How To Find Sales Reps Built For Cold Outreach

The Digital Slice Podcast is brought to you by The Friedman Group, LLC

Your best salesperson may be the worst person on your team to handle cold outreach, and Kevin Downey explains why.

Hiring a successful salesperson does not mean you are hiring someone willing or built to spend hours every day prospecting and making cold calls.

Join Brad Friedman and Kevin Downey as they discuss B2B email lead generation, sales team structure, and how to identify sales or business development reps who are built for cold outreach so you can generate more qualified conversations without expecting expensive salespeople to do work they are unlikely to sustain.

Kevin Downey is a Kansas City-based recruitment leader and entrepreneur with a proven track record in business development, sales team building, and B2B email marketing.

Through Kevin M. Downey, he provides sales and business development recruiting and outsourcing services, including dedicated inside sales representatives for clients and recruiting for in-office, territorial, remote, and Latin American roles.

In this Episode:

• Kevin explains why most B2B companies struggle to use cold email effectively for lead generation.
• Kevin identifies the three essentials of effective B2B email outreach: volume, a targeted list, and the right copy and messaging.
• Kevin shares why he models cold email copy after a real cold call instead of traditional marketing sequences.
• Kevin explains why lead-generation emails should feel like one-to-one messages rather than branded newsletters.
• Kevin discusses why over-personalizing cold outreach can backfire and why first-name personalization is often enough.
• Kevin shares what to look for when hiring someone for cold outreach, including prior experience, willingness to prospect daily, and behavioral assessment.
• Kevin discusses where AI can help with prospecting and email copy—and where human strategy is still necessary.

Quotes from this Episode:

• [00:02:15] “Email's just the most powerful lead generation medium there is.” – Kevin Downey
• [00:02:46] “There's three things you have to have to make it work” – Kevin Downey
• [00:05:28] “The secret with subject lines is we never pitch in subject line.” – Kevin Downey
• [00:06:14] “That's really the only number I care about. We're, we're watching reply rate.” – Kevin Downey
• [00:14:35] “With personalization. Too cute, and ultimately it backfires.” – Kevin Downey
• [00:16:00] “People that are good at business development and people that are good hunter sales reps are total opposites. They're not even close to the same.” – Kevin Downey
• [00:20:16] “It isn't about replacing people. It's about helping them help themselves.” – Kevin Downey

Today's Guest:

Kevin Downey:

• Website: https://kevinmdowney.com
• LinkedIn – Kevin M. Downey: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevinmdowney/
• LinkedIn – Kevin M. Downey Company Page: https://www.linkedin.com/company/kevinmdowney/
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@KevinMDowney

Connect with Brad

Brad Friedman

• X Brad: https://x.com/BradFriedman
• X The Friedman Group: https://x.com/FriedmanGrp
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thefriedmangroup
• LinkedIn Brad: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bfriedman/
• LinkedIn The Friedman Group, LLC: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-friedman-group-llc
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/friedmansocialmedia
• Website: https://friedmansocialmedia.com

You can also call the office at 720.248.8185 or email brad@friedmansocialmedia.com.

Books

• “Brad Friedman on Digital Marketing,” by Brad Friedman
• “The Small Business Owner's Guide To Inbound Marketing,” by Brad Friedman
• “100 Livestreaming & Digital Media Predictions,” by Ross Brand with a chapter by Brad Friedman

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