The Outbound Sales Playbook for 2026

Early Trends Every Sales Leader Should Be Watching

Author

Tom Slocum
October 13, 2025

In partnership with

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

It’s Monday morning and yes outbound’s changing again

Not dying
Not “AI replacing reps” changing

but…..evolving!

The playbooks that crushed in 2023–2024 are already slowing down
Buyers are behaving differently
Channels are noisier
Tools are smarter
and here’s the thing… the reps, teams and founders who spot the shifts early?

They’ll own 2026…

So let’s dig into what’s actually changing and how to get ahead before everyone else catches on 👇

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You can feel it right now right? Outbound’s shifting again!

The same sequences that crushed in 2023 are flatlining
Reply rates are tightening
Buyers are sharper
Tech stacks are heavier

and the teams that’ll win in 2026? They’re already adapting

I’ve been watching the data across clients and my own motion and it’s clear
The next 18 months will belong to reps and leaders who balance AI, authenticity and agility

Here’s where the game’s really heading 👇

🔹 AI-Powered Personalization (without sounding robotic)
Buyers can smell a mail merge a mile away but the top teams are using AI to surface insights not write copy

They’re pulling context like new hires, tech installs, funding rounds and weaving it into short, relevant messages in seconds

Not “Hi First Name” but “Congrats on the Series B saw you’re scaling RevOps. Quick idea for how we help [similiar company].”

👉 2026 will reward reps who use AI to speed up thinking not replace it

🔹 Voice + Video Take Over the Inbox
Emails are easy to ignore but a 45 second video or voice note? Hard to fake, easy to feel

Reps who sound like humans not sequences are winning
Expect cadences to blend short videos, voice notes and DMs to break the monotony

🔹 Micro-Sequences > Marathons
Those 15 step cadences from 2022? Done

Winning teams are running 3–5 touch “micro-sequences” triggered by real-time signals like new exec hire, funding, tech stack change

Precision > persistence

🔹 Communities Become the New Prospecting Channel
Your buyers aren’t just on LinkedIn anymore. They’re in Slack groups, niche communities and industry spaces swapping advice daily

In 2026 reps who show up where their prospects already hang out not to pitch but to participate will win by association

🔹 RevOps × Sales: The Compound Effect
Top-of-funnel will keep rewarding teams with clean systems and tight feedback loops.
AI + automation mean nothing if your data’s dirty or your workflows are messy

Outbound and RevOps aren’t separate lanes anymore. They’re one motion

The Traps

⚠️ Over-Automation → Letting AI run wild = generic, soulless outreach

⚠️ Ignoring New Channels → Sticking to phone + email only = invisible

⚠️ One-Size-Fits-All Messaging → Relevance beats volume every time

✅ Key takeaway
2026 isn’t about chasing every shiny tool it’s about staying human and operationally sharp because the teams who evolve their systems now… won’t be playing catch-up later

The playbook’s changing but the fundamentals don’t. Here’s what I’ve been watching, reading and passing to clients to help them stay ahead of the curve 👇

Explore. Engage. Evolve.

If last week was about fixing the system and this week’s about spotting the future this video is the perfect bridge between the two because let’s be real no matter how slick your tools or data get…you still have to sell like a human

Michelle breaks down what modern selling really looks like in 2025. How to build real relationships, follow up without being annoying and use AI without losing your authenticity. It’s not another “sales hacks” video. It’s what happens when strategy meets soul and it’s exactly the type of mindset reps will need heading into 2026

Watch for her section on consultative questions and storytelling it’ll click fast for anyone trying to connect better in cold calls, DMs or demos.

If you’ve ever felt torn between “AI efficiency” and “human connection” this 10 minute clip will show you how to blend both without sounding fake

Drop it in your team Slack this week. It’s worth a group watch 👇

If you’ve been around outbound long enough this one’s a classic but it hits differently when you read it now. While everyone’s chasing the next AI tool or trend this book reminds us what hasn’t changed.. the structure, rhythm and consistency that make outbound predictable.

Marylou and Jeremey break down how to build a real system from how you design your pipeline to how you run sequences and measure success.

Think of it like this.. last week’s RevOps issue helped you tighten the plumbing right

This week’s book helps you rebuild the playbook!

If you lead a team grab this and read one chapter with your RevOps or SDR lead this week. Highlight one system you could clean up. Your handoff process, data flow or sequence logic and update it before year end. That’s how you start building your 2026 outbound engine… one clean play at a time 💪 

Bonus Sales Tactics 🤑

1️⃣ The 3 Touch Precision Play
Pick 5 high value accounts you actually want
Forget the 12-step marathon go precision

  • Record a 45-second video (Sendspark.. cough cough) calling out one live trigger (funding, new hire, expansion)

  • Drop a LinkedIn DM with the video link.. short, personal, real

  • Follow up with a “give” (guide, article, mini playbook) that ties to their situation.

👉 This isn’t “spray and pray.” It’s surgical. It’s how you get a real convo without spamming their inbox

2️⃣ The AI Assist Test
Take one of your old outbound sequences
Run each step through ChatGPT or your favorite AI tool but don’t let it rewrite it

Have it analyze tone, clarity and buyer relevance then tweak it manually to sound human again

The goal: blend machine speed with your real voice. If your copy reads like a robot or a resume.. It’s time to fix it

3️⃣ The Channel Check
Audit your reps activity this week. If all their touches are email or phone you’ve got a blind spot. Challenge them to add one new lane.. video, voice or community

You’ll see who’s creative and who’s coasting

Community Update: The Outbound Underground

Quick pulse check from the trenches the Outbound Underground is alive and kicking

We’re now 116 members deep and it’s starting to feel like a real movement

Things slowed down a bit last week while I wrapped up Q3 ops for The SD Lab
but we’re back at it this week with a full-court press pushing to 250 members by Halloween

and the stack we’ve built for the crew? Unreal!!

✅ ConnectAndSell for live power dialing
✅ Apollo (10K credits + full license)
✅ Sendspark for personalized video outreach (1-year free)
✅ Sybill AI note-taker (3 months free)
✅ Expandi.io LinkedIn automation (6 months free)

Reps are already stacking wins with these tools and we’re just getting started

Office Hours have been 🔥 lately — live cold calls, roleplays, sequence rewrites and even building outbound plays from scratch

We’ve been diving into brand-building and social selling too helping reps learn to sell and be seen

If you’re a sales leader looking to sharpen your team or a founder trying to level up your top of funnel come hang out or better yet send your bottom performers to the dojo. They’ll come back sharper, hungrier and more confident

Final Thought

The outbound playbook for 2026 isn’t about volume
It’s about velocity and precision

The teams who’ll win next year are the ones that experiment now 

who test new channels before they’re trendy
who train AI to serve their style
and who lead with empathy in every touch

Outbound isn’t dying we know this… it’s finally leveling up and if you’re reading this you’re already ahead of the curve

Now go prove it this week 👊

Thanks for reading. See you again next week at 8 am MST!

- Tom Slocum ✌️

How can The SD Lab help you?

If your outbound pipeline is stuck we fix that

The SD Lab works with founders, sales leaders and enablement pros to install outbound systems that actually generate pipeline

Here’s how we help teams level up fast 👇

🚀 The Revenue Accelerator

2 to 12 week outbound consulting sprints for B2B orgs with 10–20+ reps

✅ Lift SQLs by 20–30%
✅ Coach reps with real call reviews + AI scorecards
✅ Rebuild outbound messaging + targeting
✅ Deliver a scalable system your team can own

👉 Best for: Series A-B SaaS orgs, new SDR teams, stalled pipeline

📓 Custom Sales Playbooks

4 to 8 week builds of cold call flows, email copy, objection handling and targeting strategy

You bring the ICP, we build the message and motion
Final asset = plug-and-play playbook your team can use or scale

👉 Best for: founders, enablement leaders, agencies building outbound

🎯 Targeted Workshops + Power Hours

Live tactical sessions for your team. No fluff, just results

💥 Cold call clinics
💥 Email teardown sessions
💥 Social selling & DM strategy
💥 SDR workflow optimization

👉 Best for: fast enablement, rep upskilling, team offsites or new hire ramp

🧠 Outbound Underground

Our private Slack community for reps & rising sellers

🔓 Weekly office hours
🔓 Tech tool perks
🔓 Peer feedback, templates and real talk

Curious what this could look like for your org?
Book a 20 min strategy chat no pitch just clarity 👇

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