sales-cadence

What this skill does

# Design a Multi-Channel Outbound Cadence

Help the user design a complete outbound cadence for Salesloft, Mailshake, Smartlead, Lemlist, Yesware, or Hunter.io — from architecture and timing through full content for every step, A/B testing, and optimization benchmarks.

## Step 1 — Gather context


If `references/learnings.md` exists, read it first for accumulated knowledge.

Ask the user:

1. **What's the campaign goal?**
   - A) Cold outbound — net-new prospects, no prior relationship
   - B) Inbound follow-up — responding to a lead that came in
   - C) Trigger-based — responding to a signal (job change, funding round, tech install, intent data)
   - D) Re-engagement — reviving a cold or stalled conversation
   - E) Expansion — reaching new contacts at existing customer accounts
   - F) Other — describe it

2. **Who is the target persona?** (title, seniority, industry, company size)

3. **What channels are available?**
   - A) Email only
   - B) Email + phone
   - C) Email + phone + LinkedIn
   - D) Email + phone + LinkedIn + video
   - E) Other combination — describe

4. **What constraints should I know about?**
   - Total duration (e.g., 14 days, 21 days, 30 days)
   - Max touches per week
   - Existing messaging or value props to incorporate
   - Compliance requirements (GDPR, CAN-SPAM, industry-specific)
   - Any channels to avoid or emphasize

**If the user's request already provides most of this context, skip directly to the relevant step.** Lead with your best-effort answer using reasonable assumptions (stated explicitly), then ask only the most critical 1-2 clarifying questions at the end — don't gate your response behind gathering complete context.

## Step 2 — Cadence architecture

Design the cadence structure as a table:

| Day | Step | Channel | Action | Notes |
|-----|------|---------|--------|-------|
| 1   | 1    | Email   | Intro email (A/B subject lines) | Personalization Level 3+ |
| 1   | 2    | LinkedIn | Profile view + connection request | Same day as email |
| 3   | 3    | Phone   | Call attempt #1 + voicemail | Reference email |
| 4   | 4    | Email   | Follow-up email (value-add) | Different angle from Step 1 |
| ...  | ...  | ...     | ...    | ... |

### Design principles

- **Channel mixing**: Never send 3+ touches in the same channel consecutively. Alternate between email, phone, and LinkedIn.
- **Spacing**:
  - Days 1-7: Higher intensity (touch every 1-2 days) — this is when engagement peaks
  - Days 8-14: Medium intensity (every 2-3 days)
  - Days 15+: Lower intensity (every 3-4 days) — don't burn the prospect
- **Touch count by persona** (typical ranges — adjust based on persona, sales cycle, and industry norms):
  - C-suite / VP: 8-12 touches over 21-28 days (less aggressive, more spaced)
  - Director / Manager: 12-16 touches over 21-30 days (standard)
  - Individual contributor / practitioner: 10-14 touches over 14-21 days (shorter cycle)
- **Phone placement**: Always within 24 hours after an email so you can reference it ("I just sent you a note about...")
- **LinkedIn**: Use early for connection + later for social proof or content sharing. Don't be repetitive with email.
- **Final touch**: Always a "breakup" email — creates urgency without being pushy

## Step 3 — Write content for every step

For each step in the cadence, write the actual content:

### Email templates
For each email:
- **Subject line**: Provide A/B variants (Variant A and Variant B)
- **Body**: Full email text with personalization tokens in `{{brackets}}`
- **CTA**: Specific ask (meeting, reply, resource)
- Keep emails under 125 words for cold outbound, under 200 for warm follow-up

### Call scripts
For each call step:
- **Opening** (first 10 seconds — must earn the right to continue)
- **Reason for calling** (one sentence connecting to their world)
- **Key questions** (2-3 if they engage)
- **Ask** (meeting request with specific time)
- **Voicemail script** (under 30 seconds, always leave one)

### LinkedIn messages
- **Connection request note**: Under 300 characters, no selling
- **Follow-up InMail or message**: Reference a specific post, mutual connection, or insight about their company
- Keep LinkedIn casual and conversational — it's a social platform, not email

### Video guidance (if applicable)
- When to use: Steps 5+ when email hasn't gotten a response
- Duration: 60-90 seconds max
- Structure: Say their name, show you did research, one key insight, soft CTA

For platform-specific cadence implementation (Salesloft, Mailshake, Lemlist, Smartlead, Mixmax, Reply.io, Woodpecker, Hunter.io, Seamless.AI, Closum, Minelead, GetProspect, ZoomInfo, Snov.io, 6sense, Clay, BrandJet, AiSDR, Nooks, Orum, Amplemarket, Sendr, LeadIQ), see references/platforms.md.

### Personalization framework
- **Level 1 (Minimum)**: First name, company name, title — the bare minimum
- **Level 2 (Standard)**: Industry reference, company-size-specific pain point
- **Level 3 (Strong)**: Something specific about their company (recent news, tech stack, job posting, quarterly results)
- **Level 4 (Elite)**: Personal insight (their LinkedIn post, podcast appearance, conference talk, published article)

Recommend Level 3+ for all touches in a cold outbound cadence. Level 2 is acceptable for re-engagement at scale.

For Level 3+ at scale (100+ prospects), consider AI personalization: Smartlead SmartAgents, Clay, or custom GPT workflows to research each prospect and generate personalized snippets for {{custom_field}} merge variables. This automates the research step that makes Level 3-4 feasible at volume.

## Step 4 — A/B testing plan

Design an A/B testing strategy:

| Test # | What to test | Variant A | Variant B | Metric | Min sample size |
|--------|-------------|-----------|-----------|--------|-----------------|
| 1      | Subject line (Step 1) | Pain-focused | Curiosity-based | Open rate | 100 sends each |
| 2      | CTA style (Step 1) | Specific time ask | Open-ended question | Reply rate | 100 sends each |
| 3      | Email length (Step 4) | Short (75 words) | Medium (125 words) | Reply rate | 100 sends each |

### A/B testing rules
- Test one variable at a time
- Run each test for at least 100 sends per variant (200+ preferred) before drawing conclusions
- Primary metric: positive reply rate (not just open rate)
- Wait at least 5 business days before evaluating results
- Roll the winner into the cadence and start the next test
- Always be testing something — cadences decay over time as messaging gets stale

## Step 5 — Metrics and optimization

Provide a benchmarks table:

| Metric | Good | Great | If below "Good"... |
|--------|------|-------|---------------------|
| Open rate | 40-50% | 50%+ | Fix subject lines, check deliverability, verify email addresses |
| Reply rate (total) | 8-12% | 15%+ | Improve personalization, test different angles, check targeting |
| Positive reply rate | 3-5% | 7%+ | Revisit value prop, check ICP fit, strengthen the ask |
| Meeting booked rate | 2-4% | 5%+ | Improve CTA clarity, offer more flexibility, add social proof |
| Bounce rate | <3% | <1% | Clean your list, use email verification tools, check domain health |
| Unsubscribe rate | <1% | <0.5% | Reduce frequency, improve relevance, check compliance |
| Call connect rate | 5-10% | 12%+ | Try different times of day, use local presence dialing, vary call days |

### Optimization cadence
- **Week 1-2**: Let the cadence run, gather baseline data
- **Week 3-4**: Analyze first A/B test results, implement winners
- **Monthly**: Review full-funnel metrics, retire underperforming steps, test new angles
- **Quarterly**: Major refresh — new messaging, updated case studies, seasonal angles

## Before recommending a specific platform skill

This skill covers a strategy domain across many platforms. **Before pointing the user to any specific platform skill** (any `/sales-{platform}` listed in `## Related skills`, e.g., `/sales-mailshake`, `/sales-klaviyo`, `/sales-apollo`), read that platform sk