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Alex Fine

Co-Founder | Chief Commercial Officer at Understory Co-Founder | Chief Commercial Officer at Understory

Recently I’ve been seeing a recurring narrative suggesting that outbound prospecting is obsolete, and that it's incapable of initiating a buying cycle. I can assure you through many closed deals that this isn’t true, but I can also understand why someone would say that in a silo. Outbound prospecting is still a very viable strategy, but its effectiveness hinges on a few basic fundamental principles: Targeted Outreach: Crafting a meticulously tailored list that resonates with your ICP is paramount. If you don’t have this, you’re wasting your time. Don’t be lazy. You can use Apollo.io like we do, but ZoomInfo, Lusha and Ocean.io are also great options. Email Deliverability: Ensuring your sending domains are healthy is critical to land in the primary inbox of your prospects, and not the in their spam folder. Once again, don’t be lazy. We manage this process through Instantly.ai, ZeroBounce, and MxToolBox, but there are plenty of tools available. Highly Personalized Messaging: Utilizing personalized and relevant content along with value-driven lead magnets is a requirement. Unique subject lines are also a game changer. This is equally as important when sending InMails. We use tools like Clay to achieve this at scale. The journey doesn't end here though. At Understory, we adopt an approach that sets us apart. Our expertise in both outbound and inbound practices allows us to create a synergy that actually delivers. By analyzing metrics from our outbound campaigns, we retarget prospects using our inbound tactics on platforms like LinkedIn Ads. This method enables us to allocate our budget with superior efficiency. We ONLY focus on individuals who have already shown interest in our outbound content, leading to substantially lower costs and higher conversion rates. In summary, while expert outbound strategies are crucial for business development, they are most effective when integrated with equally well executed inbound tactics. I wrote a post recently about the frequent disconnect between sales and marketing, and this is just one example of what can be achieved when that disconnect is repaired. This combination has been key for our growth in today's competitive marketplace.

Alex Fine

Co-Founder | Chief Commercial Officer at Understory Co-Founder | Chief Commercial Officer at Understory

Jan 3, 2024