If you’re running outbound sales, you already know the drill: it takes more than blasting emails or cold calls to actually get replies. Cadence—the schedule, style, and sequence of your outreach—matters. But most teams are either winging it, overcomplicating it, or drowning in endless “best practices” posts that never get real.
This guide is for sales leaders, SDR managers, and anyone who wants to get more out of their team (and Nooks) without losing their sanity. No fluff, no magic formulas—just what actually works when you’re trying to build sales cadences that earn responses.
Why Sales Cadence Isn’t Just a Buzzword
Some folks treat “sales cadence” like a secret weapon. Newsflash: there’s no secret. Cadence is just the process and timing you use to reach out to prospects—calls, emails, LinkedIn, whatever. The trick is getting the mix, timing, and follow-up right for your buyers and your team.
The reason cadence matters? Consistency drives results. If you don’t have a system, you’re just hoping something sticks. And hope isn’t a strategy.
Step 1: Get Your Foundation Right in Nooks
First things first, let’s be clear about what Nooks actually does: it helps you build, automate, and track multi-channel sales cadences, mostly focused on calls and emails. It’s not a CRM, it’s not a silver bullet, but it is a solid workflow tool—if you set things up the right way.
Set Up for Sanity:
- Clean Your Data: Don’t waste time loading bad leads. Garbage in, garbage out.
- Segment Your Lists: Break out your target accounts by persona, industry, or buyer stage. Nooks can’t fix a generic list.
- Decide on Channels: Map out if you’re using just calls, or layering in emails and social. Nooks is strongest on calls and emails.
Pro Tip: Don’t let tech dictate your process. Build your cadence around what actually gets replies for your audience, not what looks slick in a demo.
Step 2: Design a Cadence That Doesn’t Annoy People
Here’s where most teams trip up—they either go too hard (8 touches in 3 days) or so soft their prospects forget them. The right cadence is persistent, but not pushy.
Typical Cadence Structure (That Actually Gets Results):
- Day 1: Call + Personalized Email
- Day 3: Follow-up Email
- Day 5: Call (if no reply)
- Day 7: LinkedIn Touch (optional, if it fits your buyers)
- Day 10: Final Call + “Breakup” Email
You can tweak this, but don’t drag it out for weeks or spam people daily. The goal: be respectfully persistent.
What Works:
- Mixing channels (call/email/LinkedIn)
- Short, direct messages (no essays)
- Giving people an out (“If you’re not the right person, just let me know”)
What to Ignore:
- Fancy templates that sound nothing like you
- Over-personalizing every touch (time sink, low ROI)
- Cadences longer than 2 weeks (unless you’re selling to big enterprises)
Pro Tip: If you wouldn’t reply to your own sequence, neither will your prospects.
Step 3: Build and Automate Your Cadence in Nooks
Nooks makes it pretty painless to set up sequences, but don’t overcomplicate things.
How To Build a Cadence in Nooks:
- Create a New Sequence: Name it clearly (“Q3 SaaS Founders - Email/Call” beats “Sequence 5”).
- Add Steps: For each touchpoint (call, email, task), set the day and channel. Nooks’ drag-and-drop makes this simple.
- Write Templates: Keep your email and call scripts short and to the point. Save them in Nooks for easy reuse.
- Set Triggers: Choose what happens if someone replies, books a meeting, or opts out—Nooks can automatically move prospects or pause outreach.
- Test It: Run yourself or a teammate through the sequence to catch any weird steps or typos.
Don’t Bother With:
- “A/B testing” every little thing right away—get a baseline working cadence first.
- Over-engineering with branching logic before you know what actually converts.
- Trying to automate everything. Some manual touches (like a LinkedIn note) are worth doing yourself.
Step 4: Coach Your Team (and Yourself) to Actually Follow the Cadence
Even the best sequence is useless if reps ignore it. Here’s what helps:
- Keep Steps Simple: If a step takes more than 2 minutes, it won’t get done.
- Use Reminders and Nudges: Nooks can ping reps when it’s time for the next touch. Set these up.
- Review Activity Regularly: Not to micromanage, but to spot where things stall—are calls not getting made? Are emails being skipped?
- Celebrate What Works: When someone gets a reply from a new step, share it with the team.
What Doesn’t Work:
- Forcing everyone to use the exact same script. Give room for personality.
- Ignoring feedback from the team. If a step isn’t working, fix it.
Step 5: Track, Tweak, Repeat
This is where most teams get lazy. Don’t “set and forget” your cadence. If you aren’t tracking conversion at each step, you’re just guessing.
How To Actually Optimize:
- Look for Drop-Offs: Where do prospects stop replying? Too many calls in a row? Emails too generic?
- Test One Change at a Time: Shorten emails. Add or remove a call. Change the timing. But only tweak one thing at a time or you’ll never know what worked.
- Check Your Metrics: Nooks will show you open rates, reply rates, meetings booked per sequence.
- Prune Ruthlessly: If a step isn’t converting after a month, cut it or try something else.
- Ask for Feedback: If you get a polite “not interested,” ask why—real responses beat guessing.
Ignore the Noise:
- “Industry benchmarks” that don’t reflect your buyers.
- Vanity metrics (opens, clicks) if replies and meetings aren’t going up.
Quick Wins: What to Try (and What to Skip)
Try This:
- Use a real name in your emails—no “Sales Team” nonsense.
- Call first thing in the morning or late afternoon—skip the lunch hour.
- Keep your subject lines boring but clear (“Quick Question,” “Intro from [Your Company]”).
Skip This:
- “Personalizing” with fake compliments or awkward icebreakers.
- Sending more than 2 emails without a call.
- Relying on AI to write all your copy. It usually sounds like AI.
Wrapping Up: Keep It Simple, Keep It Moving
You don’t need a 10-step, AI-powered omnichannel labyrinth to get replies. Start with a practical cadence that fits your buyers, use Nooks to keep reps on track, and pay attention to what’s actually working.
Don’t overthink it. The best teams build, test, and tweak as they go. If you keep things simple and stay consistent, your conversion rates will take care of themselves. And if something isn’t working, change it—fast.
Now get out there and start some real conversations.