In this episode of Bold Calling, Adam Sockel is joined by Leslie Venetz to dive deep into sales development strategies for 2025, backed by insights from Orum’s second annual State of Sales Development report. Leslie, with her years of expertise in sales, shares actionable advice on improving outbound strategies, reducing customer acquisition costs (CAC), and shortening sales cycles.

Leslie stresses the importance of an omnichannel approach to outbound sales, explaining how a multi-touch, multi-channel, and multi-media strategy is essential to meeting prospects where they are. The episode also breaks down some of the key findings from the report, including the rising use of social channels and video in sales outreach.

Throughout the conversation, Leslie challenges outdated sales norms, such as spending excessive time researching individual prospects, and offers a fresh perspective on AI’s role in the future of sales development. She advocates for AI as a tool to assist, not replace, salespeople, urging organizations to leverage AI for automating low-value tasks while keeping the human touch at the forefront.

This episode is a goldmine for sales leaders looking to optimize their teams for the challenges of 2025, from balancing the roles of sales, marketing, and customer success, to creating more personalized and effective outbound strategies.

Key Discussion Points:

• [02:06 ] The shift toward an omnichannel outbound strategy: Leslie explains the need for a multi-touch, multi-channel approach.
• [03:16 ] The myth of "quality vs. quantity" in outbound sales: Leslie challenges the notion that you must choose between personalization and scale.
• [05:55 ] Understanding your ICP (Ideal Customer Profile): Why aligning your strategy to your buyer’s behavior is crucial for outbound success.
• [06:15 ] How voicemails still play a powerful role in outbound efforts: Leslie outlines how a voicemail strategy can improve overall engagement.
• [10:03 ] Looking ahead to 2025: How organizations should rethink their approach to sales and customer retention to reduce churn and grow.
• [13:20 ] Collaborating with customer success (CS) for long-term sales success: Leslie discusses how outbound teams can better partner with CS to drive referrals and upsell opportunities.
• [17:07 ] Crafting effective sales messaging: Leslie shares why most outbound messages miss the mark and how to fix them.
• [33:14 ] AI’s role in sales development: Leslie emphasizes AI as an assistive tool that should help sales reps focus on higher-value tasks.
• [37:57 ] Leslie’s top 3 outbound channels: The non-negotiables for any sales development team going forward.

Quotes:

• “To optimize outbound, you need to take a multi-touch, multi-channel, multi-media approach... The more diverse your outreach, the more likely you’ll reach your prospects where they want to be communicated with.” – Leslie Venetz
• “Most of your messaging sucks because it’s not customer-centric. Audit your copy to remove ‘I’ and ‘we’ language and replace it with customer benefits.” – Leslie Venetz
• “AI is assistive, not replaceive. Use it to automate low-risk, low-value tasks and free up time for building relationships.” – Leslie Venetz

Resources Mentioned:

• Orum’s Second Annual State of Sales Development Report
• Sales Led GTM Agency

Connect with Leslie Venetz:

• LinkedIn: Leslie Venetz

Connect with Orum:

• Website: Orum