144: The Outbound Paradox

The real advantage in 2026

Author

Jed Mahrle
March 29, 2026

Welcome back to the Practical Prospecting Newsletter!

Today I’m sharing something I’ve been thinking about a lot lately: what happens when cold email becomes fully optimized??

When everyone has access to the same signals, the same data, and the same AI tools to personalize outreach at scale.

In that world, what actually makes someone stop and respond to your message?

Agenda:

  • The Outbound Paradox

  • The Solution

  • Real Examples

ZoomInfo finally released GTM Studio.

I heard about this months ago, and I’ve been HYPED for it.

GTM Studio connects dozens of data sources into one platform and uses AI to help you build highly targeted lists without needing technical skills.

Check out this video I posted about how I’m using it to do AI research, personalization and waterfall enrichments at scale.

The Outbound Paradox

Five years ago, outbound had real friction:

  • Good data was expensive.

  • Signals were hard to find.

  • Personalization at scale was almost impossible.

If you wanted to reference something specific about a prospect, you had to actually research it.

But now…

  • AI can monitor signals.

  • It can enrich everything automatically.

  • Tools can write personalized lines instantly.

  • Sending infrastructure is cheap.

The barrier to entry is WAY lower than it used to be.

You can realistically reach millions of people with relevant messaging, for dirt cheap.

AI agents can monitor the internet for signals automatically and trigger outreach at the exact moment someone needs your product.

It’s not all the way there yet. Most personalization sucks. And most “signals” aren’t really that relevant either.

But what happens when it is?

When everyone can reach the perfect buyer at the perfect time… what actually makes someone respond?

If everyone has perfect signals and perfect personalization, then nobody does.

It’s something I’ve been thinking a lot about lately.

And here’s what I think the solution is…

The Solution

Most buying decisions aren’t purely rational. They’re social.

Almost every major tech purchase I’ve made is because someone I know was using it or I saw one of my peers/competitors using it.

No matter what happens with AI, people will always want to know:

“What are my peers doing that I'm not?”

This shows up everywhere.

  • A dentist hears another practice nearby is using AI call answering and booking more appointments without hiring more front desk staff.

  • A construction company finds out another contractor in their market is using drone site inspections and finishing bids twice as fast.

  • A Shopify brand sees a competitor running the same ads but offering 2-day shipping because they switched to a different 3PL.

(^ these are real client examples)

In my 7+ years running cold email campaigns, the best performing templates are always the ones that create curiosity and FOMO (fear of missing out).

The goal is to get them to think: “Wait… what do they know that I don’t?”

If outbound becomes “fully optimized”, this dynamic becomes even more important.

Because when every message is personalized…

Social proof becomes the only real differentiator.

Real Examples

Most people use social proof the wrong way.

They think it’s all about dropping names.

“We work with companies like X, Y, and Z.”

But this often backfires if they don’t know those customers.

What actually works is peer relevance.

You want prospects thinking: “They understand our world better than we do”

Here are a few ways to do that.

1. Direct Competitor Messaging

I’ve used this messaging when I’m selling into a space with a big name competitor.

Have you evaluated tools like [competitor]?

We’re seeing a lot of [niche] companies leave recently for [unique differentiator].

Happy to share more details if it’s something you’re considering as well.

2. “Companies Like Yours” Framing

I use this messaging with companies are are vertical specific and sell into a clear niche.

We’ve been working in the [niche] space for for years now. I saw [something relevant about their company], and thought you might find this interesting.

The [niche] teams getting [result they care about] are approaching [process/problem] differently than most. It involves [hint at the solution].

Do you mind if I share those insights? Also happy to share a couple names you'd probably recognize who are doing this.

If you can pull your customer insights into a benchmark report, lead-magnet emails like this work extremely well. The key is getting the KPI’s they actually care about right.

We’ve been working in the [niche] space for about [x] years now, and recently we spoke with a number of the top[niche] teams about what they’re doing around [KPI 1], [KPI 2], and [KPI 3].

We pulled everything into a short benchmark report and thought you might find it interesting. There are a few names in there you’d probably recognize.

Want me to send it over?

***

Cold email is getting easier to execute. Which means the advantages that used to work (signals, personalization, quality data, etc.) have shifted.

I think the next advantage is context. Understanding what actually drives buyer curiosity.

And one of the most universal drivers across every industry is simple:

People care deeply about what their peers are doing.

If your outbound can tap into that, your messaging cuts through even when inboxes are crowded.

Thanks for reading,

Jed