More prospects, more sales. Right? Not always.
It’s more important, and you’ll successfully close more sales if you have the right prospects in your pipeline. Sales outreach is a long process. It’s the grunt work before the payoff.
What happens when you develop a relationship with the wrong prospects? You burn through cash and resources, fostering relationships with prospects who will never become customers, which is why you need a sales outreach strategy. One that’s robust and easy to follow.
Put in the work upfront, and you’ll be more effective.
This article defines and outlines the critical steps your sales strategy needs, so you can move forward with confidence and start crushing your targets with ease.
Sales Outreach Strategy: Why do You Need One?
Before I cover the steps you need in your sales outreach strategy, let’s talk about sales outreach a little more broadly.
Sales outreach includes any type of engagement with prospects. You can also use sales outreach practices to talk to previous customers who are now cold but whose business you could win back.
So, as long as you’re reaching out to new prospects and old customers, you’re doing your part for sales outreach, right? Not exactly. This misunderstanding is where a lot of sales teams fall short.
"Performing sales outreach without a strategy is a lot like trying to bake a cake without the recipe. Even if you have the right ingredients, if you aren’t doing things the right way—or in the right order—you’re not going to get the outcome you want. In making this possible, you can follow an example of startups SEO companies, that will make it easier for you."
It’s also important to note that not every sales team, organization, or industry can use the same strategy. Your business is unique, as are your customers’ needs, preferred contact methods, and buying process. As a result, you’ll need to craft an customer outreach strategy specifically for your market and your solution.
Though you won’t be able to use a cookie-cutter strategy, there are still commonalities all sales outreach strategies must share to be successful. I’ll cover those steps in this post, giving you all the information you need to create a winning strategy that will keep your sales pipeline filled to bursting.
Sales Outreach Strategy: 7 Critical Steps
- Create Your Ideal Customer Profile
- Choose The Primary Roles You Sell To
- Decide Which Channels Are Most Effective
- Personalize Your Messaging
- Make Sure You Follow Up
- Record Everything In Your CRM
- Align Sales & Marketing Teams
Step #1: Create Your Ideal Customer Profile
Before reaching out to prospects, you need to define who you’re looking to speak with. You can do this by creating an ideal customer profile (ICP).
Depending on your business and industry, your ICP will include different elements. Some elements you may want to consider include:
- Budget
- Annual revenue
- Industry or vertical
- Geographic location
Once you’ve defined your ICP, you’ll have an easier time crafting messaging and sales pitches that will speak to your prospects’ needs. Ensure that you create messaging that is helpful and relevant.
Step #2: Choose The Primary Roles You Sell To
Once you’ve defined your ideal customer profile, you’ll need to take that a step further. What specific roles do you need to speak with within those organizations to close a deal?
Identifying the appropriate people within your prospects’ organizations will help you identify critical information that will further help you craft your messages. For example, what does their day-to-day look like? What challenges do they face? What are their goals?
The answers to these questions and more can help you identify how your product or service can make their life easier. You can use that information to personalize your outreach. For example:
“Hello [PROSPECT],
Anthony here. I can see you’ve just started in your role as VP of Marketing at ___. Congratulations on your new role! Seems like ____(their company) helps B2B SaaS companies with ____.
I’d love to learn what your day-to-day role entails, or if you’ve inherited any unwanted systems, or just give you some insight on our courses.
Can I schedule 20 minutes with you to show you our executive briefing?
Best regards,
Anthony”
Step #3: Decide Which Channels Are Most Effective
Now that you’ve identified who you’ll be reaching out to, you must identify your communication channel. You have many options for communication channels, including:
- Phone
- Social media
- Video conferencing
When deciding which channels are best for your sales outreach strategy, consider which channels your prospects use most. It’s easier to meet your prospects where they already are rather than trying to attract them to the channels you like best. Eighty percent of prospects prefer email for sales conversations—but your prospects may fall in the other twenty percent.
RELATED READ: An Update on B2B Social Selling
For example, if your clients spend a lot of time on LinkedIn, then you may want to incorporate LinkedIn outreach into your strategy. If your prospects prefer to do business over the phone, you should plan to incorporate a lot of cold calling into your strategy.
It’s also important to consider what your competitors are doing. If your competitors are flooding prospects’ email inboxes, picking up the phone can go a long way toward setting you apart.
Step #4: Personalize Your Messaging
You know who you’re targeting, and you know where to find them. Now, it’s time to craft the perfect message.
Effective modern sales conversations are consultative in nature. Your prospects must see you as an adviser—someone capable of providing value rather than someone simply looking to close their next sale. Craft your message to create value and build trust with your prospects at every touchpoint.
Are you getting stonewalled by prospects? You might not be personalizing your communication to their needs. The more knowledgeable you are about their industry, company, and challenges, the more receptive they’ll be to your message.
Build a relationship with your prospects through thoughtful, tailored messages that provide value whether they buy from you or not.
Step #5: Make Sure You Follow Up
It takes more than one touchpoint to make a sale. After successfully contacting a new prospect, your job is far from complete.
In your first conversation, ensure that you clearly communicate the next step for your prospect. Next: Follow through. Keeping your promises will continue to build trust and nurture your relationship with your prospect.
During your first conversation, get your prospect to commit to a meeting. Then follow-up from your conversation with a confirmation of the time and date of that meeting.
You also need to remember to follow up when you don’t make contact. When you fail to reach your prospect, ensure you leave a voicemail and follow up on sales emails. Seventy percent of unanswered sales emails don’t get a follow-up. That means, if you bother to follow up, you’re already setting yourself up to stand out from the crowd.
Step #6: Record Everything In Your CRM
You have a CRM tool… are you using it to its full potential?
You and your team should be recording and storing every interaction in your CRM tool. When you track and log interactions appropriately, it makes it easier to recap, and pick up communications where you left off.
Additionally, anyone on your team can track and access interactions. Opening communication and following set processes and workflows makes the sales process smoother for your team and prospects.
Step #7: Align Sales and Marketing Teams
Your sales team isn’t the only group looking at ideal customer profiles and striving to help prospects through the buyers’ journey—marketing is working toward those same goals. The best way to make things smoother for customers and sales reps alike is to align with marketing on your targets.
Using your CRM tool can help you collaborate across teams. You’ll be able to share details and work on honing the buyers’ journey together using your combined expertise.
Marketers can also assist in writing copy, social media posts, and even some sales scripts. Additionally, you can tap into your marketing team’s analytics to refine your customer outreach strategy, helping you decide on the most effective channels for your sales efforts. By aligning your outreach with well-informed strategies, you ensure that your approach is both targeted and effective.
Your Sales Outreach Strategy: Find Your Groove
The steps above are crucial to a successful sales outreach strategy. Equally important is how you make it your own, and make it work for you and your team. Ensure that you take steps to set up your CRM in a way that works best for alignment. When your messaging lands and addresses your buyers' needs, you’ll get better responses from prospects.
If you want to dive deeper into strategies that will level up your team, we have something for you! The first step is to enhance your prospecting strategies and tactics so you can find dream clients, prepare for those meetings, and make a case for them to change.
The result could be doubling your dream client meetings with ease. Sound good? Access my Prospecting Playbook and get started today!
