2 minute read
Let’s be honest. You don’t need more cold DMs. You need real conversations with real prospects who might buy.
But if you’re an SME founder wearing every hat, you’ve got:
- No time
- No SDR
- No idea what’s working
This blog will show you exactly how to:
Start 10+ meaningful sales conversations a day, without hiring or managing anyone.
Step 1: Get Crystal Clear on WHO You Want to Talk To
Outbound doesn't work when it's vague. It works when you're laser-focused.
Start here:
- Industry (e.g. legal firms, recruitment agencies, SaaS startups)
- Job title (e.g. owner, director, head of operations)
- Company size (e.g. 5–50 employees)
- Pain point (e.g. no outbound system, inconsistent leads, poor follow-up)
The more specific, the more successful your messaging will be.
Use this to build your ICP (Ideal Customer Profile).
Step 2: Build Your List
No list = no leads. Here are 3 founder-friendly tools that do the heavy lifting:
- Clay: Pull verified emails, job titles, tech stacks, and more. Advanced, but powerful.
- Apollo.io: Huge database + enrichment. Great if you're just starting.
- Phantombuster: Scrape leads directly from LinkedIn searches.
Set your filters once. Export the data. Done.
Step 3: Write 1 Message That Doesn’t Sound Automated
Here’s the secret:
Don't write like a marketer. Write like a human.
Bad: “Hi [First Name], we help SMEs like yours scale with cutting-edge lead generation solutions.”
Better:
“Saw you run a growing [industry] firm — curious if you’ve ever built an outbound sales system? Most founders we speak to say: 'We tried it before. Didn’t work.' We’ve got a new way. Want to see it?”
Short. Real. Conversational.
Step 4: Automate Your First Campaign (Without Ruining Your Reputation)
Use safe automation tools that mimic human behaviour:
- Smartlead.ai or Instantly.ai: Set up cold email flows with smart warm-up and deliverability built in
- Expandi or We-Connect: Send LinkedIn connection requests and messages automatically
Make sure:
- You personalise the first line or two
- You keep it under 5 follow-ups
- You track replies and handle the rest manually
Set it and check it daily. That’s it.
Step 5: Track What’s Working (and Fix What Isn’t)
Your sales system is only as good as your feedback loop.
Track:
- Open rates (should be 40%+)
- Reply rates (aim for 8%+)
- Call bookings
- Conversion to sales
Use our free Sales Math Tracker to reverse-engineer your targets.
Download the Sales Math Tracker
Want Us to Build It for You?
You can 100% do this on your own.
But if you want:
- A campaign built and launched in 7 days
- Clear dashboards
- Pre-qualified leads booked into your calendar
We do it for you at xSellerate.
No team? No problem. You just need a system that starts the right conversations.
Start with this blog. Follow the steps. Or let us build it for you.
Either way — outbound doesn’t have to be hard anymore.
