Do you know the most crucial step in a sales strategy? It’s prospecting. A sales engagement platform gives you more sales opportunities once you have a profile for your potential clients. And, what do you need to make your business stand out in all the hubbubs? An effective plan to boost your sales outreach.
Here, we will talk about how to create sales outreach campaigns for better outcomes. We will also discuss the mistakes you must avoid to boost the conversion rate of your business.
What is Sales Outreach?
The process of communicating with prospects indirectly or directly is called sales outreach. It’s one of the best ways to boost your conversion rates. But, how to structure the sales outreach? What channels should you use and why?
If you want to structure an effective sales engagement plan, then you need meaningful input. Otherwise, your efforts will reach directly to the spam folder. You can use personalized messages to attract your potential clients.
Still, selling in the B2B realm is challenging because you are not selling the product to a single user. B2B companies generally have purchase specialists and sometimes even a buying committee. Therefore, you have to plan carefully to grow a long-lasting relationship with a B2B client.
What are the Best Sales Engagement Platforms?
Use sales management tools to track and manage all the prospects and customers. These applications keep a record of all our interactions with your clients. So, you should try one of the best sales outreach programs to build strong relationships between your sales team and buyers.
Outplay
Outplay is one of the best sales engagement platforms to improve your outreach strategy if you are a digital marketer, business developer, or sales executive. You can use it to find new prospects, engage and track them. So, you do not have to use multiple applications if you are on Outplay.
This sales engagement platform increases your productivity and efficiency because it automates many tasks like appointment scheduling and email follow-ups. Moreover, this program comprises all the outreach channels including social media, email, and phone.
Outplay comes with a free trial, which gives you access to almost all the features. So, you only have to sign up to check how helpful it can be for your business. Try this application if you want to maintain communication with your prospects and boost your conversion rate.
HubSpot
HubSpot is a powerful sales CRM, which combines top-class sales engagement and analytics features. It’s built for sales teams of any size. So, you can try this application regardless of the number of sales agents in your team. You can grow and scale it according to your growth.
This sales CRM automates several sales processes so that you can spend time on manual tasks. It also gives you complete visibility of your sales team, which helps you to offer top-class customer service. In addition, there is CPQ support that helps you to close more deals without wasting much time.
HubSpot comes with four different versions, including a free pack. So, you can try all its features without making any payment. Premium plans start from $45 per month.
Zoho SalesIQ
Zoho SalesIQ is a part of Zoho CRM. So, you should integrate it with a CRM and other channels of communication for better performance. This application gathers data about your prospects and tells you the right time to contact them.
The Sales IQ comes with a live chat feature, which allows you to talk to your potential clients in real-time. On top of that, you can also configure a chatbot to engage your prospects.
Zoho Sales IQ has a free plan and three premium packs, starting from 350 INR per month per operator. The starting price is 500 INR per month per user if you pick the monthly subscription. You can try the paid versions for 15 days without entering your credit card details.
Clearbit
Do you need marketing data software to grow your B2B business? Try Clearbit because it provides up-to-date data. Moreover, it has a prospector tool that provides you access to 200 million contacts. So, you can set parameters or create a client profile and find potential prospects.
Here comes the most exciting news for you. Clearbit is the first AI Native Data Provider, which helps you to connect with your ideal clients. Also, its Enrichment feature automatically adds the latest data for all your leads and contacts in your CRM. In addition, this program generates leads by tracking the visitors to your business website.
Clearbit comes with a forever-free plan. Also, there are two premium packs. Their prices depend upon the customization and add-ons you prefer. So, you can discover the solution tailored to your needs. Request a free data test on its website to know more.
Zendesk
The developer of Zendesk knows that your sales management activities might be challenging and complicated, so they have kept everything simple. Zendesk Sell comes out as an excellent sales engagement platform integrated with impact features, which helps you to engage your prospects and enhance the conversion rate. It has a user-friendly interface wherein you can connect with your potential clients on their preferred channels.
Here comes some incredible news. Zendesk comes with several tools to generate high-quality leads. It uses AI to qualify and route the leads to your sales team before any of your competitors try to contact them. Moreover, this program has a cloud-based CRM that serves both small to medium and large businesses. Therefore, you can scale it as per your development.
Zendesk does not have a forever-free plan. But, you can try all its available editions because all three of them come with a free trial period. The premium packs start from $19 per agent per month.
Klenty
Are you planning to build hyper-personalized sales sequences to book more meetings with your prospects? Klenty is one of the best sales engagement tools for this task. In addition, it helps your sales team to contact your leads via all the available channels to make sure their messages reach potential clients.
Klenty helps you to maintain consistent communication with your potential prospects with the help of automated follow-ups. Moreover, it identifies the intent of your buyers and highlights the most engaged users. Therefore, you can focus on the interest prospects and also nurture the other leads until they are fully prepared.
The premium Klenty plans start from $50 per month. It has four packages and all of them come with a free trial. However, there is no forever-free plan.
Mailshake
If you are looking for one of the best sales engagement tools for cold email outreach, try Mailshake. Personalizing bulk emails, and engaging prospects over the phone or social media platforms is a walk in the park with its help. Moreover, this application shows all the required information on a single dashboard.
Mailshake has several third-party and native integrations including Hubspot. So, connecting CRM and any other email marketing tools is convenient. An automated email campaign is another of its benefits.
Mailshake has two premium plans. Its Email Outreach pack ($58 per user per month) is perfect for digital marketers and the Sales Engagement version is suitable for sales teams. Free plans or trials are not available. But yes, you can see Mailshake in action on its website.
QuickMail
QuickMail is one of the best sales engagement applications for digital marketers, email marketers, and sales team who wishes to boost their engagement rate without compromising on productivity. It promises to engage more prospects for your business and close more deals in less time. This tool deserves your attention because it uses approved Gmail API for better deliverability.
QuickMail helps you to work in three simple steps, Engage, Close, and Optimize. It lets you send cold emails & follow-ups, manage all the prospects in one place and boost your performance using actionable metrics. Automation is another helpful feature of QuickMail.
QuickMail is available in three different premium packs starting from $49 per month. All of them come with a 14-day trial period, which is helpful if you want to see its premium features. On top of that, QuickMail makers are ready to pay you the subscription fee of your current cold email tool if you sign up for their free trial.
Outreach
Outreach is one of the best sales engagement tools with sales prospecting and account-based marketing features. It helps you to source and verify the contact details of your prospects. Moreover, this application shows you the decision makers of a targeted company, so that you can contact the right person.
Once you have the prospect list ready, you can use Outreach to contact them. Furthermore, its email campaign creator allows you to use templates. Hence, the process of outreach and follow-up becomes easy.
Outreach has two premium plans, Standard and Professional. The former is suitable for small sales teams and the latter is perfect for large teams. However, none of the packs has a free trial. You can only see the demo on its website.
Hippo Video
Do you want to personalize your email and social media posts or messages with the help of videos? Consider Hippo Video as it helps you to create customized videos and distribute them all over the channels. So, you can use it to develop videos as per your products or services and sales strategy.
Videos are one of the best ways to reach your potential clients. So, Hippo Video could be a game changer for your sales engagement activities. Furthermore, it lets you integrate HubSpot to send videos without using any other tools.
Hippo Video has a free plan, wherein you can sign up without providing any credit card details. Its premium packages start from $20 per month per user. The paid version comes with a free trial of 7 days. So, you can enjoy all its features before making the payment.
How to Structure a Sales Outreach? – Getting Started
Sales outreach is the process where you contact qualified prospects and try to convert them into your potential customers. So, you or your sales team has to follow some steps to capture and nurture new leads. Here is how you can start.
Identify your targets
Who are your prospects? Identify them and create an ideal client profile (ICP). Now the question is, who are your targets? Well, anyone who fits the client profile and looks like your ideal customer. Outplay is a helpful tool for this step. Clearbit also gives you access to a lot of new potential clients.
If the target is an individual, then consider the job title, decision-making power, location, industry, etc. If you are looking for companies, then consider their size, buying process, objectives, budget, and other factors. Once you have the ICP ready, target prospects with high chances of conversion.
Pick the right channels
The next objective is to contact the potential clients. How will you do it? Using the right channel is crucial. Otherwise, you will waste your time and might hamper the whole sales process. An outreach plan can generate good results only if you contact your clients where they are.
The most popular channels for sales engagement activities are social media sites, phones, voicemails, and emails. Choose a channel that ensures your message will reach the client. Do you want to know a secret? You can contact the same clients using multiple channels depending on their location in the funnel. An Omni channel approach makes you consistent and solidifies your message. Tools like Outplay and Zoho Sales IQ are perfect to contact your prospects using various channels.
Let’s discuss the different channels.
- Email: Email used to be the perfect channel for sales outreach. But, it’s not the most important nowadays. Still, you have to use emails because they are less disturbing than calls. You can take time writing a personalized message and your clients can also spend some time before they respond. Plus, it’s a written mode of communication. Hence, the chances of errors are minimal.
Emails are perfect for follow-ups and asking questions. It’s also suitable if you want to send your message to multiple recipients. You can also automate the email campaign using sales engagement tools like Outplay. But, you should know how to write a cold email that can attract your readers and help them convert into clients.
- Phone calls: Phone calls used to be an important outreach channel in the past, but now you can keep it as a reserve for later communications. Do you know why phone calls are losing their charm? Because most of the time the client is busy and does not want to respond immediately. Plus, a lot of users do not even want to pick up calls from unknown numbers.
Still, phone calls can be an efficient part of your sales engagement activities. It can give you a quick turnaround if used sensibly. In addition, phone calls are best for building relationships, closing deals, explaining complex topics, and apologizing. Nowadays, you can also use video calls if required.
Video calls have reduced the need for in-person meetings. Moreover, you can easily fit them into your schedule as you do not have to waste time traveling and waiting for the clients.
- Social media platforms: Social selling is a new technique to strengthen your sales engagement plans. It includes the usage of social media platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, etc. to find and engage with your potential clients. Present yourself as a solution to the problem if you want to get their attention.
Social selling demands nurturing of leads. So, you have to spend time in the initial days to understand how you can use these platforms to target your prospects.
- Community: Communities are similar to social media, but it’s a group wherein people connected with similar topics. Reddit and LinkedIn groups are perfect examples. But, Slack communities are more popular. So, you can try Pavilion, Sales Confidence, and RevGenius.
- Live chat: Incorporate live chat options in your website and social media pages because it’s one of the best channels to boost your sales engagement activities. Even regular messenger communication becomes live chat if you respond quickly.
- Text messages: Texts are gaining popularity. So, you can see high open rates because messages feel more personalized than emails. However, the length of your message is restricted in this channel.
- Direct mail: Direct mailing is not very important. However, you can use this communication in specific situations. It might stand out because the usage of direct mail is reduced in the current era. So, a handwritten note can make a better impact than an email. But, do not use direct mail to communicate frequently.
- In-person meetings: Depending upon the conditions, in-person meetings can have a valuable role in your sales engagement plans. You can keep it reserved for big deals. Plus, personal meetings could be a great savior if the communication is not going as you expected.
How to Choose the Right Channel?
The answer is simple, focus on the channels where your potential clients are available. It’s better to include more than one contact channel in your outreach planning. Use them in different situations. Closing the deal requires more than one message or conversation. So, you might require video calls, chats, and even in-person meets.
In addition, you have to adjust the mode of communication depending on the time and day of the year. Apart from that, the choice depends upon urgency. You can send an email or LinkedIn message if you do not need an immediate response. On the other hand, you should call if it’s urgent.
Plan your outreach
Here comes the most important part of your sales outreach strategy, planning.
Answer the following three questions
- When should you contact your potential clients?
- Which prospect you should engage first?
- What sales engagement tools you will need?
In addition, prepare the content you will need to educate your prospects. Try to make a wide range of content pieces. Spending a lot of time preparing an outreach campaign might not give you the expected results. So, it’s better to discover your leads by exploring the different platforms. Then, interact with them and analyze what should be your steps in the future.
Test and optimize
Optimizing sales strategy is crucial once you test the market. Every other week new sales trend comes into the scenario. So, the result of your efforts depends upon tracking and improvement.
Experiment with your outreach techniques, ICPs, and tools while you see the changes and progress. Understand what work best and try to optimize constantly.
Best Practices to Build Effective Sales Outreach Campaigns
Send to the point and short messages
Keep in mind that your prospects are always busy. In addition, they receive a lot of similar emails, wherein multiple businesses are trying to sell them various products and services. They might treat your email like others unless there are some differences.
To attract your potential client, you should keep your email crisp and to the point. If you have too many things to explain, then it’s better to break the message and send in more than one or two emails. For instance, introduce yourself in the first email and explain why you are reaching the recipient. Then, explain how you can bring amazing results for the client by mentioning the problems and their solutions.
Improve the quality of the content
Why do you need content? To attract and nurture new prospects. High-quality content is one of the best ways to create interest in your offers. But, what is high-quality content?
High-quality content is easy to read and understand. Plus, it is relevant, informative, original, and industry-specific. So, do not write anything in complex language. Also, informative content leaves a mark on your potential clients. Apart from that, keep it relevant because the clients have limited time.
Focus on the subject lines
Write relevant subject lines because it’s the first thing your prospects are going to see first. So, it’s the most important part of your sales engagement plan. If none of the potential clients opens your emails, how can you expect them to buy your product or services?
In other words, keep the subject line captivating so that more people open your email and respond. Establish a sense of urgency and scarcity, which can make the target prospect feel, I should open this email and check.
Be unique and creative. Do not use generic subject lines from Google because multiple other companies might be already doing this. However, it’s almost impossible to explain which subject lines are successful. So, you have to try yourself and see what lines work best for your business.
Use call-to-action buttons
Here comes a shocking, yet interesting piece of news for you. A lot of times your prospect does not even know they are interested. Even if they are attracted to your offer, they do not know what to do next.
Also, sometimes your potential clients are interested in the product or services, but they do not want to show it directly. The prospects do so to avoid being forced to take a buying decision. So, what is the solution?
Include call-to-action buttons in your sales engagement activities to speed up the sales process. The CTA helps your clients to take little steps before they take the final decision.
Keep in mind that you should only hint the prospects to take small steps, especially if they are not nurtured yet. Also, do not ask anyone to purchase the product if they are in the awareness stage. Do not act desperate.
Optimize your LinkedIn profile
A lot of your prospects could check your LinkedIn profile after seeing your email or message. They want to know more about you, especially if they are interested in the offer. Hence, optimize your LinkedIn profile. Follow the given suggestions for better results
- Attach a professional profile image
- Write a professional, relevant, and attractive headline
- Add an optimized summary of your education and work
- Update company information and your mission
- Share unique and informational posts
Deploy automation to save your time
Sales automation is worth your attention because it frees up your time and energy. So, you can focus on works that need a human touch. A lot of sales engagement tools like Outplay and Klenty can help you automate, and personalize your messages.
Remember – every individual and business is different
Adjust your advice according to the needs of your potential clients because all of them are not the same. It’s where tracking and analysis are helpful. Also, take feedback from your prospects to understand what you need to change. Experience is the key here.
Do not act as a professional, always
You can boost your relationships with your clients by including messages that are not related to their businesses. Personalizing the messages and content is good, but you have to discuss other things as the relationship progresses. For instance, you can mention an interest that you noticed.
Change your timing
Try new timings for your emails and other channels. For instance, send your messages over the weekends to see if you can get a response. People do not get a lot of emails on the weekends, so you can hit them unexpectedly. Similarly, reach your social media prospects in the early morning or late in the evening to see if you can get better responses. Use Zoho Sales IQ to collect the details about your prospects and contact them at the right time.
Tips for Successful Sales Outreach Strategy in 2023
- Create a sales cadence: Sales cadence is a schedule of contact points made to engage potential buyers. It helps you to structure your outreach efficiently and also organizes everything. The cadence tells you every day about your emails, calls, and social touches. Keep adjusting the cadences when you know what is beneficial for your sales strategy.
- Use personalized videos: Including videos in your sales engagement plans can boost the click rate up to 140 percent. You can share the videos using any channel. As videos provide quick information when compared to text, they are consumed at a high rate nowadays. Try Hippo Video to produce high-quality videos for your outreach strategies.
Even if you are sending an email, you should use personalized text. Do not use generic greetings. Instead, make the prospects feel valued by adding their name, and company to the email. Also, suggest groups and forums based on their interest.
- Follow up on the prospects: You might not get a response from a prospect right away. So, follow up with them. Find new ideas and show your creativity to share your content. Show that you believe in your product or services. Your consistency shows you can solve the problem of your clients. Outplay is one of the best sales engagement tools for automated follow-ups.
- Leave if they are not interested: You cannot convert all the prospects into customers. So, you should not waste hours of work on someone who is not going to purchase anything. How to know when to stop? When you do not get any response over email, messages, and phone calls. You try to follow up, but no contact even after 15 to 20 days.
- Limit your research time: You have to research the prospects for your business after understanding their needs. However, do not spend too many hours on research. Set a goal to find all the facts for your potential customers within a few minutes.
- Be true to your clients: You have to build trust with your prospects. So, do not try to be someone else. For instance, if you are a small business, do not try to prove yourself as an enterprise. In addition, show your prospects that you care for them.
- Talk about specific points: Identify the particular pain points and target them. Explain how your products and services can solve all the problems of your prospects.
- Use referrals: Leads coming through referrals has 50 times more chances of conversion when compared to the leads generated using sales engagement tools or plans. And we can easily understand why. So, use the names of happy customers or mutual connections to start the conversation.
- Try to add humor: Your prospect might be bored due to serious and straightforward emails, messages, or chats. So, you can add some fun to the conversation to stand out from your competition. Making someone laugh is not easy. Hence, if you send some funny stuff or memes, it can do wonders for your deal.
Mistakes to Avoid
You can build a successful outreach strategy in your first or second attempt. However, you might make a lot of mistakes due to lack of experience. But, you can stay safe from them by checking the following points.
Not knowing your target prospects
You cannot get a high conversion rate without knowing your audience. A lot of companies spend a lot of money chasing unqualified leads that might never convert. So, understand your ICP to improve the sales figures. It also guides you through every step of the campaign structuring.
Lack of personalized content
Content personalization is one of the best techniques to attract your prospects. With generic messages, they might ignore your email, message, or chat requests. So, you might not get any positive responses even after putting in a lot of effort.
No follow-ups
Not getting regular responses from your prospects might be disheartening. But, you should feel not bad due to such situations because your clients are getting dozens of similar messages and emails every day. Hence, they have developed a habit of ignoring such emails. It’s one of the reasons why you should follow up.
Poor cold-calling techniques
A salesperson takes a long time to learn effective techniques of cold selling. Cold emailing is also useful. Top organizations mostly rely on these two strategies to boost their conversion rate and sales. Hence, you and your sales team should be trained on cold calling and emailing. Keep improving your skills to handle objections and build your attitude to convert no into yes.
FAQs
What is the best sales cadence?
Create a 21-day sales cadence with around 15 to 20 touchpoints, especially for B2B outreach. If you want to increase the response rate, distribute these touchpoints across three channels, including LinkedIn, email, and phone calls.
How to write a good outreach message?
Focus on the problems of your potential clients and offer a solution. Research and find the injustice they are facing. Then, create a scenario detailing what can be if they purchase your services or products. Keep in mind that you have to keep your message short, so do not make it too big. The email text should be anywhere between 125 to 250 words.
Conclusion
Now you know almost all the strategies and tips to grow your business. Understand your prospects and contact them via the correct channels. Use some of the best sales engagement tools like Outplay and analyze the data to improve your campaign. Follow the given tips to build a successful sales plan, and pave your way to success. Do not forget to automate the sales funnel and cold emails to save your time & energy.
