Tips for Outbound Success in the US Startup Market

Hi everyone! I recently joined a new startup that is scaling in the U.S., and we are facing some challenges with our outbound efforts, particularly a very low conversion rate on our email and call outreach - issues we didn’t have in EMEA. We are targeting:

Persona: Marketing/communication teams
Accounts: Enterprise clients
Industries: Primarily healthcare, telecommunications, and manufacturing
Average Selling Price: $12,000 MRR
Lead Sources: Mainly from events, but with an high payback

Have you tested any other channels or outreach strategies specifically in the U.S. for this type of ICP that might work better? Thank you in advance for your help!!!

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10 comments

Oscar C.
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Hi Julia S., I focus heavily on cold outreach every day—whether it’s cold calling, emailing, or LinkedIn prospecting. Over the past 6+ years, I’ve worked across both the EMEA and US markets. Curious to know—what challenges are you currently facing with your outbound efforts?
Nicholas P.
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Hey Julia - very broad question. A lot of different tools, no one tool is the right fit for every business. Can you give us more context about your business, ICP, vertical you sell into? Also happy to chat if that's easier to share my experience in the U.S. markets
Julia S.
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Sure!
Persona: marketing/communication teams
Account: enterprise clients // industries: healthcare, telecommunications, manufacturing mostly
Average selling Price: 12k MRR
Started 2 years ago in the US struggle with outbound motion with BDRs - leads mostly from events
Ben B.
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Julia S. I’m always down to hash these problems out, too. How long is the average deal cycle? Has that changed in the 2 years selling into the U.S.?
Lawrence C.
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Hello Julia, it's a pleasure to meet you. Email and call outreach have declined year over year, and buying cycles in the U.S. have significantly lengthened over time. You are also approaching a challenging industry cold. While Oil and Gas would be even tougher, Healthcare and Manufacturing are by no means easy markets. Events are the most expensive channel within a relationship-based methodology. However, you're on the right track—focusing on warm channel approaches for this ICP is a smart strategy. For enterprise buyers, a three-month deal cycle is a reasonable benchmark. Given your price point, a 90-day demonstrated ROI would normally not be necessary, especially at this time of year when there’s a good chance it’s already allocated in their budget. But for a startup, that can certainly still help overcome buyer inertia. You’re also likely engaging with closer to seven decision stakeholders rather than eleven. Startups consistently struggle with awareness, so it’s crucial to incorporate that into your outreach strategy. There’s still some missing context, but I hope this helps. Having a U.S. sales presence or headquarters can also be beneficial in strengthening your positioning.
Julia S.
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Thanks a lot for your help! Ben B. - Average sales cycle: 60 days and not really on the outbound motion unfortunately!
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Lawrence C.
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Piotr M.
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Julia S. One of our campaigns became the #3 global sales source for one of the biggest CRMs 😄. It was structured like an event campaign, with each event in a different campaign, and we were enrolling around 100 people per event (B2B, Directors, with over $100 million in revenue). It worked pretty well because it allowed us to build relationships at scale through offline events 🙂.
EJ P.
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Hi Julia - I work for Reveneer - We work with a lot of clients with your same target market / buying persona We follow a phone first approach here in the U.S. If you think it would help - happy to compare our current metrics with yours (connect, conversation, scheduled, delivered % rates) specific to your target market / buying persona - and discuss different strategies in the US Could be a few different issues just based on what you said and I'd have to learn more about your offering and what your doing today but could be data, messaging, number of calls, time of calls, tone, pace etc Let me know if you would want to discuss further - Happy to help
Ben B.
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Julia S. good to know! One issue if the outbound motion hasn't changed much in 2 years is, well, they might be using brand position and language that was in vogue in 2023. Crazy to say it has changed that quickly, but it changes sooooooo fast. Happy to chat about this next week, if you like! I just like helping people.
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