Outbound sales

Woah woah woah, we're doing outbound?

Yes! But do not be afraid:

• We are not doing this to 'go enterprise' - for now we're trying to reach more of our ICP.
• Our investors did not ask us to do this - we came up with it ourselves.

So why are we doing it now? I thought our inbound pipeline was good?

Outbound sales is a thing we will need to get really good at as we continue to scale PostHog, as 100% inbound eventually dries up. We are not going to be the first company in history to build a huge Saas business with zero outbound, and most companies like us start thinking about outbound around our ARR. Even the largest, most beloved devtool products of all time do this - they just do it in a smart way.

We want to start doing outbound now because, if we wait til inbound slows down, we’ll panic and make bad decisions, trash the brand, and copy and paste what other boring companies have done in a short-sighted way that doesn't work for our audience.

Outbound is helpful because it is a good way to generate more leads in a semi-predictable way - and there are lots of cool ways to do it in 2025 using GTM engineering, agents etc. We should view outbound as a type of hyper-focused marketing that generates sales opportunities.

Let's get on the same page - what is outbound?

‘Outbound’ means a few different things. This is how we think about it in relation to customers:

1. Using PostHog and spending a lot of money
2. Using PostHog and spending a little money
3. Using PostHog with good engagement/high ICP, but not spending any money
4. Person signed up at some point, but not really using, usually just kicking the tires
5. Not signed up, but has heard of PostHog
6. Not signed up, never heard of PostHog

None of these people are currently talking to us - that's why they are under the umbrella of 'outbound'.

We’ll call 1-3 ‘warm’ outbound and 4-6 ‘cold’ outbound. Technical Account Managers are responsible for managing leads from warm outbound, in addition to their book of business. Technical Account Executives are responsible for managing leads from cold outbound, in addition to inbound leads (which comprise 90% of leads today).

We are building a BDR function that will generate leads, mainly focused on cold outbound to start. (A BDR, or business development rep, is someone who gets leads for sales by doing outbound activities.)

What we're doing today

Our focus today is on three categories: inbound leads, getting much better at warm outbound (we have a huge number of leads that we could be converting better), and experimenting with colder outbound. Dmytro Sitalo is leading our experiments today with the

New Business Sales Team

New Business Sales Team.

Check out the leads page for more detail on lead types and where they go.

If you're reading this after getting outbounded by PostHog, blink twice you can opt out here

We've linked to this section because you've been included in our first few experiments. We want to work together, but not at the expense of you hating us.

So, if you'd rather we didn't reach out, you can opt out with this button: Opt out of outbound

No forms, no 'are you sure?', no hurt feelings. You can always change your mind later by reaching out to us directly. We would note that you're on our list because we think you're a good fit for PostHog, but that's for you to judge.

Most SaaS companies would likely just blast you with emails, calls and DMs without your consent. If you can’t already tell, PostHog does things differently.

What will we do on our calls? A simple outbound sales process

As we begin to run outbound sales meetings set via Dmytro Sitalo’s efforts and our own, it makes sense to define a lightweight process for managing an outbound sales conversation.

First, remember, we contacted them.

Because we are taking their time, we want to remain human and helpful. We also want to be transparent about our process, who we build for, and how we help our customers.

We should aim to be a pure expression of our PostHog selves. How well we do discovery in our initial conversations will dictate whether we succeed or fail.

If they’re interested, we’ll tell them how they can try PostHog before they buy and give them technical help along the way.

If they’re not interested or not a fit for PostHog, we’ll tell them honestly and transparently. We need to earn the right for each step in a sales process and not assume their interest.

So, what does that mean for a first conversation? We:

1. Do research & get context
2. We are human & transparent when we meet them
3. Explore their role & current state/stack
4. Qualify or disqualify
5. With explicit permission, give a brief PostHog pitch
6. Ask the hard question
7. Provide a relevant next step & schedule it on the call
8. Action the task
9. Rinse, lather, and repeat

Our ultimate goal is to help this person figure out if PostHog solves a real problem for them, not to close the deal in one call.

In order:

1. We do research & get context

In brief, do some basic account research:

• What's their current tech stack? (Check job postings, tech stack sites like BuiltWith/Wappalyzer)
• Recent company news (funding, product launches, hiring)
• Their role + how long they've been there (LinkedIn)
• Why did they agree to this meeting? (Read Dmytro Sitalo’s notes carefully)
• What problem or pain did Dmytro Sitalo identify/suggest?

Use this research to set a hypothesis that can assist you on the call.

2. We are human & transparent when we meet them

We contacted them. And this is a sales call that only makes sense if they have a problem we can solve. So a simple, open-ended question like this works as an opener:

"Hey [name], thanks for making the time. I know this was a cold outreach from [Dmytro/our team], so I really appreciate you giving me 30 minutes."

"Before we dive in, I'm curious - what made you decide to take this call?

Often this is enough to get them talking, but if they’re vague, skeptical, or otherwise confused, you should be specific about why this call makes sense from your perspective and using the hypothesis you worked up, adding something like:

"[Dmytro mentioned/I saw] that [specific trigger - e.g. you're growing team/launching new product/scaling analytics]. We work with companies at your stage who struggle with [specific pain - e.g. fragmented analytics tools/poor data quality/lack of actionable insights]. I wanted to understand if that's actually a problem you're facing."

"If it is, I can share how other companies like yours have solved it. If it's not a problem, I'll tell you honestly (or you can tell me) and we'll keep this short. Will that work for you?"

Or, if they give you what you need to get started with the open-ended question, you can end with a more general outline of your plan for the call:

“Got it. Here's what I was thinking for today: I'd love to understand how you're handling [your role/the use case behind the trigger] now, what's working and what's not, and then share how other companies like yours have approached it. If it seems relevant, we can go deeper. If not, I'll tell you honestly and we'll keep this short. Sound fair?"

3. Explore their role & current state/stack - find the pain

As Charles Cook likes to say, companies don’t buy software, humans buy software. Once you’re underway, start with interest in them and their team.

"Tell me more about your role and team."

Once you’re underway in understanding their context, you can build out to the use-case/trigger:

“How are you thinking about [use-case/trigger] in that role/team? What do you need to understand about your product/users/customers?"

Your questions will necessarily vary based on the thrust of the conversation, but you can go towards:

"What are you using for [use-case/trigger] today? And how'd you end up with that setup?”

"What do you love about it? What drives you crazy?"

You’re digging for information that would assist you with identifying pain and priority. This can emerge from your conversation, especially if you’re asking open-ended discovery questions. But you can drill in as needed:

• What's the pain and is it urgent/quantified? - "You mentioned [pain]. Help me understand the impact. What's that costing you - in staff time, in missed opportunities, in money?"
• Is it a priority, and do they have a sense of timeline? - "How much is [frustration] actually getting in the way? Is it blocking you or just annoying?" "Is there a timeline or trigger that makes solving this more urgent?"
• What does the decision process look like? - "Hypothetically, if you did decide to switch tools, how does that work at [company]? Who gets involved?" "Who controls the budget for this kind of thing?" "Have you ever bought a tool like this before at [company]? What was that process like?"

4. Qualify or disqualify

Run a brief mental evaluation of their answers on the call. Look at four factors:

• Specific pain identified
• Pain quantified (time/money/impact)
• Timeline - willing to take action within the next 6 months
• Authority or direct connection to the economic buyer

If you have fewer than 3 factors, now is the time to respectfully disqualify them. It’ll save them time and allow you to focus.

"Based on our conversation, and being completely honest, I don't think we're the right fit because [reason]. My recommendation: [alternative]. If [use-case/trigger] changes, do please reach out."

If you have 3 or more factors, it’s qualified and you should ask for permission to give them a pitch.

We should disqualify outbound tasks, as creating opportunities that go nowhere won’t help us (or them).

Bonus: end early if they’re disqualified or disinterested, you can cut the call short politely and professionally. Or if they’re highly qualified and very interested, you can skip the pitch and go right to a relevant next step.

5. With explicit permission, give a brief PostHog pitch

Open with what you heard and ask for permission to pitch:

"Based on what you shared - [their pain] - let me tell you how PostHog works and you tell me if it's relevant. Does that work for you?"

Pivot to an elevator pitch that has products and use-cases tailored to their pain (the below is generic, yours should be specific):

"PostHog makes dev tools that help product engineers build successful products. These include many discrete tools that help with user behavior and analytics, product engineering, communication and data - all in one platform.”

"Companies switch for three reasons: (1) tired of fragmented tools, (2) want engineers and product teams to have direct access to data, (3) our transparent, usage-based pricing."

6. Ask the hard question - is this relevant?

Then, ask the hard question:

"Does that sound like it solves the problem you described?"

If they sound uncertain, or have been uncertain up this point (even after qualifying them), you can highlight the free trial in the wind up to the question.

"Knowing that we offer folks like you a free trial period to evaluate PostHog for yourself, does it sound like PostHog solves the problem you described?"

Wait for an answer. Embrace the long pause or awkward silence. Get the answer.

7. Provide a relevant next step & schedule it on the call

If they’re qualified and interested, suggest the natural next step and schedule it on the call:

"What makes sense as a next step? Demo? Trial? Talk to your team?" "Okay, I'll [take action]. Let's reconnect on [book specific date/time now]."

If they’re hesitant or marginally qualified, you can ask them:

"Here's what I'm hearing: [summary]. Not sure if we're a fit yet. What would help you figure that out?"

And, of course, if they’ve disqualified themselves after the pitch, you can still disqualify them at this point:

"Based on our conversation, and being completely honest, I don't think we're the right fit because [reason]. My recommendation: [alternative]. If [use-case/trigger] changes, do please reach out."

8. Action the task in PostHog's Salesforce

This is relevant to PostHog, and not the customer, but is important for our hygiene. Track the tasks and make sure they reflect your knowledge of the opportunity. Specifically:

• If qualified and next step, create an opportunity in Problem Agreement from the task object in Salesforce, and use stage exit criteria to dictate when/whether it moves forward
• If marginally qualified or no next step, switch task from In progress to Nurturing in Salesforce – work with the customer to progress them to the point where you would create an opportunity
• If not qualified, disqualify the task with the relevant reason. Be sure to give relevant feedback to Dmytro Sitalo in a relevant Slack channel

9. Rinse, lather, and repeat

Where you take a qualified outbound sales opportunity is dependent on the specifics of your conversation.

You could:

• Book a technical demo with the person’s team
• Record a Loom of specific features to show how PostHog works
• Ship them documentation and a code sample to demonstrate how PostHog can be configured
• #domoreweird in a delightful way
• Invite them to a shared Slack channel to get their trial started
• Ship them merch

What you do with the opportunity may start to resemble the later stages of the inbound sales process. Or, it may be a more ambiguous search for the time to evaluate PostHog.

What won’t change is the need to qualify the account at each step, ensure that PostHog solves a real problem for them, and not assume their interest just because they’ve passed from Task to Opportunity in our Salesforce instance. If we remain focused on their pain/problem, and do our best work to qualify their use-case for PostHog, we’ll earn the right to keep the process moving.