In this episode of E-coffee with Experts, our host Austin chats with Jeff Hirz, EVP, Business Development at OuterBox, pulls back the curtain on how agencies navigate a post-AI search landscape where organic traffic and MQL volume plunged but deal quality rose.
Jeff explains the practical pivots that saved their year: diversifying lead channels, leaning into LLM citation tracking, resurrecting third-party listings, and rethinking outreach cadence and pipeline hygiene.
He shares real tactics and why emotional intelligence and multi-threading are the overlooked differentiators for closing long, complex deals.
If you’re a founder, marketing leader, or biz-dev rep wondering how to replace lost organic volume, improve pipeline accuracy, and build resilient sales motion, this conversation is full of actionable playbooks, metrics to reassess, and candid field-tested advice.
Takeaways:
- Sales environment has been challenging due to macroeconomic pressures.
- Maintaining lead equity is crucial for growth.
- Organic lead volume has significantly decreased this year.
- Diversification of lead sources is essential for survival.
- Emotional intelligence is key in sales interactions.
- Increased outreach activity leads to better results.
- Lead with value in follow-up communications.
- Multi-threading is becoming more common in sales conversations.
- Building relationships is more important than ever in sales.
- Humor and creativity can enhance outreach effectiveness.