Outbound sales

Outbound and inbound sales

The difference is who moves first. In inbound sales the buyer finds you through a search, a post or a referral and raises a hand. In outbound sales you pick the company, find the right person there and write to them before they start looking. Outbound gives you control over who you talk to and when. Inbound brings people who are already curious, at a pace you cannot set.

Outbound earns its place when you can name the companies you want and waiting for them to find you would take too long. The two also feed each other: someone who ignored your email may read your site a month later.

The outbound sales process

1. Define the ideal customer profile. Industry, size, region, the tools they run, and the job titles that buy and the ones that use the product.
2. Build and check the list. The companies, the people at each, and a work email that has been verified, so the first send does not bounce.
3. Find a reason to write now. A new job, a hiring push, a post about the problem you solve, a visit to your pricing page. These are buying signals.
4. Write short and follow up. A first message about them, then a few follow-ups spread over days or weeks, on email and LinkedIn.
5. Handle every reply. Interest gets an answer the same day, a "not now" gets a date to come back, and a request to stop ends every step.

How to measure outbound sales

• Reply rate: replies divided by people contacted.
• Positive reply rate: replies that show interest, divided by people contacted.
• Meetings booked per hundred people contacted, and how many of those meetings become pipeline.
• Bounce and opt-out rates, the early warning that the list or the message is off.

In GetSales, a new reply the AI SDR reads gets one of 15 labels, plus one of yours when it fits, with how sure it is and why.

The rules for cold outreach

In the US, the CAN-SPAM Act makes no exception for business-to-business email. Each commercial message needs accurate header information and an honest subject line, a clear note that it is an ad, your postal address and a way to opt out, and an opt-out has to be honored within 10 business days.1

In the UK, the PECR rule on marketing email does not cover companies and other corporate bodies, so you can write to their staff without prior consent, as long as you say who you are and give a valid address to opt out. Sole traders and some partnerships count as individuals and need consent or the soft opt-in. If an address names a person, the UK GDPR still applies: you need a lawful basis, you owe them privacy information, and they have an absolute right to stop direct marketing.2

Related

• Outbound lead generation: the process from list to meeting.
• Sales engagement platform: LinkedIn and email steps in one flow.
• Inbound and outbound marketing: how the two differ.

Sources

1. Federal Trade Commission, CAN-SPAM Act: A Compliance Guide for Business, August 2023, edited January 2024. Read 28 October 2026.
2. Information Commissioner's Office, Business-to-business marketing, no date stated, marked as under review after the Data (Use and Access) Act. Read 28 October 2026.