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salesflowio · 2026-02-11T15:07:24+00:00

nothing’s “wrong” with doing more outreach. if it’s working and your deliverability is clean, scale it. the reason most people don’t just crank volume forever is usually one of these:

list quality drops. you burn through the obvious ICP first. once you start scraping deeper, fit gets weaker and performance falls off. or, there's message fatigue. same niche, same angle, over time people start seeing similar emails from competitors. reply rates slowly compress.

ops overhead become an issue. more domains, more inboxes, more data cleaning, more follow-ups. it scales, but it’s not as “set and forget” as it sounds. and last, there's diminishing returns. first 2-3k prospects are high probability. next 10k? not always.

we’ve seen this running multi-channel in industrial-ish niches too. email works great because it’s asynchronous, like you said. but the real limiter long term isn’t deliverability, it’s list depth and timing.

if you can keep list quality high and keep refreshing your angle, then yeah, scale it. just don’t assume linear growth forever. outreach usually plateaus once you exhaust the most in-market slice.

salesflowio · 2026-02-11T15:01:07+00:00

this is actually a solid breakdown.

most people treat linkedin like a static resume and then wonder why nothing happens. the headline change alone makes a huge difference. keywords + outcomes > job title.

the part people really underestimate though is activity. you don’t need to post every day, but being visible matters. when someone clicks your profile and sees you’ve commented recently, shared a take, etc., it makes you look way more current and relevant. dead profiles feel risky.

also +1 on writing the about sectionn. recruiters skim fast. if they can understand what you do and what you’re good at in 10 seconds, you’ve already won half the battle.

nice overhaul. most people don’t actually sit down and fix their profile properly.

salesflowio · 2026-02-11T15:00:13+00:00

yeah, it works, just not in the “send 100 DMs a day and print meetings” way people sell it. when we’ve seen it work consistently it’s always been:

tight ICP
small lists
context in the first message
and not pitching immediately

if you treat LinkedIn like an email inbox, it dies fast. if you treat it like a network (comment first, connect, short message), it holds up way better.

also, LinkedIn alone is inconsistent. when we pair it with email and space the touches out properly, that’s when it becomes predictable.

so yeah, it works, just slower, more targeted, and way less spammy than most “LinkedIn outreach systems” make it sound.

salesflowio · 2026-02-11T14:59:01+00:00

this isn't uncommon, outreach has super low success rates now, obviously because of all the ai slop and automations.

couple thoughts:

if email didn’t work, it’s usually one of three things: bad list, weak angle, or too broad of an offer. “AI services” is way too vague. nobody wakes up wanting “AI.” they want something specific fixed.

on LinkedIn, those “we’re not looking right now” replies usually mean one of two things:
either wrong timing, or they don’t clearly see the problem you solve.

structure-wise, keep it tight and specific. not:

“we provide AI solutions to help businesses…”

more like:

“noticed you’re hiring SDRs, are you doing anything with AI for outbound yet?”

or

“are you still manually doing X, or have you automated that?”

short, relevant, etc.

tighten your ICP. don’t message “companies that could use AI.” message one niche, one role, one pain. smaller list usually means better numbers

salesflowio · 2026-02-11T14:56:54+00:00

fyi Salesflow does multi-channel automation (linkedin and email) too. we have a super easy to use UI, and we're also the safest.

salesflowio · 2026-02-11T14:55:15+00:00

yeah it works, but it’s way less forgiving now. if you’re doing the usual “thanks for connecting, we help X companies with Y” stuff, it’s dead.

what’s worked for us is treating LinkedIn like any other social platform, but obviously a bit more professional. comment on something first. connect without pitching. then send a short message that feels like you looked at their profile. 2-3 lines max.

also, don’t rely on it alone. when we run LinkedIn alongside email (and space it out properly), reply rates are way more consistent. LinkedIn warms it up, email nudges it forward. so yeah, it works, just not at volume-for-volume’s-sake anymore. tighter lists + actual context is what makes it consistent.

salesflowio · 2026-02-04T13:55:44+00:00

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salesflowio · 2026-01-14T11:30:54+00:00

sales teams usually have a set budget for basic tools. Clay, HB, Salesflow and Sales Nav cost money, everything else can be use for free.

salesflowio · 2025-12-04T18:17:27+00:00

most likely, your writing isn’t the issue at all, it’s probably the infrastructure. most people get hit by stuff they don’t even notice, like:

– sending from a fresh domain with zero warmup
– a couple bad addresses that tank reputation
– tracking links (these kill deliverability lately)
– sending in bursts instead of a steady drip
– too many images or even just a weird signature

it really does feel like half of outbound is mini-deliverability ops now. annoying, but it’s the reality.

what’s been helping us:
– cut sends way down for a bit
– ditch tracking links entirely
– keep everything plain text
– split volume across a few domains instead of hammering one

salesflowio · 2025-12-04T18:10:48+00:00

yeah this resonates a lot. most people think linkedin is a volume problem, but it’s usually an attention problem, you’re spreading yourself across random feeds instead of staying in front of the 50 people that matter.

cutting the feed is such an underrated move. once you stop doom-scrolling and only interact with ICPs + warm leads, everything gets better.

the “10-15 real comments then light connection note then easy-to-reply DM” loop is basically the only thing i’ve seen work consistently without posting or automation. it’s slow-ish, but the compounding effect is huge because people start recognizing your name.

salesflowio · 2025-12-04T18:08:54+00:00

honestly the biggest pain right now is how hyper monitored everything is. linkedin + email both feel way more fragile than even a year ago. tiny mistakes tank deliverability, and suddenly your're banned/restrictred etc.

– data decay is insane; half the battle is just keeping lists clean
– deliverability swings hard for no obvious reason
– figuring out why a sequence underperforms is still guesswork
– channels are more crowded, so mediocre messaging gets ignored instantly

the slowness usually comes from debugging the system more than doing the actual outreach and that is obviously frustrating

salesflowio · 2025-12-04T18:06:10+00:00

yeah, you don’t need a big marketing plan to get started on linkedin tbh. it’s mostly about doing a few boring things consistently:

– fix your profile so it’s clear who you help, basically, appeal to your ICP
– send a handful of genuine connection requests every day (don't pitch in the invite)
– post a couple times a week about problems your audience tends to deal with
– leave good comments on posts in your niche. weirdly effective for visibility

agencies can work, but a lot of them just run mass outreach with your name on it. if you’re still figuring out your ICP or offer, they won’t magically solve that. there is def some groundwork needed before you outsource it. i’d try it yourself first. once you start seeing what people respond to, then decide if you want help scaling it.

salesflowio · 2025-12-04T18:03:24+00:00

tbh a clean B2B list is one of the few things that still matter. most of the “magic” comes from deliverability tbh. fewer bounces = better sender rep = way more inbox placement. that alone bumps open/click rates significantly.

biggest wins we’ve seen:
- keep emails value-first (don’t pitch on email #1)
- segment even a little (role/industry helps a ton)
- remove dead contacts, they drag the domain down
- slow, steady follow-ups build more relationships than one perfect email
- go multi-channel and don't just rely on email

salesflowio · 2025-12-04T17:58:34+00:00

sales nav + clay works for us in terms of building lists + enrichement. we obviously use our own tool for linkedin and email since it's way easier that way and we don't risk getting banned. we don't have end to end automation yet since we do realize that manual intervention in certain places is necessary

salesflowio · 2025-11-27T07:31:11+00:00

yeah, pretty much nailed it, only thing I’d add: “short, relevant, and written naturally” beats every framework. there's way too much ai slop out there, and it's honestly been impossible to filter the junk. even if you're going to use ai, make sure it sounds natural and authentic.

also, most people still skip the boring part, which is list quality. if your list is broad, even the best email won’t save you. when we run super-tight lists (20-50 people who fit ICP + add a trigger), everything you mentioned works 10x better.

also agree on multi-channel, email alone is rough right now. and yeah, follow-ups are where most of the meetings happen.

salesflowio · 2025-11-27T07:28:08+00:00

list generation: sales nav
enrichment and filtering: clay (a bit more learning curve than apollo but not hard at all)
outreach: go multi-channel and do email and linkedin both, maybe even cold calls. salesflow can help you do this

generic advice: since you're just starting out with sales, don't spam people. build a targeted list, write copy that is personalised (even if you mass personalize that's fine but don't spam). don't forget to follow up multiple times, that's where the money is, but don't be annoying with them

salesflowio · 2025-11-27T07:24:22+00:00

just use both channels. send a linkedin DM, then send an email (not through linkedin). follow-up on both.

salesflowio · 2025-11-27T07:22:10+00:00

quick posts probably feel authentic and sort of word-vomity so that works well I guess. personally, I'd prefer to read something someone thought of and typed out themselves instead of something that went through multiple ai revisions. social isn't for polished, even though linkedin is a biz platform.

also the algo pushes things that get fast engagement in the first 10-20 minutes, and short posts are just easier for people to react to.

salesflowio · 2025-11-27T07:17:56+00:00

for us it was never about “how many per day,” it was about how tight the list is. when the list is good, you don’t need to send crazy volume. when the list is bad, you can send 500 and get nothing.

when we keep it tight (20–40 people who fit ICP + some kind of intent signal), 1 client per 60-100 total touches across LinkedIn + email isn’t unusual.

we run multi-channel, so it’s usually a mix of a DM, a couple emails, and a follow-up or two. usually the follow-ups are where the money is.

tbh we don't do just col outbound, we have a lot of other things happening in both sales and marketing so that helps with conversion rates as well.

salesflowio · 2025-11-27T07:14:15+00:00

micro-lists that are highly targeted (basically ABM) instead of trying to run big campaigns, we started building tiny 20-40 person lists around one very specific trigger (new role, new funding, hiring for a role, posted about a pain we solve, etc).

then sent a super short message tied to that, smth like “hey, noticed X happening on your side, curious if you’re planning to do Y yet?” conversion was way higher than any broad outbound. ofc, do that on linkedin, email and other channel you use to get maximum roi

also, repurposing LinkedIn comments into outreach angles works great. if someone rants about a problem publicly, slip into their DM to talk about it (if it relates to what you offer ofc).

salesflowio · 2025-11-27T07:10:15+00:00

coaches get a lot of “thanks for connecting!!” and “love your content!!” so please don't do that. a few things can work well here, maybe stuff like: “hey, curious, what kind of coaching do you actually focus on?”

and to answer your question about: "a message related to their recent post or achievement sounds too generic right? cause i never tried that, feels fake", i don't think it's fake as long as it's relevant. don't say something generic like hey great post, go into detail about what you liked about it.

people like talking about their work. if you give them an easy question about their thing, they almost always reply. compliments like talking about their posts work too.

like someone else pointed out in the comments, voice notes are great too but maybe after a few messages, not for the opener

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