Question of 2024: "Can we fully automate/outsource outbound?"
Well, 2025 is all about accepting that NO—there isn't an easy button for outbound.
- 99% of reps don't want to do it
- 90% of reps are unskilled at it
- 70% of your reps refuse to do it
- 50%+ of your front-line leaders don't know how to do it
Newsflash: outbound isn't getting easier.
AI and all the other fancy technology, ironically, make it harder.
For every hour gained in efficiency, conversation rates dip.
- Fewer prospects pick up the phone
- Fewer prospects open your emails
- Fewer prospects accept LinkedIn requests from reps
It's a net neutral (or negative) for most.
2025 is the year of acceptance:
✅ Accepting that, unless you have a high-velocity SMB sales motion, you won't be fully automating outbound any time soon
✅ Accepting that any smart exec (basically all of them) can sniff out an AI-generated cold email from a mile away
✅ Accepting that the majority of your sales org is unwilling to outbound
✅ Accepting that the majority of your front-line leaders don't even talk about outbound with their reps
✅ Accepting that referrals and inbound are great, but you don't scale much beyond $100M ARR without strategic outbound
✅ Accepting that "spray and pray" doesn't work anymore
✅ Accepting that you need to get out of the office/home and see more customers in person
You have two options 2025:
1) Keep looking for ways to avoid doing outbound and holding everyone accountable for it
2) Make 2025 the year your sales org makes a culture change and master it