helpful tip, a case study, or a snappy video, your cold email suddenly feels a lot warmer. You’re not a stranger. You’re a known quantity.
That familiarity alone can increase reply and conversion rates across your outbound motion.
With the right ad platforms, you can target specific companies, job titles, and even individuals.
That means you can:
It’s the perfect duet between sales and marketing, coordinated, personalised, and built to spark recognition before the first touch.
Not every prospect will bite the first time. But that doesn’t mean the spark’s gone.
Use retargeting ads to:
Think of it like a thoughtful message after a good first date: “Hey, had a great chat, here’s that thing we talked about…”
Don’t let your ads feel like billboards on the motorway; make them feel like part of the same conversation.
Use similar language, tone, and themes to what your outbound team is using.
If your emails are friendly and consultative, your ads should match that vibe.
If your SDRs are focusing on a particular pain point, your ads should reinforce it visually.
When paid and outbound are singing the same tune, prospects can’t help but notice.
Outbound isn’t just about showing up in the inbox or on the phone. It’s about being present wherever your prospects are, and ads are your way of doing that, silently but powerfully. A bit like catching someone’s eye across the room, before you walk over and say hello.
Feel like ads could be the way forward for you? Here’s a full modelling playbook on targeted marketing you can sink your teeth into.
You wouldn’t propose on the first date, and you wouldn’t send a pitch to someone who’s never shown the slightest interest. Timing matters. So does mutual attraction.
That’s where intent signals come in. They’re your way of knowing when a prospect might actually be ready for something more, a chat, a meeting, a meaningful next step.
Intent signals are behavioural breadcrumbs that tell you someone’s thinking about a problem you solve.
They might be:
It’s the digital equivalent of someone making eye contact from across the room, subtle, but worth acting on.
Alongside intent, trigger events can be just as powerful. These are the changes that suggest a company might be ready for a conversation.
Look out for:
These are natural openers for outbound, “I saw you’ve just [hired/expanded/launched], and we’ve helped others at this stage solve [X]…”, giving your outreach relevance and timeliness.
Rather than guessing who’s ready to talk, use intent data to segment your outreach.
Try:
It’s matchmaking at scale. You’re not chasing people who aren’t interested, you’re connecting with those already dropping hints.
Intent data shouldn’t sit in its own silo. It should power every part of your outbound engine.
Use it to:
Outbound becomes infinitely more effective when you’re not going in blind. When the timing is right, and the signals are there, even cold outreach feels… natural.
Intent is the spark. Outbound is the move. Together, they turn timing into opportunity.
You’ve got email humming. Your cold calls are landing.
But here’s the thing: even the best outbound channels fall flat when they’re dancing out of sync.
The real magic happens when every touchpoint, email, call, social, ads, work in harmony. A coordinated rhythm that builds familiarity, earns trust, and leads smoothly from “who’s this?” to “tell me more.”
Outbound isn’t a checklist of activities. It’s an experience you’re creating, one that needs to feel cohesive across every channel.
That means:
Your prospect doesn’t see “email team” and “calling team”. They see one brand, one voice, one experience.
Your outbound cadence isn’t just a series of tasks, it’s choreography.
A typical multi-channel sequence could look like:
|
Day ☀️ |
Touchpoint 👇 |
Purpose 🤷♂️ |
|
Day 1 |
Personalised email |
Start the conversation with a relevant hook |
|
Day 2 |
LinkedIn profile view + connection request |
Warm them up with a soft social touch |
|
Day 3 |
Cold call attempt |
Create real-time dialogue and qualify interest |
|
Day 5 |
Follow-up email with new insight or resource |
Add value and build curiosity |
|
Day 7 |
LinkedIn message |
Reinforce value and invite engagement |
|
Day 10 |
Voicemail + check-in email |
Wrap the sequence and invite a response |
The mix and timing can vary by persona or industry, but the principle stays the same:
Show up in the right places, at the right time, with a consistent message.
The best outbound strategies don’t come from sales alone. They’re powered by marketing too, whether through content, data, paid campaigns, or insight into buyer behaviour.
Key ways to collaborate:
When sales and marketing are in sync, outbound becomes less of a cold chase and more of a coordinated approach to the same goal.
Sales and marketing alignment is crucial, so here are 10 Account-Based Marketing Tactics for Better Sales in 2025.
Whether someone’s getting an email, seeing an ad, or receiving a voicemail, the tone should feel consistent. Not robotic, just recognisably you.
Think of it as presenting your brand’s personality on multiple “dates”. A little charm, a little insight, and a lot of consistency.
That’s how you build momentum. That’s how you stand out.
And that’s how you create an outbound experience that feels like a relationship, not a sequence.
At its best, outbound isn’t about chasing. It’s about connecting with the right people, at the right time, in the right way.
When done well, it leads to more than a meeting on the calendar. It starts a relationship built on relevance, timing and trust.
One where your prospect doesn’t just feel contacted, they feel understood.
Whether you’re emailing, calling, messaging or running ads, the best outbound teams approach every interaction like it matters, because it does.
Every touchpoint is a chance to show:
That’s how you turn cold leads into warm conversations. And conversations into customers.
Outbound isn’t always about just passing the baton, it’s about setting the account up to grow.
Shivan says:
“A great handover means insight, not just a copy-paste company bio. Knowing stakeholder names, team size, even their past wins, it lets the AE show up informed, and helps outbound relationships last well beyond the first call. AI needs to be a foundational part of all your research for gathering insights and information.”
Winning the deal isn’t the end of the journey, it’s the beginning.
Strong outbound motion creates a smooth handover into customer success, onboarding and beyond. It means prospects come into the relationship already informed, already trusting, already engaged.
That’s when the real magic happens: when the person you first connected with in a cold outreach becomes a long-term partner, an advocate, even a referral source.
Because no one raves about a great cold call, but they do remember how you made them feel.
Outbound motion isn’t one campaign or quarter. It’s a rhythm. A system. A shared language between sales and marketing that grows stronger over time.
To keep improving:
Outbound isn’t static. Neither are your prospects. The most successful teams are always listening, learning and adapting.
So here’s to better cold calls, higher reply rates, and more prospects saying, “I’m glad you reached out.”
This isn’t just about more meetings. It’s about better relationships and the revenue that follows. 💞