
“As an Account Exec here...you'll get tons of inbound, channel, and SDR here. It's little, if any, outbound.”
☝️
Recruiters & sales leaders before 2022
I bet they're regretting saying that now.
Here's my thesis on why so many sales orgs are struggling with pipeline creation right now:
⛔️ Poor culture & expectation setting
AEs were hired with the expectation that they wouldn't have to outbound. Frankly, I don't blame them for resisting.
A massive culture shift needs to happen.
⛔️ Front-line leaders don't know how
Many of the front-line leaders in your org today sold prior to 2022. At a time when they didn't really have to outbound to crush their target.
They had an over-inflated SDR org, lots of inbound, and tons of proactive buyers with budget and little oversight.
These front-line leaders need to be taught how to outbound. So that they can teach and hold their reps accountable.
⛔️ Lack of marketing/sales alignment
The age-old problem. But I'm starting to see a very alarming trend of revenue orgs splitting pipeline into 3-4 categories:
1) BDR sourced
2) Sales sourced
3) Marketing sourced
4) Channel sourced (if applicable)
What's the problem with this?
Pipeline building is a sh*t ton more effective when marketing builds tools for reps to enhance their outbound results.
Content, webinars, assessments—stuff that's actually valuable for the prospective buyer.
When marketing & sales compete against each other for credit, there's ZERO incentive for marketing to drive the BDR and Sales-sourced pipeline.
Am I saying that pipeline shouldn't be broken apart? No.
But we need to create a higher incentive around hitting the total pipeline target. Chris Walker has some interesting ideas around this.
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Want to know how the best sales orgs like Shopify, Gong, Zoom, Rippling, and many more are tackling this right now?
Join me, Scott Leese, and Neil Weitzman for my session on State of Outbound: AI and the future of cold outreach in 2026
Register here.
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