165 - Cold Calling Reimagined: Winning Sales Outreach in the Digital Age
Why the Phone Is Winning Again: GTM Insights from Joey Gilkey, CEO of TitanX
In this episode of Product Led Growth Leaders, host Thomas Watkins sits down with Joey Gilkey, CEO of TitanX, to unpack why outbound calling is re-emerging as one of the most effective channels in modern go-to-market strategies. As email, LinkedIn, and automated outreach become increasingly saturated, Joey explains how sales teams can regain signal, build real conversations, and drive pipeline by rethinking how—and why—they use the phone. This episode delivers practical guidance for revenue leaders navigating declining connect rates and rising GTM noise.
Rebuilding Outbound Strategy in a Saturated Market
Joey outlines a core challenge facing sales teams today: automation has made outbound easier to scale, but far less effective. AI-generated personalization and mass email tools have commoditized outreach, leading to inbox fatigue, stricter spam filters, and diminishing returns across traditional digital channels. In contrast, the phone remains largely immune to automation due to regulatory constraints, making it one of the few channels where real human effort still breaks through. While connect rates may be low, each live conversation produces valuable qualitative feedback that improves targeting, messaging, and timing.
Effective outbound calling, Joey explains, depends on four fundamentals: list quality, persona-specific messaging, rep enablement, and persistent follow-up. Calling the right people matters more than calling more people, and scripts must reflect real business pain—not generic pitches. High-performing teams train reps to adapt in real time, learn from objections, and treat every conversation as intelligence, not just a meeting attempt. Over time, these insights compound, improving outreach efficiency and deal quality.
TitanX supports this approach by helping sales teams prioritize who to call and when. By integrating directly into CRM systems, TitanX surfaces actionable intelligence that guides reps toward higher-probability conversations while protecting outbound phone number reputation. The result is a continuous feedback loop where call outcomes inform list building, messaging, and sequencing—turning outbound calling into a disciplined, data-driven growth engine rather than a volume game.
About Joey Gilkey
Joey Gilkey is the CEO of TitanX and a go-to-market strategist focused on helping sales teams break through outreach saturation. He works closely with revenue leaders to modernize outbound motions through better data, smarter prioritization, and human-centered selling.
About TitanX
TitanX is a GTM intelligence platform designed to help sales teams optimize outbound calling. By integrating with CRMs like Salesforce and HubSpot, TitanX enables reps to focus on the right contacts at the right time—improving connect rates, protecting phone number reputation, and driving consistent pipeline growth.
Links Mentioned in This Episode
Key Episode Highlights
Why automation saturation is reducing the effectiveness of email and LinkedIn outreach
How regulatory constraints keep phone outreach inherently human
The four pillars of high-performing outbound calling
Why list quality and persona alignment matter more than call volume
How TitanX helps teams build a continuous, data-driven outreach flywheel
Conclusion
This conversation reinforces a critical truth for modern revenue teams: technology alone does not create differentiation—how it’s used does. Joey Gilkey’s insights show that when outbound calling is executed with discipline, data, and intent, it becomes a powerful counterbalance to automated noise and a meaningful driver of growth.
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