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Chapter 08 of 08 · The thinking
Field notes on GTM that actually ships.
36 long-form playbooks on outbound, ABM, CRM, automation and AI agents — with the numbers, the traps and the steps. Written from the work, not from a template.
0 playbooks0 minutes of reading0 lensesUpdated Oct 2026
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Strategy · 5 min
Lead generation in 2027: what’s already changing
Research quality and channel mix will matter more than email volume.
Read the playbook →547 → 414 → 84attendees, ICP-qualified, priority accounts in the project below
Outbound · 5 min
Why 547 attendees is not a pipeline
The first job after an event is subtraction.
Read the playbook →3 movesacknowledge, clarify, respond
Outbound · 4 min
Objection handling is listening with a framework, not a rebuttal script
70% diagnosis, 30% response.
Read the playbook →1 jobper agent, with a defined input and output
AI agents · 5 min
What an AI agent should actually do inside a sales workflow
Useful agents are narrow, auditable and supervised.
Read the playbook →3 tripwiresdata, message, capacity: one metric each, reviewed weekly
Outbound · 4 min
Lead generation at scale without wrecking quality
Scale the system, not the spam.
Read the playbook →The full index
Pick a lens, or just wander.
Everything, newest thinking first. Hover a line for the headline number; press the button for a surprise.
- 01Entering a market isn’t the same as penetrating itA website in a new language is entry. Knowing the people who decide is penetration.Strategy6 min
- 02Why adding more leads won’t fix a broken qualification processVolume multiplies whatever process you already have, including the broken one.Systems5 min
- 03The GTM tasks I would never automate — and the ones I absolutely wouldAutomate the retrieval. Keep the reasoning.Automation5 min
- 04What an AI agent should actually do inside a sales workflowUseful agents are narrow, auditable and supervised.AI agents5 min
- 05BANT, MEDDIC or CHAMP? Pick the spine before the sequenceThe framework matters less than everyone using the same one.Systems5 min
- 06Inbound vs outbound isn’t a choice, it’s a ratioEvery durable pipeline I’ve seen runs both; the ratio moves with stage.Strategy5 min
- 07Lead generation in 2027: what’s already changingResearch quality and channel mix will matter more than email volume.Strategy5 min
- 08Your ICP is a hypothesis, not a documentRe-test it every quarter against won and lost deals.Strategy4 min
- 09Why 547 attendees is not a pipelineThe first job after an event is subtraction.Outbound5 min
- 10Pipeline stages should describe buyer behaviour, not your activity“Demo sent” tells you nothing about intent.Systems4 min
- 11The CRM field nobody fills in is the one that would save your forecastSeven well-filled fields beat forty badly-filled ones.Systems4 min
- 12Waterfall enrichment: stop paying for one data provider’s blind spotsQuery providers in sequence, pay only for the gaps.Automation4 min
- 13Deliverability engineering is GTM work now, not just IT’s problemIf your emails land in spam, nothing else you do matters.Automation4 min
- 14The automation audit I run before building anything newScore every manual task on rules and judgment before you touch a tool.Automation4 min
- 15Human-in-the-loop isn’t a compliance checkbox, it’s where the quality livesAI drafts, humans decide.AI agents4 min
- 16What actually breaks when sales teams bolt AI onto a messy processAI doesn’t fix a broken process; it accelerates it.AI agents4 min
- 17Building a research agent with MCP: what it actually savesFrom 15–20 minutes of tab-switching to a 90-second brief.AI agents4 min
- 18Predictive lead scoring beats gut-feel scoring, but only after enough dataStart with transparent rules; graduate when the history exists.AI agents4 min
- 19How I design an outbound strategy from a blank pageSegment, trigger, message, channel, capacity, in that order.Outbound5 min
- 20Signal-based outbound: why timing beats volumeA relevant message at the right moment beats a perfect message at a random one.Outbound5 min
- 21Lead generation at scale without wrecking qualityScale the system, not the spam.Outbound4 min
- 22The first 10 seconds of a cold call decide the next 10 minutesEarn the right to the next ten seconds, nothing more.Outbound5 min
- 23Objection handling is listening with a framework, not a rebuttal script70% diagnosis, 30% response.Outbound4 min
- 24Event-led pipeline: why the follow-up matters more than the boothThe event collects data. The follow-up creates pipeline.Outbound5 min
- 25Cadence design: why 8–12 touches beats 3 “polite” onesVariation plus persistence, across channels.Outbound4 min
- 26Account-based outreach at scale: personalisation that doesn’t cost an hour per accountPersonalise by trigger segment, not by account.Outbound4 min
- 27The voicemail that gets a callbackLead with the reason to care, keep it under 20 seconds.Outbound4 min
- 28GTM engineering: what the role actually is (and isn’t)A commercial brain with an engineer’s habits.Systems5 min
- 29The ten numbers I’d put on one page for a GTM teamIf a metric does not change a decision, it does not belong on the dashboard.Systems4 min
- 30Speed to lead: the cheapest conversion improvement in B2BMinutes matter more than most teams admit.Systems4 min
- 31What “the commercial spirit” actually means, beyond the sloganEvery interaction is an exchange of value.Mindset5 min
- 32The lead-gen lesson that took me too long to learnMeasure the quality of judgment, not the quantity of activity.Mindset4 min
- 33Why I stopped treating rejection as information about meA no is a data point about fit, timing or framing.Mindset4 min
- 34Senior judgment looks like doing less, more preciselyCost your own time like you cost a budget.Mindset4 min
- 35What I’d tell someone starting their first GTM roleLearn to read the funnel before you learn to write the email.Mindset4 min
- 36Resilience in outbound is a system, not a personality traitBuild structure that keeps judgment steady regardless of mood.Mindset4 min
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Reading routes
Short on time? Take a route.
Three ordered reading lists, each about an hour end to end. Follow the line.
Route 01
Start outbound the right way
From a blank page to a conversation: the order I would learn it in.
- How I design an outbound strategy from a blank pageOutbound · 5 min
- Your ICP is a hypothesis, not a documentStrategy · 4 min
- The first 10 seconds of a cold call decide the next 10 minutesOutbound · 5 min
- Cadence design: why 8–12 touches beats 3 “polite” onesOutbound · 4 min
- Objection handling is listening with a framework, not a rebuttal scriptOutbound · 4 min
Route 02
Build the machine
The systems side: roles, qualification, CRM, data and the one-page scoreboard.
- GTM engineering: what the role actually is (and isn’t)Systems · 5 min
- BANT, MEDDIC or CHAMP? Pick the spine before the sequenceSystems · 5 min
- The CRM field nobody fills in is the one that would save your forecastSystems · 4 min
- Waterfall enrichment: stop paying for one data provider’s blind spotsAutomation · 4 min
- The ten numbers I’d put on one page for a GTM teamSystems · 4 min
Route 03
Put AI to work, safely
What to automate, how to scope an agent and where the human stays.
- The GTM tasks I would never automate — and the ones I absolutely wouldAutomation · 5 min
- What an AI agent should actually do inside a sales workflowAI agents · 5 min
- Human-in-the-loop isn’t a compliance checkbox, it’s where the quality livesAI agents · 4 min
- Building a research agent with MCP: what it actually savesAI agents · 4 min
- Lead generation in 2027: what’s already changingStrategy · 5 min
What is inside
Built to be used, not skimmed.
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