A sales cadence is the repeatable rhythm of touches a rep runs on a prospect over a set period — a fixed pattern of emails and calls, spaced across days or weeks, until one of three things happens: a reply, a meeting, or a stop. The cadence is the schedule; the sequence is the tool that delivers it. Outbound reps live on cadence — research, send touch one, follow up on day two, call on day three — and a well-built cadence is what keeps outreach from being a one-and-done message nobody saw.
In plain English
A cadence is the plan for how many times you'll reach out and when. Instead of deciding each morning who to email, you have a rhythm: touch 1, pause, touch 2, call, touch 3. That consistency is the whole point — most buyers don't reply to the first email, so the cadence is what gets you to the reply. Stop at the first response, and vary the message so you're adding value, not just repeating yourself.
Why it matters to you
Cadence is your daily operating system. The follow-up discipline that books meetings is just a cadence, executed. It's also a proven, learnable skill you can name in an interview: describe your cadence, how many touches, and when you stop. Reps who run a cadence consistently outbook the ones who improvise, and the CRM is where you prove it — your activity log should match your cadence.