Why horizontal businesses struggle with outbound — and how to fix it

Most service businesses think they’re playing the same outbound game as niche SaaS or vertical products. But the reality is much harder.

Low entry barriers make markets crowded. Clients can’t tell you apart from 10 identical offers. Reply rates sink, win rates shrink, and sales cycles stretch.

At Sally, we’ve run hundreds of outbound campaigns for both SaaS and service companies. Here’s what we’ve learned about making outbound work when your offer is broad:

1. Productize your service

When the offer is too broad, prospects don’t know what to anchor on. “Recruitment agency” or “DevOps outsourcing” sounds like dozens of other emails in their inbox.

Productization means taking a service and packaging it into a clear, specific promise for a narrow segment.

❌ Instead of: “We close vacancies.”
✔️ Try: “We hire sales reps with 3+ years’ experience in 14 days — with a pre-vetted pipeline of candidates.”

❌ Instead of: “DevOps on demand.”
✔️ Try: “AWS cost optimization with guaranteed X% savings in 30 days.”

This makes the value proposition measurable, the pitch more credible, and the conversation easier to start.

2. Hunt by signals

Horizontal offers lack built-in urgency. That’s why signals are critical — they give you timing.

One of the simplest examples: job postings that have been open for 2–3 months. Instead of pitching a vague service, you can address the obvious pain:

“I saw you’ve been hiring for a Go developer for a while. We have a candidate who could start next week.”

Other signals: funding rounds, sudden headcount growth, tech stack changes. The point is to tie your offer to a concrete event that shows need. Scale that across hundreds of accounts, and suddenly a generic service looks like a tailored solution.

3. Use conferences as lead engines

For certain industries — fintech, iGaming, SaaS — conferences can beat even well-researched lead lists. But most service companies treat them like brand exercises.

The ones who win treat conferences as structured campaigns:

Research the attendee list and segment it.
Pre-book meetings weeks in advance.
Follow up the same day (not “when we get back”).
Track conversions just like you would with an outbound funnel.

When you approach an event this way, it stops being “expensive networking” and becomes one of your best performing leadgen channels.

4. Leverage cultural shortcuts

Trust is the #1 hurdle in outbound. In crowded markets, anything that lowers that barrier is an advantage.

One overlooked angle: shared language or background. For example, in the US there are thousands of Russian-speaking CTOs, tech leads, and founders. For service businesses, reaching out to them often yields higher response rates simply because there’s a cultural bridge.

This principle applies more broadly: any “hidden trust signal” (shared alma mater, ex-employer, geography) can help your message land stronger in competitive segments.

Takeaway

In horizontal markets, sending more messages won’t save you.
The winners are the ones who show up with a specific solution at the exact moment it’s needed.

✍️ At Sally, we’ve done this across 20+ client projects — building outreach systems that are both safe and effective.

Want the same for your team? We can set it up end-to-end or train your SDRs to do it themselves.

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