Cadence
The structured sequence and timing of sales outreach touches across multiple channels — email, phone, LinkedIn, video — designed to engage a prospect over a defined period. Also called a sequence or engagement pattern.
A Good Cadence Is a Story, Not Spam
Bad cadences send the same generic message seven times. Good cadences tell a story across multiple channels — each touch adds new value, a new angle, or a new piece of social proof. By touch 5, the prospect understands your value proposition from multiple perspectives, even if they only opened two of the messages.
Building a Multi-Channel Cadence
Day 1: Personalized email with insight Day 3: LinkedIn connection request with note Day 5: Follow-up email with case study Day 8: Phone call (leave voicemail referencing emails) Day 11: Email with industry data point Day 15: LinkedIn comment on their recent post Day 18: Final email — direct ask or breakup
Cadence Optimization
A/B test subject lines, email length, touch spacing, and channel mix. Track reply rate by touch number to identify which touches work and which are dead weight. Most cadences have one or two touches that generate disproportionate responses — double down on those patterns.
The Breakup Email
The final email in a cadence should acknowledge the lack of response and give a graceful out. “Seems like this is not a priority right now — totally fine. If timing changes, I am here.” These breakup emails often generate the highest reply rates in the entire sequence because they remove pressure.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the ideal outbound cadence?
A typical B2B cadence runs 14-21 days with 6-9 touches across email, phone, and LinkedIn. Spacing matters — 2-3 days between early touches, 3-5 days for later ones. Multi-channel cadences outperform email-only by 2-3x. Start with email and LinkedIn, add phone calls for high-value targets.
How many touches should a cadence have?
6-9 touches over 2-3 weeks is the sweet spot for B2B. Fewer than 5 touches does not give prospects enough exposure. More than 10 touches annoys without improving conversion. The first 3 touches generate 80% of positive responses. Touches 4-9 capture the late responders.
