Not too long ago, a cold email was enough.
Slide into an inbox. Drop a clever subject line. Follow up twice. Close a deal.
That playbook is now falling apart.
Welcome to the era where outbound is ice-cold and sales reps are being told to start creating content.
But is this the solution? Or just a sign that sales is having an identity crisis?
Let’s unpack the rise, the fall, and the rebirth of outbound, through the lens of a modern sales rep stuck between quota pressure and a personal brand.
Outbound Isn’t Dead, But It’s Dying Differently
For years, sales leaders banked on volume: send enough emails, make enough calls, book enough demos. But the data has been whispering, then screaming, that this approach is breaking.
Cold email reply rates have dropped to as low as 1–2%.
LinkedIn DMs are being met with instant rejections.
Call answer rates? Don’t even ask.
“Buyers have grown allergic to templated outreach. They’ve been sold to so often, they can smell the pitch from the preview text.”
The problem isn’t just saturation. It’s an expectation.
Modern buyers expect value before the call. They want to know who you are, why you’re reaching out, and what you really understand about their problems.
Rise of Sales Reps as Creators
It started subtly.
A sales rep posts a simple tip: “Here’s what I did to close my last deal.”
A few likes. A couple of DMs. Then a warm inbound lead.
Suddenly, sales leaders took note: “What if our reps became creators?”
It makes sense:
Content builds trust.
Content warms the lead before outreach.
Content creates leverage.
A single post can be read by hundreds of prospects, without sending a single cold message.
At companies like Lavender, Gong, and Chili Piper, reps who post regularly often outperform those who don’t. Not because they’re better closers, but because they’re top-of-mind when buyers are ready to buy.
“The role of a rep is shifting from hunter to magnet.”
But Not Every Rep Wants to Be a “Creator”
Here’s the truth nobody at the LinkedIn hype parade wants to admit:
Not every sales rep wants to be a creator.
In fact, many hate it.
They’re not marketers. They’re not copywriters. And they didn’t sign up to build a “personal brand.”
The push to “just post on LinkedIn” adds another layer of pressure, especially when quota is on the line. Reps are now judged not just on performance, but on how many impressions their posts get.
And let’s not ignore the elephant in the CRM:
“If reps are busy writing content, who’s making the calls?”
There's a risk that content becomes a vanity strategy, a feel-good exercise with no pipeline accountability.
And worse, it can create a two-class system: the content-savvy reps who get leads and praise… and the rest, stuck cold-calling into the void.
The Best of Both Worlds: When It Works
The top-performing reps today don’t choose between outbound and content. They blend them.
“Because what we’re really talking about isn’t “content.” It’s thinking clearly in public.”
You don’t need to dance on TikTok.
You don’t need a content calendar.
You don’t need 10K followers.
You need to post with purpose, not pressure. Share your field-tested stories. Talk about what it feels like to be on a sales call with you. Share customer insights. Break down a narrative that worked. Just record your sales calls (beep out the customer’s private info) and turn them into 3–5 LinkedIn videos.
Treat content not as a replacement, but as a conversation starter.
And use data. The best teams are tracking content-to-lead conversions the same way they track call connect rates.
Outbound still matters. But it performs best when it’s warm, ****when the prospect already knows your name.
“Remember: You don’t need to be creators for the algorithm.
Be creators of trust.”
And that… is how you warm up outbound again.
Final Thought: Be So Useful, You Don’t Need to Chase
If you’re doing outbound like it’s 2014, you’re going to lose.
But if you’re using insight as leverage…
“If your name carries trust before you pitch…
If your content does the first call for you…
Then sales become effortless.”
The world will beat a path to your inbox, not because you chased,
But because you thought well, and shared it.
That’s the highest form of inbound.
And the most evolved form of outbound.
When we started RogerRoger, I didn’t expect to end up in sales. But as the first person on the front lines, I had no choice—I became the team’s first salesperson by default.
At the time, I had no formal training, no scripts, and no sales playbook to follow. All I had were prospects to talk to and demo calls to handle.
I learned the hard way: through experience.
Countless conversations taught me how to understand what customers really want, how to handle objections without sounding pushy, and how to guide people toward making decisions that feel right for them.
My letters aren’t filled with jargon or quick-fix tactics—they’re packed with honest, practical advice that comes from years of learning on the job.
