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

We’ve all been there….

Celebrating a record dial day or a LinkedIn post that “blew up” only to realize none of it got us closer to revenue

Vanity metrics feel good… but they won’t close your pipeline

Lets talk about what actually will 👇

Sponsor of the Week - Surfe 🏄‍♂️

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• Copy/pasting into HubSpot

• Losing track of convos

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This Week’s Big Idea: Stop Chasing Vanity Metrics

You know the scene…

👏 Sales rep hits 150 dials
👏 Email campaign gets a 64% open rate
👏 LinkedIn post goes viral with 127 comments

...and yet no pipeline moved
No deal advanced
No revenue landed

🤬

That’s vanity in disguise 🤷‍♂️

We’ve all been guilty of it right? Celebrating activity like it’s the win

But let me be clear

Activity without impact is just noise #sorrynotsorry

🚨 The “Busy but broke” Trap

Teams are grinding every day but on a treadmill going nowhere

• Dial counts

• Email sends

• Open rates

• LinkedIn likes

Those are input metrics
They measure motion not momentum

Here’s what actually matters

Metrics That Move Deals

✅ Quality Conversations
→ Did your rep uncover pain, budget or urgency?

✅ Next Steps Secured
→ Did the call end with a clear commitment not “send me info”?

✅ Pipeline Advancement
→ Did that activity push the deal forward or just check a box?

✅ Deal Velocity
→ Are reps compressing sales cycles or spinning wheels?

The Tom Take

If your daily huddle is full of

“How many dials did you make?”
“How many emails did you send?”

...you’re managing shadows 🤷‍♂️

Start asking

“How many convos turned into next steps today?”
“How many deals moved to the next stage this week?”

That’s when the culture shifts

From checking boxes → to creating revenue momentum

And that’s where elite teams win

Want your reps hitting goals?

Stop tracking effort
Start measuring impact 🤙 

Explore. Engage. Evolve.

🎥 Video of the Week - Why Most SDRs Are Set Up to Fail (And What to Do Instead)

Explore why traditional SDR metrics like call volume and email counts can create the illusion of productivity while doing little to move deals. This video breaks down how to redefine success by tracking actions that tie directly to revenue. Think quality of connect and deal velocity not vanity stats 😎

📚 Book of the Week - The Challenger Sale by Matthew Dixon & Brent Adamson

A sales classic that challenges the old “relationship builder” mindset. It shows how the most successful reps teach prospects something new, tailor their message to business priorities and take control of the sales conversation

A perfect complement to focusing on impact over activity

Bonus Sales Tactics 🤑

Tactical Play of the Week

Instead of measuring success by raw activity (calls/emails sent) track this

1. Discovery Ratio → % of conversations that uncover a real challenge

2. Next-Step Rate → % of meetings booked or follow-ups scheduled

3. Pipeline Impact → % of conversations tied to real opportunities

Quick Hack: End every call with “Before we wrap what’s the best next step here?” then document it. You’ll start spotting patterns in what’s actually working

⚡ Community Update: Outbound Underground is Open

Got reps stuck on cold calls, ghosted on email or lost on LinkedIn?
Drop them in a room where outbound is actually mastered not just talked about

We launched Outbound Underground last week

A private Slack community built for SDRs, AEs and BDRs ready to level up fast

Here’s what they get

💬 Weekly live office hours (cold calling, cold email, social selling)
🧠 Playbooks, peer feedback and real frameworks
🎁 Tech perks (dialers, video, AI, email tools) to sharpen their workflow
🔥 Already 65+ active reps… this isn’t another dead Slack

Pricing

• Free tier with limited access

• Monthly: $50/month → increases to $75/month on Sept 1

• Annual: $500/year → increases to $750/year on Sept 1

• Teams (2+ reps): Discounts available just reply and let me know how many you want in

Perfect for

• Founders and VPs looking to uplevel their reps without spinning up a full enablement plan

• Enablement leaders who want outside coaching baked in

• Solo reps who want to grow without waiting on permission

🚨 Price goes up from $50/month to $75 and $500/annual → $750 on Sept 1
🎟️ Grab your seat before the jump »

P.S. Want to drop in a few reps or your whole team?
Reply to this and I’ll set you up with a custom bundle

Final Thought

The next time you’re tempted to flex a big dial count or email send number… stop

Ask

➡️ Did this move a deal forward?
If the answer’s no it’s just noise 🤷‍♂️

You don’t need more noise
You need more movement

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

- Tom Slocum ✌️

Step Into The Lab

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

🎟️ Join here » — free & paid options available

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

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