How to do Outbound in 2025 : B2B SaaS sales

Outbound sales isn't dead.

Buyers are tired of calls, emails, and ads that are fighting for attention everywhere.

But cold outbound is far from dead.

The old outbound playbook no longer works in a world of information overload.

Just a few years ago, the process looked like this:

• Find contact data
• Put contacts into sequences
• Only look at simple signals for hiring and funding

The truth is:
The old playbook still works for many companies.

But only a small percentage can make it work.
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Why is cold outbound evolving?
AI and new tools have the biggest impact by automating processes.
Today, everyone is receiving AI-generated messages, and you can't get away from ads or being called by spammy salespeople.

The problem is not the new tools or AI—it’s still human.

You can leverage those tools to increase your sales efficiency and decrease costs.

It’s time to embrace hyper-relevance, smart signals, and segmentation.
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1. Smaller and Segmented Lead Lists

You can use tools like Clay to get granular with your lists and the information you're scraping.

You need to analyze your data:

• What works for a specific role
• Role-specific pain points
• Industry-specific pain points

Instead of having big lists with different roles and targeting different industries, you'll have small lists.

You can create hyper-relevant messaging to increase your success rates.

2. Using Signals Effectively

You should track every signal you can, not just funding or hiring signals.

This can include:

• Social media likes
• Website visits
• E-book downloads
• LinkedIn profile visits
• And more

Just pay attention to previous successes and failures to understand patterns and set up your system.

The second step is to focus on high-value signals (especially if you offer free trials):
↳ Most used features
↳ Colleague invitations
↳ Specific page views like pricing
↳ Check if/which integration is set
↳ If the decision maker is onboard
↳ Number of pageviews - website visits

But the thing is, you can't treat all signals the same.

You need to categorize them and prepare your messaging accordingly.

For example:

"Hey Seha, saw that you looked at my profile. How can I help?"

This is not good messaging—visiting your profile doesn’t tell you much by itself.

3. Smart Scaling

It’s easy to assume that your emails aren't spammy or your phone numbers aren't flagged as spam, especially when you're using hyper-relevant messaging and personalizing.

Here are my tips:

• Use tools like Instantly to warm up your emails. This keeps your email domain ready for outreach and increases your delivery rates.
• Do not use your main email domains for outreach campaigns. Eventually, it will ruin your entire domain reputation. Buy new domains and use multiple email addresses.
• Use local phone extensions. For example, if you're calling UK numbers, have a UK extension ready to call those people.

These tips will help you connect with more prospects.

4. Old-School Methods Work Well Now

Everything is AI-generated or full of messages competing for attention. Anyone can start doing this in 5 minutes. But most of us forget that this makes human interaction even more important.

One trend I see is sending gifts and having face-to-face meetings.

AI can't fake it.
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5. Tap Into Networks and Communities

As you know, conversations on social media are becoming superficial, and it can be hard to track the results. In other words, ROI is not clear.

But the go-to-network approach is growing. Products like Commsor help you discover connections and potential collaborations within networks. It’s worth testing.

Also, the most genuine conversations happen in communities. Track discussions in different ICP communities and reach out to people you can help.

This is why I'm building CommunityBeam.
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6. Use the Power of Content on Socials

The environment on social platforms is getting worse as they become flooded with AI-generated content and saturated with creators.

However, social selling still works, and quality content is always appreciated.

You can track people who engage with your content and see if they show intent.

My personal opinion is that creating content on social platforms is great for building brand awareness.
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Outbound Isn’t Dead, It’s Just Harder

It’s changing fast. Buyers are more skeptical, more selective, and more bombarded with messaging than ever.

Focus on hyper-relevance, smart signals, and segmentation to increase your sales efficiency and results.