Business development poses big challenges for today’s SaaS. It becomes twice as ineffective every year as people learn how to ignore you. And it’s such a grind that it’s hard to find good people who want to stick with the sales development rep (SDR) position over the long term. To get engagement on the phone today takes the right experience, technology, and triggers. That’s why we sat down with Gabriel Lullo, CEO of Alleyoop, an outsourced SDR service that specializes in lead generation and relationship management to talk about the future of outbound prospecting and whether or not it’s a good idea to outsource this function. They realize that clients may want to move this function in-house, and so they train their SDRs to eventually take a full-time position in that role. Key takeaways from this episode:  While cold calling is not dead, the skill sets required to make it work are paramount—they must be prepared, sound human, and sell the appointment rather than the product.Whether through marketing or an SDR function, nurturing leads is critical to long-term success and will probably not be done adequately by an account executive on quota.Gabe also shares his vision for the future of SDR, where nurturing and following up with leads will continue to be crucial, and where AI will serve as an enhancement rather than a replacement for human interaction.Other resources to check out: Interview with Vinay Bhagat, Founder and CEO of TrustRadius who publishes a yearly report about how B2B buyer behavior is changing. The Lead Gen Mistake I Guarantee You’re Making – how to create content that better identifies intent from today’s b2b buyer. And, if you want an outside look at your content with actionable advice, take advantage of our Content Audit. Valued at $20K in free consulting. Is your messaging a sales ally or sneaky saboteur? Let us help with our free content audit. We’ll look at your website’s messaging, content, and conversion potential from the eyes of today’s buyer and deliver a presentation with new combinations to more sales conversations and demos. And the best part? It’s absolutely free. Get started today!