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Performing outbound sales operations, whether for yourself or a company, requires some serious multitasking. Your usual routine looks like this: finding qualified leads, enriching the list, crafting and sending personalized emails at scale to engage your prospects, reviewing your analytics for performance, and so much more.
Luckily, there are plenty of outbound sales tools to take some tasks off your to-do list and streamline your workflow. In this guide, you will find the best 12 tools that make it possible and a curated, simple framework for choosing the right fit, whether as a solo sales professional, GTM leader, or founder. Let’s dig in.
How I Choose the Top 12 Outbound Sales Tools
There’s no shortage of outbound sales tools out there, but not all of them are built the same, especially in terms of quality and features. Some focus on lead generation, others on email outreach, and a few act as an all-in-one solution.
Below, I’ve pulled a list of the top 12 outbound sales tools for sales professionals or GTM teams who want to generate, engage, and convert qualified leads for businesses. I categorized these tools into four sections and tested and selected them based on their criteria:
- User interface: The tool should be quick to adopt by users. Whether you intend to find qualified leads, send personalized emails at scale, or deliver to prospects’ inboxes, users should easily navigate the tool to perform smooth operations.
- Key Features: Different tools come with different features. I focused on tools whose features focused on lead generation, personalized outreach, or lead management to guide your decision-making process.
- Integration capabilities: It’s not every tool that integrates with third-party platforms. To enhance your workflow, I focused on tools that seamlessly connect with other platforms to ensure easy data transfer.
The 12 Best Outbound Sales Tools
Here are the 12 best outbound sales tools you can consider for your cold campaigns.
Outbound Sales Tools Overview
A. Prospecting and Lead Generation
1. Apollo — For lead generation
Source: Apollo
Renowned for its vast database and powerful buying signals, Apollo is an all-in-one solution for finding, engaging, and converting potential buyers. Backed by its advanced search filters, you can input your desired criteria — job title, industry, company size, or revenue — into the database to generate a lead list that matches your ideal customer profile (ICP).
For instance, in the screenshot below, I searched for people with the job title, project managers or manager of operations, in locations like California and New York to build my lead list with the platform.
Building a lead list with Apollo
Additionally, the lead generation platform is renowned for its buying signals. By partnering with intent data providers like Bombora and LeadSift, you can get buying signals – website visits, hiring trends, or new funding rounds — that allow you to reach the right prospects with the right message at the right time.
However, the major downside to using the tool is data privacy and security issues. Professional platforms like LinkedIn have banned the lead generation software for unauthorized data scraping, violating its terms and service. Nonetheless, if you still intend to build a lead list, particularly around US data, Apollo remains your best shot.
Pros
- Easily connect with decision makers that match your ICP
- Obtain high-intent buying signals to prioritize your leads.
- Integrates seamlessly with third-party platforms.
Cons
- The platform’s data is heavily US-centric, with little focus on European, Asia-Pacific, and Latin American markets.
- Faces some data regulation and privacy issues with top professional platforms like LinkedIn.
Customer Review
“I like Apollo's search capabilities and filtering. I also like that I can create clean lists to include or exclude contacts from. Their new workflow functionality is amazing as well! We're using all of it inside the app and seeing some cool results on cold outreach efforts as well as moving data from Hubspot -> Apollo from a workflows perspective.” — Casey, K. on G2.
Pricing
Apollo offers a free trial with limited credits, but its paid plans start at $59 per month.
2. Ocean.io — For lookalike search
Source: Ocean.io
If your goal is to generate leads similar to your existing customers, Ocean is for you. All you need is the URL of your best-fit customer and a detailed understanding of your ICP; then its proprietary AI-driven lookalike search will collect, analyze, and organize people and company data to match your ICP.
With numerous search filters such as job title, industry tags, country location, annual revenue, employee count, or LinkedIn description, you can also refine your search results to create a more targeted and accurate list.
On top of this, you can also integrate its Chrome extension into your web browser for easy data collection and analysis. You don’t have to waste time switching between tabs, but instead, compile all the information you need into one spot for effective prospecting.
Pros
- Perfect for finding leads similar to your ICP or existing customers.
- It’s GDPR compliant, so you don’t have to worry about data regulation and privacy issues.
Cons
- As of the time of this writing, software doesn’t integrate with third-party platforms, causing friction during data transfer.
Customer Review
“'I’ve used every data tool that's out in the market, and when it comes to accuracy and building the highest quality ABM list, there is no better software than Ocean. I've used Ocean to build some of the most niche lists that have helped us build some incredible campaigns for our clients.” — Nick A. on G2.
Pricing
Ocean offers a free trial with limited credits, but its paid plan starts at $79 per month.
3. Expandi — To generate leads on LinkedIn
Source: Expandi
Sure, many outbound sales software programs can help you generate leads. But Expandi is one of the best lead generation tools built specifically for LinkedIn. Its sole focus is on LinkedIn, so if you’re looking to find quality leads on LinkedIn without having your account suspended, you should check out Expandi.
Unlike other tools, Expandi prioritizes safety. You can set up random delays between actions so that your automation can mimic human behavior during your LinkedIn lead generation campaigns. It’s like having a tool that automates your LinkedIn actions, but with precautions.
But beware, everything you do with Expandi is at your own risk. But if you use the platform cautiously, you can harness its full potential.
Pros
- Ideal for automating LinkedIn lead generation campaigns.
- Mimics human behavior to avoid serious penalties like account suspension.
Cons
- Without precautions, you can violate LinkedIn's terms and service, affecting your account.
Customer Review
“I have increased my following and connections by hundreds in a short period of time, and because I have campaigns working for me in the background, our business is becoming more top of mind to new prospects and leads.” —- Nicole, C. on LinkedIn.
Pricing
Expandi offers a 7-day free trial, but its paid plans start at $99 per month.
B. Email outreach and automation
4. Prospeo — For email finding and verification
Source: Prospeo
Building an email outreach sequence without a valid email address is a waste of time and effort. That’s why I recommended Prospeo as the first email outreach tool in this section. The email finding and verification tool enables you to locate anyone’s contact information, whether it’s a valid email address or phone number, ultimately allowing you to send a personalized cold email.
As long as you have the prospect’s first or last name and company domain, you can find their verified contact information. All you need to do is input the details in the search bar as displayed in the screenshot below.
You can also perform bulk email verification to find prospects’ valid contact information at once, rather than searching for it one by one. Unfortunately, this feature isn’t available with the free plan, so you will need to upgrade to the paid version. Plus, if you don’t want to use the web app, you can opt for its Chrome extension to extract information from a company’s website, LinkedIn, or Sales Navigator.
Pros
- A user-friendly interface that is quick to adopt.
- Find valid email addresses to scale your cold email outreach.
Con
- Unused credits don’t roll over to the next month.
Customer review
“Data quality - honestly, it's the most important factor when it comes to outreach, and if you don't have good data, you can't reach the person. If you don't have good data, your infra is marked as spam because of bounces.” — Bojan, N. on G2.
Pricing
Prospeo offers a free trial with limited credits, but its paid plan starts at $39 per month.
5. Clay — For personalized sequences and automation
Source: Clay
Primarily known for its waterfall enrichment feature, Clay is also effective for email outreach and automation. To use the outbound sales software for email outreach, you must implement a three-pronged approach.
First, conduct customer research with over 100 data providers to fully understand your prospect. Next, leverage the information gained from the research to craft personalized outreach messages with Clay’s AI message writer.
The platform grants access to other AI copywriting tools, such as Twain, ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, or Mistral, to customize your messages with elements like texts, avatars, images, or videos. This saves time, so you don’t have to have to engage with the manual approach. If you don’t want to use an AI tool, you can access templates from Clay’s library to generate a message.
Using Clay’s email templates for personalized outreach
Finally, send the message to a cold outreach tool like Smartlead or Instantly to deliver at scale to your prospects. With this simplified approach, your email outreach is all set and ready to engage your audience.
Pros
- Clay is flexible and can be used for multiple use cases such as waterfall enrichment, list building, or personalized copywriting.
- It integrates with several third-party platforms, streamlining your workflow and driving more efficiency.
Cons
- Clay operates a credit-based pricing model, which can get exhausted easily if it’s not used correctly.
- Some advanced features require a technical background.
Customer review
“Clay has democratized programmatic, automated lead sourcing, enriching, researching, and outreach. Sales tech development is now way more accessible to non-programmers like me.” — Adam, A. on G2.
Pricing
Similar to other tools, Clay offers a free trial with limited credits. But, its paid plans start at $149 per month.
6. Instantly — For email outreach and deliverability
Source: Instantly
It’s not all email outreach tools that ensure deliverability. However, Instantly is an exception. The multifaceted tool helps sales teams craft personalized emails and land them in their prospect’s inbox, not the spam folder. Thanks to its AI-powered assistant, you can use custom variables to craft personalized messages to engage your prospects. If you want more options, its customizable templates are available for use.
Without a doubt, Instantly’s email deliverability feature makes it stand out from other tools. You can create unlimited email accounts on the platform and rotate the sending process in a human-like manner to protect the sender's reputation.
For context, you can send up to 250 emails from each account. So, if you have 8 accounts, you’d be sending about emails daily. The more email accounts you add, the more emails you can send. As you automate this process, you can focus on what matters most — selling.
Pros
- Perfect for sending large volumes of emails at once.
- G2 reviewers report an intuitive interface that’s easy to use and saves time when running multiple campaigns.
Cons
- Limited integrations with third-party software can hinder smooth sales operations.
Customer review
“Instantly really streamlined my outreach workflow. I no longer waste hours managing email sequences. Everything is easy to set up and understand. It saves me plenty of time. The warm-up feature helps land emails in the inbox, and the verification tools have reduced bounce rates.” – Errick, T. on G2.
Pricing
Instantly’s paid plans start at $37 per month.
C. Sales engagement and communication
7. Reply — For multichannel sequences and sales automation
Source: Reply
Reply.io is a sales engagement and automation feature designed to help you communicate with your prospects. Email sequences, AI personalization, multichannel sequences, and LinkedIn automation are some of its key strengths, allowing you to reach thousands of prospects without delay.
I’ll be honest: its multichannel sequences are what set it apart from other platforms. You can build personalized sequences to reach prospects on different channels such as emails, SMS, calls, LinkedIn, and WhatsApp, preventing you from switching multiple tabs. Its automation capabilities are another bonus. As a salesperson, you can write and optimize emails faster, perform LinkedIn tasks, and follow up with prospects consistently.
Pros
- It has a user-friendly interface, making it easy to navigate and adopt by users.
- With its solid automation system, you can save time and streamline your outreach campaign without hassle.
Cons
- Some users report that its advanced features could be expanded, especially its analytic and reporting features.
Customer review
“Literally set up campaigns in just 5 steps. Access campaigns from any login and make edits at any of the campaign timeline. It’s been over a year, and we have grown our account to almost 12 additional seats, saving $43 on each seat we started using from day 1. Now, it’s a marketing platform powerhouse as we have integrated and established our workflows directly without any human interventions.” — Salman, M. on G2.
Pricing
Reply.io offers a free trial, but its paid plans start at $99 per user/month.
8. Lemlist — For AI personalization and campaign management
Source: Lemlist
Lemlist is another tool to help you drive engagement and outbound sales. With features such as AI-powered personalization, multichannel sequences, and in-app calling, you can build and forge stronger relationships with your prospects at scale.
One of its standout features is AI-powered personalization that allows you to craft and optimize sequences with a few clicks. Thanks to elements such as AI variables, icebreakers, and liquid syntax, you can make your message stand out from other emails in your prospect’s inbox.
Using AI variables to customize emails
If you wonder what these elements are, here is a quick summary:
- With the AI variables, you can personalize the content generated by the AI. This can be the first and last name, job titles, company domain, images, LinkedIn URL, and more
- You can use icebreakers to customize the introductory part of your emails, making it more unique and engaging.
- Liquid syntax lets you create dynamic content in emails, based on certain conditions or leads’ data. So, instead of having “Hello” throughout the greeting part of your cold emails, liquid syntax allows you to add other phrases like “Hi” or “Hey there” in the campaign.
Besides, you can shuffle between your prospect’s preferred channel — LinkedIn, email, or calls — using this platform. This allows you to drive more engagement for your cold email campaign.
Pros
- Lemlist saves time by allowing users to quickly set up their multi-channel campaigns.
- A great customer support team to resolve any issues.
Con
- Lemlist’s pricing model can be expensive for small teams and businesses.
Customer Review
“Setting up your email can be quite difficult and frustrating. I have experienced it on my own, and Lemlist helped me lovely with it. You just send a message in the chat, and you get a quick response from their workers. You can also book a call with them where you meet with one of their workers, where you also get help with all of your problems and questions.” – Tarik, W.
Pricing
Lemlist offers a 14-day free trial, but its paid plans start at $69 per user/month.
9. Heyreach — For LinkedIn outreach
Source: HeyReach
Heyreach specializes in LinkedIn outreach. Everything to drive engagement on LinkedIn. Connection requests, LinkedIn messages, profile views – name it. The goal is to automate your prospecting process, generate qualified leads from LinkedIn or LinkedIn Sales Navigator, and boost your overall sales efforts.
What sets Heyreach apart is that you can run outbound sales campaigns across multiple LinkedIn accounts to reach more leads and book meetings without losing personal touch. With its auto-sender rotation feature, you can mimic human behavior to optimize and send your messages while obeying all LinkedIn rules and guidelines.
This makes it ideal for lead generation teams, founders, or agencies seeking to boost their LinkedIn prospecting efforts without having their accounts flagged. Besides, its unified inbox allows you to manage all messages in a centralized hub, creating a seamless communication system.
Pros
- Heyreach automates all your LinkedIn efforts.
- It integrates with major platforms like Clay, Slack, Make, and more.
Cons
- Some G2 reviewers report that the campaigns don't start properly on the platform.
Customer review
“Using it for almost a year, our LinkedIn accounts are super safe, with no restrictions from LinkedIn. I love that we can include multiple LinkedIn accounts in one campaign and easily upgrade or downgrade them as needed.” — Ema, A. on G2.
Pricing
Heyreach’s pricing plan starts at $79 per user/month.
D. CRM and pipeline management
10. Breakcold — Sales CRM for email and LinkedIn users
Source: Breakcold
Want a traditional CRM for your sales team? Breakcold is your best bet. Unlike other CRMs, the sales CRM combines traditional prospecting (cold emailing and calling) with social selling (LinkedIn, Telegram, and WhatsApp) to close deals.
What this means is you don’t have to only focus on emails; you can also engage with leads on LinkedIn or any other channel from a single platform. You can chat with prospects, automate workflows, and manage leads to build relationships and ultimately convert prospects.
Pros
- You can manage all your interactions from a centralized hub, preventing you from switching tabs.
- The platform’s interface is intuitive, making it easy to navigate and adopt by users.
- It seamlessly integrates with third-party platforms such as HubSpot, Make, LinkedIn, and more.
Con
- Users complain about some technical glitches that hinder optimal performance.
Customer review
“I like the simplicity of how Breakcold can manage multiple platforms all in one place to keep me focused on what I am doing, which is prospecting.” – Mokoto, K. on G2.
Pricing
Breakcold offers a 14-day free trial, but its paid plans start at $29 per user/month.
11. HubSpot Sales— All-in-one CRM for campaign management
Source: HubSpot Sales
Think of HubSpot Sales as the Swiss Army knife of CRMs. It’s a complete, all-in-one ecosystem that goes beyond outreach, helping sales reps to manage relationships, automate routine tasks, and align with marketing teams. It offers a variety of features like lead management, email templates and tracking, sales automation, meeting schedulers, playbooks, sales forecasting, and reporting.
Without doubt, it serves as a unified solution, eliminating the need to opt for another tool. For instance, if you want to personalize emails, you can use dynamic content and a template to craft one. Or you can have a full-scale visibility of your buyers’ journey, right from the initial point of outreach to closing deals.
Pros
- HubSpot is intuitive, allowing you to manage leads, optimize outbound sales campaigns, and automate workflows in one spot.
- It integrates extensively with other third-party platforms.
Cons
- Some G2 reviewers complain about the pricing model, which can become expensive as you scale.
- Limited customization options for businesses with complex needs.
Customer review
“The CRM is top-notch—it keeps all of our customer interactions in one place, making follow-ups seamless. The automation tools have saved us so much time, and the analytics provide deep insights into what’s working and what’s not.” — Margaret, J. on G2.
Pricing
HubSpot Sales’ paid plan starts at $100 per user/month.
12. Salesforce Sales Cloud — Sales CRM for Enterprises
Source: Salesforce Sales Cloud
Our final option on the list is Salesforce Sales Cloud. The AI-powered sales CRM is more than a tool for sending outreach. It’s perfect for enterprise needs by offering powerful, customizable capabilities and advanced features to supercharge your workflows and manage your entire sales cycle.
For instance, you can have a 360° view of your leads and track their activities on the platform. Plus, its AI assistant (Einstein) generates actionable insights to prioritize leads, recommend next best actions, and forecast revenue, making it ideal for teams with complex needs. You can also customize deal stages for better lead management and build automation rules to drive efficiency.
Pros
- A centralized hub to track customer lifecycle and account activity in one place.
- Enhanced automation to keep the sales process consistent.
Cons
- The platform has a steep learning curve, which can be overwhelming for users.
- Pricing can increase as you scale, making it unsuitable for small businesses.
Customer review
“What I like most about Salesforce Sales Cloud is its powerful and customizable approach to managing the entire sales process. From detailed lead and opportunity tracking to automation that frees up reps, plus insightful reporting with AI, it’s a comprehensive tool for driving sales success and can be tailored to any business.” — Rosella, P. on G2.
Pricing
Salesforce Sales Cloud’s pricing plan starts at $25 per user/month
How to Choose the Best Outbound Sales Software for Your Business
With so many outbound sales software programs in the market, choosing the right one can be a bit challenging. Below are some factors to consider when choosing the best outbound sales automation tools for your business.
1. Identify your pain points
Determine the area of the outbound sales process that’s challenging. Do you want to automate repetitive tasks? Are you struggling with sending personalized sequences at scale? Identifying the problematic areas can help you choose the right sales software.
2. Define goals
Identify what you aim to achieve with the tool. Do you want to drive more engagement, improve efficiency, or increase revenue? Your business goals should drive your decision-making process.
3. Evaluate key features
Select an outbound sales software with key features like email automation, lead management, CRM integration, and reporting and analytics to streamline your workflow.
4. Ease of use
Choose a tool that won’t require a lot of time to learn. They should be easy to navigate and quickly adopted for future sales operations.
5. Pricing
Consider the pricing model (per month, per user, credit-based pricing) and ensure it fits your budget. Also, check for any hidden costs or fees that could impact your return on investment (ROI).
Conclusion
Every outbound sales operation requires a lot of time and effort, which is why you have to create an impact on your prospects. ColdIQ makes it easy to work smarter with these tools, building the right systems to flood your pipeline with qualified opportunities. Book a demo with us today!
Frequently Asked Questions about Outbound Sales Tools
1. What Are outbound sales?
Outbound sales is a sales approach where sales professionals initiate contact with a potential buyer (by cold emailing or cold calling), rather than waiting to show interest in the business.
2. What is an outbound sales software?
An outbound sales software is a tool that helps sales reps identify and engage potential customers who haven’t expressed interest in your business’s offerings. They help with tasks like prospecting, lead generation, email outreach, lead management, and more, enabling outbound sales teams to build relationships and close deals.
3. What are the top benefits of using outbound sales tools?
Outbound sales tools offer various benefits, including streamlining workflow, improved lead targeting, enhanced engagement, and better decision-making.
4. What are the types of outbound sales tools?
Outbound sales tools consist of different types, which include sales prospecting and lead generation tools, sales engagement platforms, email automation tools, and CRM systems.
