What is an acceptable ROI with outbound?

We can’t tell you what “acceptable” means in terms of your outbound ROI, or the return you get from your outbound campaign, but here are the different types of value you get from investing in outbound sales:

• Drive awareness to markets where you aren’t dominating yet
• Gain feedback on messaging and even product from real conversations, not guesses
• Increase traffic to your website and other digital properties
• Conversations driving toward future follow up, which means beating the competition to the punch when timing is right
• Meetings

You can use your Math of Sales to determine your cost per meeting, and if that combines with your other acquisition costs at a % of revenue you find acceptable, that’s great!

If you have yet to invest significantly in outbound, you may be asking this question because you have a limited budget or have a team member who doesn’t see the strategic value of investing in outbound and needs to be “convinced.” This is a dangerous game. It takes anywhere from 6-12 months to see a significant return on your efforts, and it’s longer if you’re new to your market.

In rare cases we’ve seen customers with massive success rates that beat the odds. These are typically highly innovative products in an undersaturated market. Be sure to consider this before setting anyone’s expectations for outbound ROI, including your own.