How to Generate SaaS Leads Without Relying on Inbound Marketing
A strong SaaS outbound lead generation strategy allows software companies to proactively identify potential customers rather than waiting for prospects to discover them through search engines, content, paid advertising or referrals.
Inbound marketing can still play an important role in SaaS growth, but it doesn’t have to be your only source of opportunities.
Outbound lead generation gives you greater control over:
- Which industries you target
- The size of companies you approach
- Where prospects are located
- Which decision-makers you contact
- Which SaaS products you promote
- The number of prospects entering your pipeline
By combining targeted B2B data, cold email, LinkedIn and telemarketing, SaaS companies can build a more proactive sales pipeline around the businesses they actually want as customers.
Table of contents:
What Is SaaS Outbound Lead Generation?
Outbound lead generation involves identifying potential customers and proactively approaching them.
Instead of waiting for a prospect to visit your website and submit an enquiry, your sales or marketing team initiates the conversation.
Common outbound channels include:
- Cold email
- Telemarketing
- LinkedIn outreach
- Direct mail
- Account-based marketing
- Sales development
For B2B SaaS companies, this means starting with a clearly defined target market and identifying relevant businesses and decision-makers within it.
Start with Your Ideal Customer Profile
Before launching any outbound campaign, define the type of company most likely to buy your software.
Your ideal customer profile could include:
- Industry
- Employee numbers
- Turnover
- Geographic location
- Business type
- Number of locations
- Relevant departments
- Likely software requirements
For example, a field service management SaaS company could target UK facilities management and engineering businesses employing 50 to 500 people.
A recruitment software company might instead focus specifically on recruitment agencies.
This gives your outbound strategy a clearly defined audience.
Identify the Problems Your Software Solves
Your target market should be based on more than broad company characteristics.
Consider which businesses are most likely to experience the problem your software addresses.
This could include:
- Manual administration
- Disconnected systems
- Poor reporting
- Inefficient workflows
- Difficulty managing employees
- Missed sales opportunities
- Compliance requirements
- Lack of operational visibility
- Outdated software
- Reliance on spreadsheets
The clearer the problem, the easier it becomes to identify companies likely to need your product.
Identify the Right Decision-Makers
Once you’ve defined the businesses you want to approach, identify the people most likely to influence the purchase.
Potential SaaS decision-makers include:
- Business Owners
- Managing Directors
- CEOs
- Operations Directors
- IT Directors
- CTOs
- Finance Directors
- HR Directors
- Sales Directors
- Marketing Directors
- Department Managers
Match the contact to the product.
For example:
- CRM: Sales Director
- HR software: HR Director
- Finance platform: Finance Director
- Marketing software: Marketing Director
- Field service platform: Operations Director
- Cyber security software: IT Director or CTO
The person experiencing the problem can often be a better initial contact than simply targeting the most senior person in the company.
Build a Targeted SaaS Prospect List
Your outbound campaigns need a clearly defined prospect audience.
Useful prospect data can include:
- Business name
- Contact name
- Job title
- Email address
- Telephone number
- Postal address
- Website
- Industry
- Employee numbers
- Turnover
- Postcode
You can then segment the database around specific markets, products and decision-makers.
For example, rather than creating one general SaaS campaign, you could build separate lists for:
- Manufacturers with 100+ employees
- Recruitment agencies with 20 to 100 employees
- Facilities management companies with 50+ employees
- Financial services businesses with 250+ employees
This makes your outreach much more focused.
Use Cold Email
Cold email provides SaaS companies with a scalable way to introduce their software to relevant decision-makers.
The strongest campaigns usually avoid trying to explain the entire product immediately.
Instead, focus on:
- Why you’re contacting them
- A problem they may recognise
- How your software helps
- A straightforward next step
The objective of the initial email might simply be to establish whether the issue is relevant or generate interest in a demonstration.
Segment Your Email Campaigns
Avoid sending identical emails to every prospect.
Campaigns can be segmented by:
- Industry
- Employee size
- Decision-maker
- SaaS use case
- Product
- Geography
For example, the messaging used for an Operations Director at a logistics company could be very different from the message sent to a Managing Director at a recruitment agency.
Segmentation allows the value proposition to reflect the recipient’s likely priorities.
Use LinkedIn Outreach
LinkedIn can provide another route to SaaS decision-makers.
You can use it to:
- Identify target companies
- Find relevant contacts
- Send connection requests
- Start conversations
- Share relevant content
- Support existing email activity
LinkedIn can be particularly useful when you already know the types of companies and job roles you want to reach.
Rather than using it as a broad networking tool, it becomes another targeted prospecting channel.
Use Telemarketing to Qualify Opportunities
Telephone outreach can help SaaS companies qualify prospects more quickly.
A conversation may establish:
- Whether they currently use similar software
- Which platform they use
- Whether they are satisfied with it
- When their contract is reviewed
- Whether they have an active requirement
- Who manages the decision
- Whether a demonstration would be relevant
This can be particularly useful for higher-value SaaS products where a sales conversation is an important part of the buying process.
Combine Email, LinkedIn and Telephone
Outbound channels don’t need to operate independently.
A simple sequence could include:
- Send an introductory email.
- Connect with the prospect on LinkedIn.
- Send an email follow-up.
- Send a short LinkedIn message.
- Telephone higher-priority accounts.
- Continue nurturing relevant prospects.
This gives the prospect several opportunities to recognise your company and engage through the channel they prefer.
Build Campaigns Around Individual SaaS Use Cases
If your software solves several problems, avoid trying to communicate all of them within one campaign.
Create separate campaigns around individual use cases.
For example:
- Reduce manual administration
- Improve reporting
- Automate sales processes
- Manage remote employees
- Improve scheduling
- Centralise customer information
- Support compliance
- Improve operational visibility
You can then match each use case with the businesses and decision-makers most likely to care about it.
Create Industry-Specific Campaigns
Industry-specific outbound campaigns can make your proposition more relevant.
Instead of promoting generic workflow software, for example, you might create campaigns around:
- Workflow software for manufacturers
- Workflow software for logistics companies
- Workflow software for recruitment agencies
- Workflow software for facilities management companies
The underlying product may be the same, but the problems, terminology and use cases can differ between industries.
Prioritise Your Best Accounts
Not every prospect needs the same amount of sales attention.
Consider scoring businesses according to how closely they match your ideal customer profile.
High-Priority Accounts
Strong match for:
- Industry
- Employee size
- Turnover
- Geography
- Use case
- Decision-maker profile
Medium-Priority Accounts
Match most of your preferred criteria but have a weaker fit in one area.
Lower-Priority Accounts
Could potentially use your software but are less similar to your strongest customers.
Sales teams can then spend more time researching and contacting the highest-priority businesses.
Target Multiple Contacts Within Larger Companies
More expensive SaaS purchases can involve several stakeholders.
Rather than depending on one person, consider identifying:
- End user
- Department manager
- Department director
- Budget holder
- IT stakeholder
- Finance
- Procurement
Different people may influence different parts of the decision.
For example, an Operations Director might want the software, an IT Director could assess its technical suitability and a Finance Director may approve the expenditure.
Look for Buying Triggers
Some businesses may have a stronger reason to consider new software than others.
Potential triggers include:
- Rapid company growth
- Increasing employee numbers
- Opening additional locations
- Significant recruitment
- Replacing legacy systems
- Digital transformation projects
- New regulatory requirements
- Increasing operational complexity
- Outgrowing spreadsheets
- Changes in senior management
Where possible, these signals can help prioritise accounts within your outbound activity.
Use Existing Customers to Find New Prospects
Your current customers can provide useful evidence about which companies to approach.
Analyse your strongest accounts by:
- Industry
- Employee numbers
- Turnover
- Contract value
- Product usage
- Renewal history
- Location
- Decision-maker
You can then identify other businesses with similar characteristics.
For example, if several of your strongest customers are logistics businesses employing 100 to 250 people, that could become a dedicated outbound audience.
Don’t Ignore Prospects That Aren’t Ready to Buy
A suitable company may not have an immediate requirement when you first make contact.
They could already be tied into another software contract or simply have different priorities at that time.
Rather than abandoning every prospect that isn’t immediately ready, consider maintaining appropriate contact.
Future opportunities can arise when:
- Existing contracts expire
- Budgets change
- The business grows
- New decision-makers arrive
- Existing software becomes unsuitable
- Business requirements change
This is particularly important for SaaS products with longer buying cycles.
Use Outbound to Test New Markets
Outbound lead generation can also help SaaS companies test potential markets.
For example, you might want to establish whether your software has demand among:
- Recruitment agencies
- Manufacturers
- Logistics companies
- Financial services businesses
Rather than building an entire marketing strategy around each market immediately, targeted outbound campaigns can help you assess response and lead quality.
The results can help determine which markets deserve greater investment.
Measure Qualified SaaS Opportunities
Avoid judging outbound activity purely by the number of emails sent, LinkedIn connections made or calls completed.
Track commercial outcomes including:
- Positive responses
- Qualified conversations
- Demo bookings
- Trials
- Sales opportunities
- Proposals
- Customers
- Revenue
You should also compare performance across:
- Industries
- Company sizes
- Job roles
- Use cases
- Channels
This helps identify where your strongest SaaS opportunities are coming from.
Refine Your Outbound Strategy
One of the advantages of outbound lead generation is the ability to continuously adjust your targeting.
You may discover that:
- One industry converts significantly better.
- Companies with 100+ employees produce larger opportunities.
- Operations Directors outperform CEOs.
- Telephone follow-up improves email campaigns.
- One particular use case generates more demos.
These insights can then be used to refine your prospect data, messaging and future campaigns.
Should SaaS Companies Stop Using Inbound Marketing?
No.
Outbound doesn’t need to replace inbound marketing.
Inbound activity such as:
- SEO
- Content marketing
- Paid search
- Social media
- Webinars
- Referrals
can continue generating prospects already researching potential solutions.
Outbound provides an additional route by allowing your company to proactively approach businesses that fit your target market but haven’t yet discovered you.
Using both approaches can reduce your dependence on any single source of SaaS leads.
You can learn more about our Lead Generation for SaaS Companies services.
Summary
A successful SaaS outbound lead generation strategy gives software companies greater control over which businesses enter their sales pipeline.
Start by defining your ideal customer profile, identifying relevant decision-makers and building targeted prospect audiences. Cold email, LinkedIn and telemarketing can then be combined to proactively approach those businesses.
The objective isn’t simply to generate more activity. It is to consistently identify, reach and qualify companies with a genuine potential need for your software while reducing your reliance on inbound leads.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is SaaS outbound lead generation?
SaaS outbound lead generation involves proactively identifying and contacting potential business customers rather than waiting for them to make an inbound enquiry.
Which outbound channels can SaaS companies use?
Common channels include cold email, telemarketing, LinkedIn outreach, direct mail and account-based marketing.
Who should SaaS companies target?
Targeting should reflect the product, but potential decision-makers include Business Owners, Managing Directors, Operations Directors, IT Directors, CTOs, Finance Directors, HR Directors, Sales Directors and Marketing Directors.
Does cold email work for SaaS lead generation?
Cold email can help SaaS companies reach relevant decision-makers when campaigns use appropriate B2B data, audience segmentation and relevant messaging.
Can LinkedIn be used for SaaS outbound sales?
Yes. LinkedIn can help SaaS companies identify target businesses, find relevant decision-makers and start conversations with potential customers.
Should SaaS companies use telemarketing?
Telemarketing can be particularly useful for qualifying higher-value opportunities and establishing current software usage, requirements and purchasing processes.
Is outbound better than inbound for SaaS companies?
Neither approach needs to operate alone. Inbound can capture businesses already searching for solutions, while outbound allows SaaS companies to proactively approach businesses that match their ideal customer profile.
Data & Lead Generation Services
RD Marketing provides bespoke B2B data lists and fully managed lead generation services to help businesses build pipeline and drive revenue growth. These include:
- Automated Email Campaigns
- LinkedIn Automation
- Industry Databases
- Job Role Databases
- Email Lists
- Telemarketing Data
- Direct Mail Data
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