Changes I've seen and what it means for outbound

Outbound has always been a systematic but laborious process - defining ICPs, identifying leads, triggering outreach based on signals, etc. I believe the human element in sales remains crucial, and the beauty of AI lies in its ability to eliminate the mundane. This inevitably shifts how we approach outbound and the tools we use in that process.

AI can automate far more than it once could - almost every aspect of the sales funnel:

1. Identifying the right time to reach out based on intent
2. Sourcing valuable data about prospects
3. Managing repetitive responses

The list goes on.

I believe the human element in sales remains crucial, and the beauty of AI lies in its ability to eliminate the mundane. This inevitably shifts how we approach outbound and the tools we use in that process.

1: Chronology of Outbound

Outbound used to be a very manual process. You couldn’t really personalize the message because you didn’t have the right data. You couldn’t send messages at scale because you had no sequences. Then sequencers like Outreach and SalesLoft came out, and everyone freaked out thinking it was the death of outbound. Early adopters of these tools were able to scale almost purely on outbound because the negative effects of sending tons of messages hadn’t kicked in yet.

Now 10 years later, Google is imposing limits on message sending. LinkedIn is too. So for the first time ever, the marginal cost of sending an additional email is something. Companies are now forced to adopt responsible sales practices - financially responsible ones. Some people think this makes outbound more expensive. But that isn’t the case. You just need to send the right message to the right person at the right time.

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2: Rise of Signal-Based Tools

This comes as a function of the shift I described above. There are some incredible tools that have popped up that allow you to collect persona-level data on your prospects. This allows you to figure out whether someone is the right person to message.

AI can automate far more than it once could - almost every aspect of the sales funnel:

1. Identifying the right time to reach out based on intent
2. Sourcing valuable data about prospects
3. Managing repetitive responses

Valley is the next step of that. We make sure the right message gets sent to this right person at the right time. Then we book the meeting.

“When I was told that my handover would be done through a series of self-guided design walkthroughs, I panicked. But Overflow made it all surprisingly smooth.” 

3: New Level of Support in Tools

Tools like Twain and Copy.ai are layer-one copilots. They can automate certain workloads, but you still have to take the output and go use it somewhere else to get a result. It’s a lot of manual work.

Valley is a layer-two copilot. It’ll do a ton of research for you all at once and write the message - all you have to do is approve it. This new layer of depth allows you to turn a 13-hour per day workflow of researching, prospecting, and copywriting into a 30-minute approval flow. This gives you more time to spend on the phone or face-to-face with your customers or prospects.

4: Point Solutions to All-in-One

The tectonic shifts we’ve seen in the market created a ton of white space. This obviously created a massive market that wasn’t available before. Now sales enablement tools are emerging, promising to make your team marginally more productive. But they’re ultimately point solutions - which I think will get old fast. I think a unified product combining AI-generated videos, sales cloning tech, and research agents will ultimately win. This is exactly why we’re building Valley the way we are.