- The GTM Launchpad
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- Scaling Outbound
Welcome to the GTM Launchpad newsletter! Each week I will share a sales play to help you grow your business, level up your sales game and succeed in the trenches
Outbound is the growth engine for most B2B teams
But here’s the catch
Push it too hard, and your SDRs hit a wall
Pull back too much and pipeline suffers
The real challenge?
Scaling output without grinding your people down
This one’s for the leaders trying to increase activity and keep their teams in the game for the long haul
Let’s break it down 👇
Sponsor of the Week - Smartlead
Turn Cold Emails Into Warm Conversations (Without Sounding Like a Robot)
Last week I hosted office hours with 90+ founders, reps and marketers
We broke down my HERO Framework
Hook → Empathy → Relevance → Offer
A simple system for writing cold emails that actually start conversations not hit spam folders
💥 We tore down real emails
🤖 Showed AI workflows I use weekly
📬 And shared deliverability tips using Smartlead that boosted reply rates
Smartlead is my go-to engine right now
Unlimited inboxes (I’m running 39… yes 39 😅)
Custom sending logic
Best-in-class warmup & inbox rotation
And the deliverability is chef’s kiss 👨🍳💋
🔥 If you missed the session the full replay is live 👇
If you're still sending cold emails without Smartlead… you're making it harder than it needs to be
Grab the tool. Steal the framework.
Then go start conversations that convert
⚠️ The Overdrive Trap
The assumption: more dials + more emails = more meetings
The reality: burnout kills performance faster than low activity ever will
Why it happens
→ Unrealistic daily activity targets
→ No focus on quality
→ Minimal recovery time between sprints
The fix: Focus on sustainable intensity
Think intervals not marathons
Quality Leverage > Quantity Grind
When every rep is chasing “100+ touches/day” quality inevitably drops
Instead set targets for meaningful conversations, personalized emails sent and call connection rates
Ask in weekly 1:1s
→ “How many conversations felt worth having this week?”
→ “What made them land?”
→ “Where can we double down?”
Sprint & Recover Cadence
Top outbound teams treat prospecting like athletes treat training
Structure your week into
→ Sprints – 90–120 min focused outbound blocks, no multitasking
→ Recovery – 10–15 min breaks for reset & note review
→ Review – Quick end-of-day call/email audit
This keeps energy high and prevents the mid-week slump
Process Simplification
Burnout isn’t always from volume it’s from complexity
Audit your outbound process
→ How many tools does an SDR juggle in a single call block?
→ How many unnecessary manual steps exist?
→ Are sequences and lists pre-built and ready, or are they hunting for data on the fly?
Every friction point = extra cognitive load
Strip it down
Mindset Shift: “From Quota to Mastery”
When SDRs only chase numbers they feel like a hamster on a wheel
When they chase skill growth/progression they feel like professionals honing a craft
Add skill-based KPIs
→ Objection conversion rate
→ % of calls reaching “next step”
→ Time-to-first-response on hot leads
Celebrate learning wins not just booked meetings
Explore. Engage. Evolve.
🎥 Video of the Week - From One SDR Leader to Another: Scaling Outbound With a Lean Team
Sara Angell, Director of Account Development at UserGems joined SDR Leaders of EMEA for a live webinar on how lean teams can punch way above their weight and still crush pipeline goals
She shares
🔹 The playbooks that actually work (yes you can steal them)
🔹 Where AI & automation save time vs. create noise
🔹 How to scale outbound without scaling headcount
If you’re leading an SDR team and want to do more with less this one’s for you
📚 Book of the Week – The 4 Disciplines of Execution by Chris McChesney
A playbook for turning big goals into consistent results. McChesney outlines four simple but powerful disciplines focus on the wildly important, act on lead measures, keep a compelling scoreboard and create a cadence of accountability that help teams stay aligned, execute with precision and sustain momentum
Bonus Sales Tactics 🤑
Try These Tactics This Week
1. 3x3 Focus Rule
Pick 3 high-priority accounts per rep each week
Require 3 tailored touchpoints per account before moving on
Reduces scattershot outreach and boosts engagement
2. Call Energy Mapping
Track when each SDR feels most “on.”
Build their heaviest call blocks in those windows
Natural energy > artificial grind
3. Win Story Recharge
Start Monday team huddles with a recent outbound win
Break down what worked
The fastest burnout antidote? Reminding reps the work pays off
Scaling Smart. The Takeaway
Scaling outbound isn’t about pushing harder it’s about pushing smarter
✅ Short, focused sprints
✅ More quality, less clutter
✅ Celebrating skill growth alongside bookings
Your SDR team’s stamina is your competitive advantage
Protect it and your pipeline will thank you
See you next week 👊
Community Spotlight – The Outbound Underground Is Live
Where cold outreach gets hot again 🔥
Outbound can feel lonely
Whether you're a solo SDR grinding from your bedroom or a leader trying to coach a team of 12 through Q3 slump… it’s easy to feel like you’re flying solo
That’s why I built The Outbound Underground™
A private Slack community for outbound pros who are actually in the trenches
Here’s what’s inside 👇
✅ Weekly Office Hours
→ Cold Calling Tuesdays
→ Cold Email Wednesdays
→ Social Selling Thursdays
✅ Slack channels for cold email, cold calls, social selling, jobs, templates and wins
✅ Member perks: live coaching, resource drops, sales challenges
✅ $50/month or $500/year founding member option
✅ Free members welcome too - no upsell trap, just real ones
Whether you're an SDR, AE, manager or founder…
This is your space to get sharper, share playbooks and tap in with other outbound killers who get it
👇 Tap in before Q4 ramps up
Thanks for reading. See you again next week at 8 am MST!
- Tom Slocum ✌️
Step Into The Lab
If you’re tired of spinning your wheels on outbound and need a real sales engine that drives results The SD Lab is built for you
Here’s how we help B2B orgs and SDR teams level up fast ⤵️
1️⃣ Outbound done-for-you – We handle your outbound lead gen booking up to 10-20+ sales qualified meetings a month so your team focuses on closing not chasing. We provide the talent, the tech stack and a process that works
2️⃣ The Revenue Accelerator – 8-12 week consulting, enablement & sales training program built for orgs and sales teams that want to
✅ Book more sales qualified meetings (20-30% lift in SQLs)
✅ Close more deals (better handoffs = better conversions)
✅ Sharpen their process (cold calls, email, social, all dialed in)
3️⃣ Custom Sales Playbooks – Need a structured sales game plan? We’ll build you a tailored playbook in 45-60 days that fits your ICP, messaging and outbound motion
4️⃣ Targeted Sales Workshops – Whether your team needs a cold calling clinic, outbound messaging tune up or social selling boost I run one-off training sessions that deliver actionable, immediate results
Want to see what this could look like for your team? Let’s talk