Almost 25 Simple SDR Hacks to Get a Few More Leads Every Month in 2025

Follow up with OOO prospects

The average number of prospects that might be out of office at any given time is 3-5% (or higher, depending on the season). I personally love getting OOO replies because they can be a great source of additional information about a prospect, mostly a direct phone number or an alternative point of contact in the company.

The problem here is that their auto-replies in response to your outreach might stop your sequence, meaning they won’t receive any follow-ups.

To make sure none of these prospects falls through the cracks, you can use our playbook to handle OOO replies.

First of all, set up a separate sequence with a 2-week delay to follow up with the prospects once they are back in the office (and personalize those follow-ups or include additional touchpoints based on the info from the auto-reply).

As a second step, you can also have a referral sequence running in parallel where you can add the contacts mentioned by the person who is currently OOO.

Just like that, you can get a few more warm leads with little to no effort.

Here’are a few ideas of how to use these SDR tips and tricks right:

• Step 1: When you get an OOO reply, don’t just ignore it. Add a task in your CRM to follow up 2–3 days after they return. (Example: If they say, “I’ll be back on Nov 15th,” set a task for Nov 17th.)
• Step 2: Personalize the follow-up using details from their OOO email. Did they mention a colleague? Reach out to that person in the meantime.
  • Example: “Hi [Referee’s Name], I saw that [Prospect’s Name] is out this week, and they suggested I contact you. Could you point me in the right direction?”
• Step 3: Build a mini-sequence specifically for OOO follow-ups. For instance:
  1. Day 1: “Hey [Name], welcome back! Just following up on our last conversation.”
  2. Day 3: Add a value-driven email: “Quick note—here’s a case study that might resonate with your team.”

Make the most out of referrals

Speaking of referrals, this is another amazing way to get a few more booked meetings quickly and easily. Aside from the recommended points of contact from the OOO auto-replies, there are more sources to get those referral leads. 

For example, you can look up “connections of” on Sales Navigator to target connections of someone you personally know (of course, it’s best to let them know that you will be using their name in this case). 

Or you can also reach out to the happy customers you’ve previously closed to ask for referrals – if you haven’t done that already. But hey, even if you have, maybe they have a new person to recommend?

Another creative tactic here is to intentionally build a list of non-decision-makers at the target account (entry/junior level employees in the relevant department) and contact them in the first place asking for the right person to talk to. 

Obviously, it’s easier to reach an SDR than a VP of Sales. And once you do, the chances are pretty high that they will point you in the right direction or forward your emails to the person you should talk to. Our stats for this sequence prove this point.

Once you hear back from that initial point of contact, you can also get more info about their current stack or processes to customize your messages when approaching a decision-maker. 

All you need to do next is use those contacts you’ve been referred to in a dedicated sequence targeted at decision-makers. Just make sure to mention the person you’ve been talking to before and use any additional information you’ve collected to make your message more relevant.

Here’s how to do it right:

Ask happy customers

After closing a deal, email your new customer:

“Hi [Name], thanks again for trusting us! Do you know anyone else in your network who might benefit from [solution]?
I’d love to make an introduction easier by writing a short message they can forward.”

Leverage LinkedIn connections

Use Sales Navigator’s “Connections of” filter. Spot mutual connections between your target and your existing customers.

“Hi [Target’s Name], I noticed you’re connected with [Customer].
We’ve worked together to [solve problem], and I’d love to explore if we could do the same for you.”

Junior-level employees

Build a sequence for non-decision makers (like SDRs or assistants) and ask for guidance.

“Hi [Name], I’m trying to get in touch with the right person on your team regarding [specific problem].
Would you mind pointing me in the right direction?”

Reengage lost or stalled opportunities

Your CRM is a goldmine of sales opportunities. And I’m not talking about the prospects that are midway through your pipeline. I mean the prospects who have been closed/lost, stalled, or have simply ghosted you at some point.

Go through the recently lost opportunities and try to reengage them with a different approach. Pay attention to the reason why they dropped out of your pipeline before. 

For example, if a prospect said that it was not the right time, you could check in a couple of months later to see if anything changed (and address any other sales objections they might have). Or maybe, you’ve added a feature that a prospect was lacking at that time? It also makes sense to reconnect with the prospect in case they have been promoted or switched to a different company. 

Demo no-shows present another prominent re-engagement opportunity here, as well as leads who haven’t converted after a trial. These two are some of the must-have sequences you should be running. Here’s an example of the sequence that we use for demo no-shows.

Picking up your previous conversation with a prospect is a great icebreaker and a reason for outreach so your chances to hear back from them should be pretty high.

Here’are a few ideas of how to use these SDR hacks right:

• Step 1: Pull a report of “lost” opportunities from the past 3–6 months.
• Step 2: Segment by reason (e.g., “bad timing,” “no budget,” etc.).
• Step 3: Customize your outreach based on their original objection:
  • Bad Timing Example: “Hey [Name], when we last spoke, you mentioned it wasn’t the right time to explore [solution]. Any chance your priorities have shifted recently?”
  • Budget Example: “Hi [Name], I wanted to let you know we’ve introduced a new pricing tier that might make [solution] more accessible. Would you like details?”
• Pro Tip: Track job changes on LinkedIn! If your lost prospect has switched roles, re-engage with:
  • Example: “Congrats on the new role at [Company]! I’d love to explore how we might support your team at [New Company].”

Double down on active prospects 

Another source of opportunities might be right there in front of you – the active sequences. You read that right! The fact that a person hasn’t yet responded to your outreach doesn’t mean they aren’t engaged. Many prospects might be reading your messages, forwarding them to other team members, clicking the links you share, or interacting with them in other ways. This clearly shows their interest (and intent). 

In this case, it would be a good idea to put in some extra effort and try to engage those active prospects using hyper-personalized messages or visual prospecting. The latter definitely works, based on both our own experience and data aggregated from our platform.

Yet it also takes some time to integrate images or video into your outreach. So using it with active prospects (especially Tier 1) would be a good choice.

For example, you can set an automation trigger to spot the active prospects in your sequences, e.g., the ones who open your email more than 5 times. Once the specified event takes place (the email is opened a set number of times), the prospect will be moved to a different sequence for further engagement. 

Taking into account that there won’t be so many prospects that match your criteria for this tailored sequence, you can do some extra research and manually customize your messages for them.

Here’are a few ideas of how to use these SDR tips and tricks right:

Use automation

Set triggers for when a prospect opens your email multiple times or clicks a link. Move them to a hyper-personalized sequence.

1. Day 1: “Hi [Name], I noticed you checked out our [specific page]. Are you exploring options for [problem]?”
2. Day 3: Send a video or GIF introduction of yourself explaining how you help similar companies.

Hyper-personalize

Do a quick LinkedIn or Google search to find something unique about their company or role.

“Hi [Name], congrats on your recent product launch!
I’d love to share how we’ve helped similar companies scale during growth phases like this.”

Look for intent signals

Buyer intent is my favorite tool for building laser-focused prospect lists. This is what makes your cold outreach feel warm and deliver better results – exactly what is needed to get more leads into your pipeline!

One of my favorite intent signals is team growth (hiring). Namely, we have a sequence targeting companies currently looking to grow their SDR teams offering a more cost-effective way to scale their sales operations using our product. As a result, the template might look like this:

Thanks to the targeting and personalization, this tactic delivers pretty decent results too.

Some of my favorite intent signals are:

• Company growth through acquisition, funding, or geographic expansion
• New role/company (people often look to acquire new tools in the first 90 days in the role)
• Current tool stack – complementary or competing software they are using
• Website visits, especially if a person visits your pricing page
• Social media activity – the content they share (including their comments), mutual contacts, groups, etc.

Speaking of the latter, LinkedIn is THE platform for B2B prospecting with plenty of ways to find and engage leads there. Namely, you can use it to find the relevant audience (for example, tap into a relevant group or an influencer’s followers), get some extra information about your prospects to personalize your outreach, and connect with the prospects directly using different touchpoints.

Here’s how to do it right:

• Step 1: Use intent tools like Bombora or LinkedIn hiring data to spot companies in growth mode.
  • Example email: “Hi [Name], I saw [Company] is hiring SDRs. Scaling a sales team can be costly—I’d love to share how we’ve helped companies like yours reduce ramp time by 30%.”
• Step 2: Watch LinkedIn for job changes:
  • Example: “Hi [Name], congrats on joining [Company]! Many of our clients evaluate new tools in their first 90 days—let’s chat about how we can make an impact for your team.”

Establish thought leadership

As an introvert, I find it somewhat challenging to speak in public and share my experience with the broader audience. Yet there’s no doubt that this can offer additional leverage to expand your reach, build awareness, and generate some leads along the way.

Whether you choose to invest in social selling on LinkedIn, speak at webinars or podcasts, or share your expertise on relevant blogs and media outlets, you can rest assured that your efforts will pay off well.

After every webinar or event I speak at, I get a few inbound conversations. Similarly, Tom Slocum, one of the experts at our Sales AI Summit, further proves the point.

As long as you offer some tangible value to your audience, people will grow to consider you a trusted advisor – exactly what we should all strive for in B2B SaaS sales!

Here’s how to do it right:

Step 1:

Post consistently on LinkedIn. Post quick tips, personal success stories, or common mistakes you see.

Step 2:

Host a 15-minute webinar for your prospects. Keep it simple, e.g., “5 Quick Fixes to Boost SDR Productivity.”

After the webinar, follow up with attendees:

“Hi [Name], thanks for joining!
Was there a particular tip you’d like to dive deeper into?”

Use pattern interrupts

Aside from creative personalization, targeting, and other mentioned tactics, there are tons of unconventional ways to grab the attention of your prospects and get a few more leads for your pipeline.

Often referred to as “pattern interrupts,” these are super-creative, even risky, ways to break through the noise, for example:

• using LinkedIn voice notes or endorsing prospects’ skills as a touchpoint,
• sending blank direct messages or emails, 
• using less common channels like Whatsapp or Twitter, and
• making intentional typos in your messages.

If you don’t mind taking some risk, you could also make intentional typos or even use the wrong name in your email. Although it’s considered to be one of the common cold outreach mistakes, it can also help you catch the prospect’s attention. 

Most people even think that this could humanize your email, making it feel not automated. That is if you manage to turn this around, by following up with a witty apology.

Here’s how to do this hack-sdr-activities right:

• Step 1:

Use LinkedIn voice messages.

“Hey [Name], this is [Your Name]—just wanted to drop a quick note about how we helped [Company] boost X by Y%. Let me know if you’re open to a chat.”

• Step 2:

Add humor or surprise to your email.

Send an intentionally “blank” email with a follow-up saying, “Oops, forgot to hit send. Here’s what I meant to say: [message].”

• Step 3:

Experiment with sending a physical mailer. Try a postcard that says, “Your inbox is noisy, so here’s a quiet way to say hi. Let’s chat: [link].”