Bottom Funnel Focus EP 3: The Human Side of Scalable Outreach
- Joyce Tsang
- Dec 9
- 6 min read
Don’t be silly — how many of us can truly uphold personalized conversations with every single person we reach out to?
But at the same time, did you really think that automated template send‑outs are going to achieve much in this day and age?
While I don’t have the perfect solution as a solopreneur or “slasher,” what I can tell you is that the highly manual work — the kind that makes you reassess your professional life as a marketer, BD, or entrepreneur trying to sustain your pipeline and generate revenue — is still very much alive, vital, and irreplaceable.
i) Scaling outreach without losing personalization
Scaling outreach is a balancing act. Too much volume, and personalization suffers. Too much personalization, and volume stalls.
I know this firsthand — I’m literally pushing my LinkedIn outreach to its limit, sending out almost 200 connection requests every single week.
The tough lesson I’ve learned is that when you don’t do it right, the effort of sending requests is a total waste, like screaming into a void. And even when you do get it right, your inbox can overwhelm you for weeks as you sift through conversations, trying to invest your time where it fits best.
Start here
So before you invest in a service, a tool, or dive straight into identifying potential leads with Sales Navigator on LinkedIn, ask yourself what you’re really trying to achieve first.
That might seem like a dumb question, but it’s really not.
The fact is, while everyone wants business, we also have monthly pipelines to plan, priorities to allocate effort toward, and — simply put — a life outside of work. Pumping up your pipeline this month with short‑term tactics and supposedly quick wins that are impossible to scale will only do so much good.
Therefore, if you’re:
Looking to grow pipeline in the long run
Explore industries and contacts where you may have few or no common connections. However, ensure there is at least some level of connection between you and the individual you’re trying to engage with — whether it’s being alumni, having worked at the same company, or sharing a similar title.
Use that as a trigger point to start the connection request. Highlight your commonalities but also your differences, explaining why you’d like to connect further and learn more.
Looking to drive immediate wins
Marketers know that this means placing yourself in the “red ocean” with heavy competition, tackling only about 5% of the market — the portion of people ready to buy at any given time.
Here, you need to strike with name‑dropping: mention common connections, people you know in their company, or clients you’ve served in the same industry vertical. Cut to the chase and state directly that you’re looking to start a conversation specific to what you can provide.
Example
As you can tell, the two angles above involve outreach with personalization. This essentially means only you can send out that message — and it rings true. I can say that I’ve had success in driving connection accepts with both approaches: the first through alumni outreach (200+ outreaches, 50+ connections made), and the second where I essentially state the following:
"Hello [First name]! Hope this message finds you well! I would love to start a conversation with [company] on content marketing, particularly [your usp], here in Hong Kong - would you be open to connect? :)"
ii) Leverage personal connections
The sweet spot lies in leveraging personal connections and keeping conversations genuine. And while it’s true that not all of us know enough people personally to use that as a starting point for conversations, you can work on growing these contacts into personal connections — even if they are completely cold at first.
Looking for tips on growth and networking?
Check out my blog: 7 Simple and Effective Growth Marketing Tactics for SMEs!
This works particularly well when you reach out to those who share the same title as you. You’ll have a good sense of the language that should be used, what they’re busy with, and what they’re likely working on. From there, you can strike up a conversation that feels much closer to a personal connection.
Approach
As a marketer and entrepreneur, when I reach out to people with a similar background, it’s not difficult to turn the conversation into something much more personal. For example, during the end‑of‑year period, it’s likely that marketers are doing their annual reviews, compiling assets for EOY videos, and planning content for the new year. Simply using that as an inquiry into what they’re busy with — and most importantly, sharing that you’re working on something they likely understand and relate to — enhances the effectiveness of the conversation.
In all honesty, this doesn’t necessarily mean you’re a step closer to getting them to buy from you. But what works well with relationships like this is that they become more open to referring someone they know who might be looking for your service. At the very least, it also gives you a clearer understanding of the market — whether the struggle is unique to you (meaning you need to plan something to tackle it), or whether it’s a shared situation across the industry (so you can worry less, but stay alert for partnerships or other ways to extend your network and grow your business).
Example
I was connected with a fellow marketer who now works at an agency. She is almost certainly never going to be a client of mine, but what’s interesting is that she serves an industry I want to learn more about to explore potential business opportunities. Since the conversation was very personal — connecting through commonalities we both understood, such as my own experience working at an agency — jumping on a call framed around the idea of a potential partnership was not difficult at all.
In the call, she shared what she does, and I did the same. She clarified one of the things I had been struggling to understand about the industry she serves, making me realize that it wasn’t something I had done wrong, but rather that the demand simply isn’t there for these clients in the local market. Such insight is highly valuable for shaping my upcoming outreach direction. Not to mention, I can now directly ask someone for further insights as well.
iii) Persisting through genuine conversations
Your funnel data proves it: internal referrals and warm intros consistently outperform cold outreach. Why? Because they carry trust. A genuine conversation — one that acknowledges shared pain points, industry context, or even a simple human moment — resonates far more than a templated pitch.
But how can you actually manage so many genuine conversations?
Well, I still use a 4‑step messaging template for my cold LinkedIn outreach. While the system and flow remain the same, it branches into different templates tailored to each vertical. The reference examples I send in message three are different. It’s not a high level of personalization, but it ensures I’m investing some effort to make sure the messaging isn’t completely generic. At the same time, I can copy and paste from my template arsenal and save the time of always coming up with a message on the spot.
Inspiration
Four‑step messaging templates are good enough for cold outreach, as the conversation can potentially take a turn when the individual asks a specific question that requires your unique attention to answer.
I usually start with the connection request message (section 1), followed by a thank‑you message once they accept the request. That message includes a brief introduction to what I do and a call to action to connect further over a potential catch‑up call. If I get no response after a week, I follow up with message three — the vertical‑specific message that shares references of work and an industry insight. Again, it includes a call to action, but this time for a simple response such as:
"We can do a quick review of your last campaign — and give you what we’d improve and why it matters. If you’re interested, simply respond!"
What I’ve found most surprising is that the last message tends to generate the most replies:
"Hello [First name], I hope this message finds you well. I don’t mean to intrude if [service] related messages aren’t relevant to your inbox—but if possible, could you kindly refer me to a team member who might find value in such conversations?"
Many then reply saying they were either busy, missed the message, or want to learn a bit more before giving me a contact — and that’s when the personalized conversation happens.
Striking the balance
Do I love doing outreach? No. But does it feel good when a genuine conversation happens? Definitely. At times, I’m astonished by the people I’ve been able to get a response from, considering their role and how many years of experience they have. They could have easily ignored my message — which, while delicately disguised, is still ultimately a pitch in the end.
Scaling doesn’t mean automating empathy out of the process. It means systematizing outreach while preserving the human touch. When you build outreach strategies that prioritize authenticity, you don’t just scale numbers — you scale trust.
Tired of trying things out yourself?
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