10 Predictions for B2B Pipeline Generation in 2024

A few weeks ago I sent out an email to clients, partners and friends sharing my guidelines to approaching cold email in 2024.

The TL;DR - If you're currently executing cold email correctly, you'll be fine.

At the end of my email, I also shared my predictions about pipeline generation in 2024.

Below you'll find my predictions about generating pipeline - specifically relevant to B2B Agencies and SaaS companies for 2024:

1. When done correctly, cold emails is still a viable channel for outbound prospecting.

Done correctly being the key point here.

Sending from multiple mailboxes across several alternative domains.

Highly targeted lists (smaller in size) with relevant messaging and leveraging triggers.

No more spray and pray or AI generated personalised intro lines! Please!

But don't rely on this one channel alone (see 7 & 9)

2. Hubspot and other sequence software will soon issue warnings about sending mass cold outreach.

Following from the recent Outreach and Salesloft email warnings, other tools will start limiting the amount of emails vs spam complaints.

The agile software companies will move to an "unlimited" and rotating mailbox model.

The dinosaurs will still charge per mailbox and not allow alternative domains/mailbox rotation - all while locking clients into annual plans

3. Some well known B2B companies will suffer from not adhering to these changes and their primary domain will be suspended.

This one is pretty self explanatory. I expect a few casualties of primary domains being burned.

4. Some orgs will build their own email sending infrastructure to mitigate the risk of relying on Gmail, Outlook etc.

Again, pretty clear with this. I don't have the technical chops to expand on this in more detail, but know a few people who can. Let me know if you'd like an intro.

5. SDR’s will suffer. They'll be forced to send more emails, miss targets, get put on PIPs and unfortunately fired.

The model of SDR to AE is on it's last legs and without changing, won't keep up with the pace of the way the buyers journey has evolved.

I'm not saying there isn't a place for an SDR type of role or of an AE.

But the expectations from leadership (and VC's) needs to evolve about what these roles contribute to and how they should be evaluated and compensated.

I have thoughts on a solution, but I'll save that for another post.

My plea to you if you have influence on these decisions is...please understand that the cause of this is with the changing buyer preferences, an outdated GTM model and with IT (alternative domains), not the individual SDR's who are working hard to hit their targets.

6. The return of the "full-cycle AE".

Story time: Back in my recruitment days, I was responsible for building my own pipeline and then closing the deals.

This meant I would drive to a business park, literally walk into office buildings, try my best to charm the team on reception, ask to speak with a person who had no idea why I was there and cheekily refuse to leave until I spoke with them / dropped off some sales material on their desk (true story).

But enough nostalgia.

In 2024, I think we'll see more AE's responsible for sourcing their own pipeline and working a prospect from first contact to closed won/expansion.

If I was an AE 5 years ago, this would seem like a daunting task.

However, with the advancement in tech and AI, it's possible to reduce hours of research a day to minutes per day.

This is achieved leveraging tools like Clay and Trigify.io or outsourcing the legwork to companies like TaskDrive (no kickbacks here, just good vibez).

7. Outbound prospecting (via email and social) will become less effective at first and then bounce back

Hands up if you've received an email that promises "to book 10-15 meetings with qualified prospects each week, make you more attractive to your significant other and meal prep a month's worth of nutritious meals on a pay per performance basis."?

Yeah, we all have.

Unfortunately, 2023 was the year that our inboxes were hammered more than ever with cold emails.

This is partly due to the release of chat GPT trained on terrible email templates and the dropshipping/SMMA course creators pivoting to sell shovels for the AI cold email gold rush.

Wow, I sound so cynical these days.

Many of us have "cold email blindness" (like banner blindness) and so do your prospects.

Cold emails aren't going to be as effective as they used to be. Especially if you're only using emails without complementing it with other channels and pipeline generation strategies.

But, I think we'll see an improvement in cold emails eventually.

8. Your LinkedIn inboxes are going to get hammered as the AI Copywriting Cold Email Agencies move to LinkedIn Outreach.

The pitch slap revolution is coming.

Brace yourselves for pitch after pitch (with a connection message or without).

As some of the cold email agencies, who are new to the game, start to see reply rates fall and move to LinkedIn DMs and InMail.

I'm not sure if LinkedIn will do anything to triage this in 2024, but they might eventually add some sort of limit.

However, LinkedIn DM's will still be effective if the message leads with value and takes a "first date" approach rather than proposing in the first message.

9. Other channels like LinkedIn (organic) and content in general will influence more meetings booked.

Even though the LinkedIn algorithm is destroying reach of posts these days.

Sharing valuable content on LinkedIn needs to be a priority for you in 2024.

People want to work with people they know, like and trust.

Consistently showing up on LinkedIn and building an authority around your particular skill set and niche is going to help you stand out against the competition.

Focusing on the challenges your prospects face and sharing tactical content they can implement will help you win their hearts and minds.

Take a long term view on this. Not everyone will convert immediately.

But keep showing up, keep depositing goodwill and giving without expecting anything in return and you'll reap the benefits of doing so.

10. B2B micro influencers, channel partners, personal brand, dark social and targeted podcast interviews/PR will drive more SQLs (but hard to attribute).

2 years ago I bought a domain along the lines of "subject matter expert" or similar. I saw the beginning of a trend starting to take off.

I didn't do anything with it. But perhaps I should have.

In 2024 we're going to see more paid collaborations between individuals and brands as well as non-paid collaborations which promote different software and agencies.

Personal brands are going to become even more important. Not only for the SME's/micro - influencers, but also for agency owners and leadership.

Additionally, showing up on podcasts and investing in brand awareness is a long-term strategy to supplement the more short term tactics.

I know a thing or two about podcast guesting and obviously Speak On Podcasts is the only company I'd recommend for this.

Furthermore, implementing a proper partner program is going to become even more important for agencies as people leverage the trust and authority built by one company and transfer it to another.

Remember, no one likes to be sold to, but everyone loves to buy stuff.

Personal branding, content, podcast interviews are a great way to reach your ideal audience without selling to them.

BONUS Prediction - There are going to be some awful "Buzzword-Led Growth" terms thrown around.

I'm going to keep a running tracker of all the [insert buzzword]-led growth terms I come across next year.

I'll report back next December with my findings.

In summary (I promise it gets more positive)...

Reading back on the above, I realise I sound pretty negative.

Perhaps I've been in the outbound game for a while now and am growing tired of seeing the same sub-par tactics touted by gurus.

Or witnessing plenty of agency owners being burned by false promises and missed pipeline targets.

But, it's not all negative.

As with any change, we need to adapt.

Adopting a pipeline generation strategy that leverages different channels and approaches will be key to prosper in 2024.

Investing in brand awareness campaigns, spending time crafting valuable content and building win-win-win scenarios with partners has to happen at the same time.

I covered this approach in a lot more detail. I'll add the links in the comments.

It's the sum of all parts that generates pipeline, not a silver bullet or a single growth hack.

I'm very excited to continue working on these pipeline generation pillars with exiting and future clients next year and sharing my learnings.

--

Enough from me, what are your predictions for next year?

What do you think will change?

Which channels do you think will contribute to more pipeline?

Let me know in the comments.