The Cold Outreach Problem Most Revenue Teams Don't Want To Own

"Most revenue leaders won't ever say this out loud, but almost all of them feel it: They hate cold calling. They hate cold emails. And they hate asking their best salespeople to spend hours reaching out to prospects who (more likely than not) are not interested. It's an understandable reaction. Cold outreach feels inefficient, uncomfortable and out of step with how modern sales teams want to operate."

"When revenue growth stalls, the symptoms tend to repeat themselves. Pipelines thin without collapsing outright, forecasts become harder to defend and hiring plans quietly slide. Managers spend more time explaining shortfalls than coaching deals forward. This is usually when outbound gets revisited-not because leaders want to, but because other options have already been exhausted. Despite every attempt to sidestep it, outbound outreach remains one of the most reliable ways to generate new sales opportunities."

The Chief Revenue Officer focuses on building predictable, scalable revenue systems across B2B markets. Most revenue leaders intensely dislike cold calling, cold emails, and asking top salespeople to pursue likely-uninterested prospects. Cold outreach often feels inefficient and uncomfortable, prompting investment in tooling, automation, and digital marketing aimed at reducing outbound activity. Outbound prospecting nonetheless remains necessary; revenue stalls prompt renewed emphasis on outbound. Appointment setting occupies an uncomfortable middle ground: essential to growth but lacking clear ownership. Sales teams prioritize closings and marketing prioritize campaigns, leaving sustained follow-up fragmented. Outreach efforts commonly spike early in quarters and then fade as follow-up cadences stall.

Read at Forbes