The Differences Between Inbound and Outbound SDRs
This post came from research I did for a project I’m working on to Become a Sales Expert in 30 Days. To read more about the goals of the project, click here.
The world of sales has evolved drastically in the last decade. Sending emails has become a key component to how sales reps do their day-to-day job.
In my quest to become a sales expert, I was stumped on a simple, yet confusing question: what’s the difference between cold and warm emails? How does being an inbound versus outbound SDR play a role in determining which one you use?
Identifying the difference can be confusing for new sales prospects (myself included). Lucky for you, I found the answers to the embarrassing elementary questions so you don’t have to.
Here they are:
Outbound SDR
Have you ever been the one to initiate a friendship with a complete stranger?
Well, that’s the job of outbound SDRs.
Outbound SDRs drum up interest in companies that have no context or prior knowledge to a company’s product/service. This dictates the approach of the emails/calls.
Similar to walking up to a complete stranger, outbound SDR’s have the tall task of booking an appointment with a prospect who doesn’t know about their company. As you know from sale calls and emails, a lot are outright rejected before you can finish a sentence.
On the other hand, inbound SDRs do the opposite and focus on clients that are inquiries of the product/service. I’ll cover what this entails later.
Outbound and inbound SDRs work hand in hand given the simple fact that outbound generates inbound clients.
To demonstrate how to create a cold email, I decided to practice writing one for a company called Baremetrics. Baremetrics is a SaaS company that offers a subscription analytics software suitable for businesses offering subscription products.
Here’s the example:
Hi {{Name}},
Want to save time, money, and attain value at the same time?
With Baremetrics’ analytics software, you can.
Baremetrics is a subscription analytics software suitable for businesses offering subscription products. It shows all subscription related metrics such as Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR), Customer Lifetime Value (LTV), Churn Rate, etc.
Here’s what we can do:
- We can help save your company the time of manually entering data in spreadsheets.
- We can save you money from having to develop your own solution.
- We can create value by giving financial insight your business might not have had before.
Would you be able to chat on the phone for 10-minutes next week on Monday or Thursday morning to learn more?
Email Signature
Cold emails focus more on just trying to start the conversation.
There are a few distinct elements of a cold email.
First, you want the email to start by getting the attention of the company. That’s why I asked a question that resonates with any business.
Secondly, I give context to the company. Remember, the prospect has no background knowledge of your company/service.
Thirdly, I keep it brief. K.I.S.S — Keep it simple stupid. More than likely, the person reading this email is swamped. They have a lot going on. Waste no time getting to the key points and explaining the value your product/service can provide.
Lastly, make a strong call-to-action. As I mentioned before, outbound leads to inbound. You want to direct them to an action that triggers the beginning of a business relationship.
I created an entire email sequence for a company called PandaDoc. If you want to learn more about automating your outreach and writing cold emails, click here.
Inbound SDR
Continuing with the friendship analogy, inbound SDRs try to secure a friendship by approaching the acquaintances that are the company interested in the product/service. Typically, this is easier given that the company already has some information about the company.
Prospects that are considered an inbound prospect includes:
- Submitting a contact form on your website to ask a question or request a call
- Providing contact info to a representative or bot in a webchat on your site
- Signing up for your email list or subscribing to your blog
- Submitting a landing page form in exchange for a content download
- Giving you their information in person at a trade show or other networking event (though this is considered “outbound marketing,” we still refer to them as marketing-qualified leads)
Inbound SDRs, in comparison to their outbound counterparts, have an easier time. Think about it: becoming friends with someone who knows of you is far easier befriending someone who has no clue who you are.
As a result, it’s less intimidating to create warm emails.
Here’s an example I found from LinkedSelling:
Hi {first name},
I’m contacting you regarding {Prospect’s primary job objective or project}
If you’re trying to {specific desired outcome}, I may have something that’s a good fit for you and your organization.
I’ve managed to get {specific desired outcome — results} for {a main competitor} with good results, and I think it would be beneficial to discuss {a business opportunity} with your firm/company/organization.
The next step would be to schedule a quick 15-minute call to see if your objectives are aligned with what I can do for you. I’ve included a link to my schedule here for you convenience: [scheduler link]
Email Signature
A key element in writing a warm email is making it personal. Fail to do this, it’s dead. Maybe you still have a chance, but now it’s an uphill battle.
A prerequisite to writing a personal email is having done a lot of research. Companies receive thousands of emails daily, they don’t want to be bothered by an automated email.
In the email above, it includes the company’s objective/project and desired outcome. This shows a company that the SDR did their due diligence and actually care about helping them achieve their goals.
If you didn’t notice, the email gave little to no context about my company. As I mentioned earlier, as an inbound SDR, the company has some idea of what your product/service is about. It’s for this reason the email wasted no time discussing how we can solve a company’s problem.
In Conclusion
Don’t let the sales jargon interfere with your sales aspirations. In your early career, just remember the differences that each role entails:
Inbound SDR:
- Works with prospects that have an idea of service/product
- Writes warm emails that are tailored to an individual company
- Easier than an outbound position
Outbound SDR:
- Tries to get the interest of companies that are stranger to the product/service offered
- Writes cold emails that are typically automated
- Harder than an inbound role
