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8 steps — for SDR, Account executive, Founder, Agency

From ICP to booked meeting

I need to find thirty people worth talking to and get some of them on a call. The complete outbound workflow. Each step takes the previous step’s output as its input, so nothing has to be re-explained and nothing gets lost between tools. Run top to bottom the first time; after that you live in steps 4–7.

The sequence

Each step's output is the next step's input

Read the In and Out lines down the page. Where they do not line up, the workflow has a gap — that is the test, and it is why these are written this way rather than as a diagram.

  1. Define who20 min, once a quarter

    In
    Your last 10–20 closed deals, won and lost
    Out
    An ICP in LinkedIn’s own vocabulary, plus one observable trigger
  2. Find them10 min, then 3 min to build

    In
    The ICP’s search-ready summary
    Out
    A filter set and Boolean strings returning 200–1,500 results
  3. Cut the list5 min per few hundred rows

    In
    The export from that search
    Out
    Three tiers, capped at what your weekly invitation budget can actually cover
  4. Understand the top tier3 min each

    In
    One prospect’s pasted profile and activity
    Out
    A brief ending in a value hypothesis and an opening line
  5. Write the first touch2 min each

    In
    The brief from step 4
    Out
    A message at the right length, built on a stated hypothesis
  6. Plan the cadence15 min, once

    In
    Your seat count and plan
    Out
    Three to four touches inside the platform ceilings, with a stop rule
  7. Handle what comes back2 min each

    In
    The thread, with dates
    Out
    A classified reply and three calibrated responses
  8. Prepare the call2 min

    In
    The thread and the profile
    Out
    A one-page brief and three questions, one of them disqualifying
The artefacts

What you end up holding

Each step leaves something behind. These are the things worth keeping between runs.

Define who

An ICP in LinkedIn’s own vocabulary, plus one observable trigger

Find them

A filter set and Boolean strings returning 200–1,500 results

Cut the list

Three tiers, capped at what your weekly invitation budget can actually cover

Understand the top tier

A brief ending in a value hypothesis and an opening line

Write the first touch

A message at the right length, built on a stated hypothesis

Plan the cadence

Three to four touches inside the platform ceilings, with a stop rule

Handle what comes back

A classified reply and three calibrated responses

Prepare the call

A one-page brief and three questions, one of them disqualifying

Questions

Running it

Do I have to run all eight steps?

The first time, yes — each one produces an artefact the next depends on, and skipping the ICP is the most common reason the later steps produce nothing. After that, steps 1, 2 and 6 are quarterly and you live in 3, 4, 5 and 7.

How long does a full pass take?

About an hour for the setup steps, then roughly seven minutes per prospect for research and first message. The binding constraint is not your time, it is the roughly 100 invitations a week the account allows.

Where the numbers come from

The reference behind this workflow

The ceilings this workflow is built around

Steps 3 and 6 both size themselves against the weekly invitation budget. This is where that figure comes from.

What the tooling costs

Step 2 assumes Sales Navigator. Current prices, dated, if you are deciding whether to buy it.

Where to next

Run it with the context already loaded

Every step goes faster inside a Project that already knows your ICP, your product and the platform limits. That is what the packs are.