Let’s not beat around the bush, outbound these days is hard.
Prospects know every trick in the book, and they’re tired of overdone, unpersonalised and uncreative approaches. They won’t just reply to an email because they’re at work anymore.
So if you want to turn heads and capture attention for long enough to share your message, you’d better start thinking outside of the box.
That’s exactly what Troy Munson at Metadata started doing, and he noticed a huge uptake in the number of responses he had as a result.
Want to know what creative tactics he used?
Just keep reading! He shared them with us so we could pass them on to you…
Why do you need to be creative in outbound?
The internet is a brilliant place for peer learning, especially for salespeople in an industry that’s always changing.
However, as with anything online, you can’t believe everything you see. You need to test things for yourself to find out if they work for your particular business.
Troy had been following LinkedIn sales influencers who had posted about how to write the perfect sales email and shared email templates that got ‘results’.
But when he tried them for himself, his responses tanked.
Why did this happen?
The templates weren’t the right fit for his particular audience. Is that surprising? A ‘template’ is a ‘template’, not a finished product.
They need to be adapted in order to be different to what everyone else is sending and to properly resonate with the target audience.
But equally, maybe these templates weren’t successful because a template, by design, is a cut and paste kinda deal. It’s not likely to be creative. It’s designed for scale and speed. The main reason why sales reps use them is to cut corners.
And Troy found that they simply didn’t get as good reply rates in comparison to his more creative, personalised approaches.
He said:
“No one replies to a template email because they think ‘oh wow, that was a well-structured email.’ If they reply, it’s because the messaging is either very personal to them or it speaks to something they’re going through at that moment.”
So to do that, it makes more sense to lean on an email framework (or other outbound activity) that allows you to adapt your message to the recipient.
Remember, people buy from people — so as a salesperson, you want to be engaging with prospects in a natural, ‘human to human’ way.
Want to hear more about Troy’s creative, and more importantly, effective outbound sales techniques?
Here they are 👇
1 — The whiteboard method
This one is simple but effective. Troy has been taking photos of himself smiling with a whiteboard, then sending them to his prospects.
Why?
Because he can include a personalised message, written quickly on the whiteboard. He can also include the prospect’s company logo, which makes the message even more personal and can have a big impact.
He says:
“Pictures get the highest response rate of any of my outbound activities.”
“Whether it’s on email or LinkedIn, it takes no time at all but they know I’ve done that just for them.”
There are a number of reasons why this approach is so effective:
- It’s visual — a photo is likely to engage someone more than text
- It puts a human face to a name — it isn’t some automatic message from a bot
- It’s memorable and unusual — most people aren’t used to being sent images from sales reps, so this sticks out
- It’s personalised — the whiteboard message includes the prospect’s name and content that’s written specifically for them
2 — The 123 email
With emails, Troy finds simple works best.
You have to remember, prospects have short attention spans. You’ll need to catch their eye quickly if you want to pass on any information.
Troy says:
“The subject line is just ‘few things’, all lowercase. And then the email contains three bullet points.”
Something personal to them
“All I do here is a quick Google search. If they’re higher up in a company, they’ve likely got some kind of online presence. It doesn’t take long either, maybe 30 seconds to 2 minutes.”
“Have they done a podcast? If so, say something like:”
‘I loved what you said about xyz on the abc podcast.’
Troy shares another example:
“There was one woman I was reaching out to, and she had mentioned in her Twitter bio that she was a wine enthusiast.”
“So the first point of my email to her was:”
‘I see on Twitter that you’re a wine enthusiast. I’m not really that into wine, is there an easy red wine for me to start with?’
We bet you’re wondering, did it work? Did Troy get a reply?
Well, yeah, he did!
“She replied with a recommendation and said she was pleased I was interested in finding out more about something she was interested in. She booked a meeting with me after that interaction.”
Something work-related
Lots of large companies will have a news section on their website; a place where they share the latest updates about their organisation.
If not, they’ve still likely been mentioned in some form of PR online or have posted an article on their blog.
Conduct a quick Google search. Have a look at what the company has been up to — is there any information you could include in your outreach?
Troy explains:
“If you mention something about what the company has been working on recently, or even show you’ve read one of their latest blog posts, they’re so much more likely to reply.”
A hook to interest them in what you have to offer
The important thing here is to keep it short. This is not your time to pitch. This is a time to pique interest.
So Troy will say something like:
‘I don’t suppose you’re measured on pipeline? If so, would you be open to learning about how Metadata can help?’
This example is specific to Metadata, but you get the idea.
It’s a short and sweet sentence or two that tells them a little about what you do, and how you could help them.
Troy says:
“I often get positive responses using this method. I’ve had replies saying ‘this was the best cold email I’ve received.’”
“And if you use this email format and include the whiteboard picture above in the same message, I find it yields a higher rate of replies.”
So yes… this is an email ‘template’, but it’s not telling you what to say. It’s a guideline of how to structure your email and grab the prospect’s attention straight away.
3 — Registered events
This one requires a little more time and effort, but if you invest in this approach, you can yield big results.
Troy explains:
“Create an event on Zoom about 4–6 weeks out. You set the Zoom event so guests have to register to attend. That means they need to provide their email address.”
“The event can be personalised to industry, a specific company, a geographical location, whatever you want.”
“Then you create a sequence targeting the people you want to get interested, saying:”
‘I’m hosting a personalised demo for your company/financial services/SaaS companies etc, on August 30th.’
“The idea is that you’re going to share how your platform works, without any sales pitch.”
Troy emphasises one important thing:
Your prospects must be aware that the call won’t be salesy and you won’t be trying to persuade them into making a decision. Instead, it’s a unique opportunity to find out if your platform could help them.
Troy shares:
“On my first event, I had 22 registrants from 7 different companies. I had 6 opportunities as a result.”
“Of course, this requires you to have someone like an engineer or an AE on the call to lead the demo, but having various people on the call means there’s more of a discussion when it comes to asking questions.”
Even after the demo is over, and Troy has the list of email addresses from the register, he doesn’t hit them with a sales pitch.
Instead, he asks them what they learned, or if they have any questions they thought of after.
Troy explains:
“I think this works because it can feel high pressure to be given a demo these days. Like somehow prospects already feel like they have to commit to something when they’re just exploring options.”
“The buyer’s journey is important. Allowing them to see the platform stress-free and encouraging them to make decisions in their own time is a better experience all around.”
Not to mention this method highlights the people in your market who are actively searching for a solution like yours — in other words, high-intent prospects!
4 — Value-adding follow-ups
By follow-ups, Troy doesn’t just mean following up on a prospect after contacting them with one of the above approaches — although that is super-important.
After all, not everyone, even if they loved your outreach, has the time to reply in the moment. So gentle reminders are encouraged.
What Troy is referring to here is just keeping up with your targets.
That means:
- Sending them over relevant information when it comes up.
- Sharing new features that might help them as they’re developed.
- Or saying ‘here’s a link to an article I thought you’d find interesting’.
It’s about being around to add value.
Troy explains:
“I’m not going to hound you to book 30 mins of your time, instead, I will pepper you with little helpful resources.”
“I don’t believe there needs to be a certain number of touchpoints or a specific time between messages. Instead, when I have some value-led info I think could be useful, I’ll send it over.”
5 — Quality vs quantity
When choosing your outbound strategy, it’s worth having a think about whether you want to choose a quality or quantity approach.
Do you send a high volume of less personalised emails to a larger target audience? Or do you send fewer, more targeted and more personalised messages to people you genuinely believe you can help?
You may feel you have a better chance of hitting your target for the month if you send out an email to 10,000 prospects. But if you do this, chances are your reply rate is going to be much smaller.
Whereas if you pick out accounts that you know you can help and personalise your messaging towards them, your output will be lower but your chances of getting replies will be much higher.
Troy suggests a good middle ground.
For those accounts he specifically wants to go after, he will use a more targeted, personalised approach.
Then for the peripheral accounts — those who don’t necessarily fit into his ICP — he will send out some more educational email content, then sit back and see if anyone bites.
Troy says:
“First thing in the day, I’ll send out 10 or so personalised emails or pictures, and then the rest of my day can be more scalable outbound activity.”
“In my experience, as long as you send at least 10 personalised emails or other outreach activities in a day (alongside your other activity, of course), you’re going to start to see these target accounts come into play.”
Outbound messaging top tips
Troy rounded off our interview by giving us his top tips for messaging in outreach.
Scroll 👇 to see his 6 rules for communicating with B2B prospects.
1. Only use words you’d actually use in a normal face-to-face conversation
That means using more simple, colloquial language. Obviously, keep things professional and polite, but you’re speaking to a human… so act like it!
There’s no need for elaborate terms of long acronyms. The more straightforward your message, the more likely they’re going to understand and absorb the information.
2. Avoid using the word ‘I’ — it’s about them, not you
The second you use the word ‘I’, the message becomes more about them doing you a favour, or you talking too much about what you do. It’s not about you.
It’s about them, and how to make their lives easier.
3. Read your message back to yourself
Would you reply to it if you were on the receiving end?
If you wouldn’t, then your prospect isn’t likely to either. Best to change things up.
4. Get to the point quickly — use as few words as possible
If you can say the same sentence, but with fewer words… then do it!
Again, it’s about getting the message across as simply as possible. You won’t have your prospects’ attention for long, so keep it snappy.
5. Make personal references wherever possible
Without being creepy of course! But if you know something about this person, or they told you something about themselves the last time you spoke, mention it.
This helps to build rapport, even a sense of friendship. Trust is a big thing!
6. Consistency is key
This is a rule in a lot of life, and it’s no different in SaaS sales.
The more you feed your pipeline with personalised messages, the more you’ll see quality leads develop.
Plus, not everyone will see your message first time around, or have the time to reply straight away. You might need to deploy a few gentle chasers.
Creativity in outbound: the last word
Don’t be afraid of being creative, doing something new that your peers haven’t tried, or just being honest with your prospects.
They’re not stupid; they’ve likely heard from plenty of salespeople before. They know the game. You’re not likely to pull the wool over their eyes, nor should you try to.
Troy likes to be as honest and authentic as he can when outreaching to prospects.
He says:
“Sometimes, I’ll message someone on LinkedIn who I plan to call later in the day. I’ll just straight up tell them:”
‘I’m going to call you around 2:30pm later to discuss xyz, looking forward to chatting then’.
“Sometimes that means people avoid you, but they probably would be those people who would hang up anyways. On the other hand, others appreciate the heads-up and the transparency. If they answer, they’re more willing to talk.”
Want more sales insights? Sign up to our bi-weekly newsletter! You’ll receive the latest advice from sales expert Ryan Reisert.
Click 👇 to register.
Originally published at https://www.cognism.com on August 4, 2022.
