Making Sales Outreach Feel Human

While working in my sales and marketing role at Diversified Technology, I’ve been able to take what I’ve learned in the classroom and actually apply it. That’s helped me learn faster, but more importantly, it’s shown me what actually works when it comes to reaching people.

One thing I noticed pretty quickly is that most outreach does not feel human.

A lot of it feels automated, generic, and easy to ignore. And I get it, because when I get those same kinds of messages, I usually ignore them too.

So I started paying attention to what actually gets responses and what does not.

Here’s what I’ve learned so far.

1. Relevance beats volume every time when there is intent behind it

Sales is still a numbers game to an extent. You need to make calls, send emails, and follow up consistently.

But volume without intent does not get you very far. The goal is not to send less. It is to send messages that have a purpose behind them.

Even small things like understanding what someone does or why you are reaching out makes a difference in how your message is received.

2. Personalization does not have to be complicated

You do not need to overthink this.

It can be as simple as mentioning something specific about the person, their role, or their company.

That alone shows you took a second to look into who they are instead of just sending the same message to everyone.

3. Tone matters more than the message itself

People can tell when they are being sold to right away.

If something sounds like a script, it usually gets ignored.

The messages that work best sound like something you would actually say in a normal conversation. Clear, simple, and straight to the point.

4. Curiosity works better than pitching

Leading with a pitch right away can turn people off.

What has worked better for me is starting with a question or showing some level of interest first.

It opens the door for a conversation instead of making it feel like a transaction right away.

At the end of the day, outreach is just communication.

The same way you would not walk up to someone and immediately try to sell them something, the same idea applies here.

You still need to be consistent and put in the effort, but I have found that when there is actual intent behind it, the results are better and the conversations are more real.

I am still learning and getting better at this, but this shift has already changed how I approach sales and marketing.

And more importantly, it has led to better conversations.

— Hunter