What BD strategy would you recommend for an AI automation business? Should I rely on cold calling and cold email, or are there other lead‑generation avenues I’m missing?

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What BD strategy would you recommend for an AI automation business? Should I rely on cold calling and cold email, or are there other lead‑generation avenues I’m missing?

Cold calling is extremely time‑inefficient: spending an hour on the phone typically yields only 10–15 minutes of actual conversation unless you use a power dialer, and most people don’t use even basic tools like Clearbit. This means you operate at about 25% efficiency—the opposite of leverage. Instead of cold calling, devote that time to sending high‑quality cold emails and direct messages. The outcome is similar: prospects get a high‑quality interaction, you can appear on video, and you gain the ability to automate follow‑ups, cut through gatekeepers, and eliminate dial and connect times. Essentially, a well‑crafted cold email functions as a high‑quality voicemail that scales far better than phone calls.

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youtube ↗Cold Email

What’s the best strategy to get voice‑AI clients – cold email with a free trial or a kickoff‑call offer – and which niche should I target, local contractors or something else?

I don’t have any voice‑AI campaigns running right now, but I’d start by targeting call‑intensive niches. Look for services where a quick phone call is essential – for example, local cleaners. Search Google for “cleaner [city]”, open the top five results, and call each one in order until you get a response. Focus on time‑sensitive, local services because they’re more likely to adopt a voice‑AI solution. Once you have a list, run a cold‑email campaign offering either a free trial or a kickoff call, depending on what resonates with the prospect. The key is to demonstrate how the voice agent can handle after‑hours calls or urgent bookings, saving the business time and increasing conversion rates.

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youtube ↗Cold Email

My cold‑email reply rate is 0 % and I lack case studies for my inbound AI voice solutions. How should I sell these offers and improve cold‑email performance?

First, revisit your cold‑email fundamentals. Make sure your emails actually land in the inbox, get opened, and are compelling enough to earn a reply. Test deliverability, subject lines, and copy. A good cold‑email sequence should: 1) land in the primary inbox, 2) achieve a decent open rate, 3) get clicks, and 4) provoke a reply. If you’re not seeing any replies, you likely have a problem at one of those earlier steps. Start by creating a simple campaign that feels personal—e.g., “Hey [Name], how’s it going? I’m working on …”—and iterate until you see engagement. Once you have a working email framework, you can begin gathering case studies by offering free or low‑cost pilots, which will later strengthen your outreach.

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youtube ↗Cold Email

Why do you recommend cold email over cold calling?

Cold calling is inefficient: you spend only about 40% of your time on actual talking (10% dialing, 10% waiting for connection, 20% dealing with gatekeepers) and often never reach the decision maker. Cold email guarantees you’re speaking to the decision maker and lets you automate follow‑ups to stay top of inbox. I equate the effort of cold calling to sending cold Loom videos—Looms add video but the core effort is similar; you can skip the call time and send Looms directly via email for better pound‑for‑pound results. Cold calling does build a killer mindset, but for pure productivity cold email wins.

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youtube ↗Lead Generation

How can I get back into my AI agency journey and start making money after pausing for exams, given I only tried cold calling a few days and built some basic automations?

If you've only tried cold outreach a few times, you need to do it 100–1,000 times more to see results. When I started, I knocked on about 3,000 doors over three months with a friend and made only $7—roughly the same outcome as 5–15 cold calls that got zero replies. At the beginning, lacking experience means you need many reps to win. I wouldn’t recommend cold calling for selling automations today; instead, send custom Loom videos. They avoid synchronous timing issues and gatekeepers, letting your message sit in the prospect’s inbox, which is far more effective—likely three to four times better use of your time.

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