What Is Sales Outreach?
Sales outreach is the process of reaching out to prospective
customers. The goal of sales outreach is to connect directly or indirectly with
these prospects and convert them into paying customers.
The majority of sales outreach is outbound, meaning you are
actively searching for and contacting prospects.
The rest of the sales conducted are inbound. This means
leads express interest in your company and reach out to you. Your goal would
then be to convert their interest into a paying customer.
The Importance of Inbound and Outbound Sales Outreach
Sales outreach comes in two forms, inbound and outbound.
They are both equally important, but the majority of work will be done for
outbound sales outreach.
Outbound outreach is a form of one-way communication, as you
are cold contacting prospects.
Here are examples of outbound sales outreach:
- Cold pitching
- Banner ads
- Social media ads
- Email list recruiting
- Paid email list building
As you can see, outbound outreach is the process of using
sales skills to find customers.
Inbound sales are when customers find you and then it is
your responsibility to convert them into paying customers. It is two-way
communication.
Here are some examples of inbound sales:
- Lead nurturing
- Subscription email marketing
- Social media following
- SEO and content sharing
In combination, these outbound and inbound sales outreach
practices will churn the greatest results. Below we have some creative sales
ideas.
1. Create an Engaging Video
Consumers are bombarded with stimulating calls to action
daily. Video is the way to stand out.
Your video must offer some sort of value. You should not try
to sell the product. All you need is a phone, good lighting, and a great
subject.
2. Personalise Your Outbound Outreach
The best way to do this is to start with an email template.
From there you can personalise it for every prospect.
While this takes astronomically more time than just sending
out mass emails, it will get you better results. You can use automation tools
like Google Mail. Merge to send personalized emails in one click.
How to Use Sales Outreach
As they say, ideas are cheap. Getting sales relies on the proper execution of a brilliant strategy. Without a sales strategy, you're shooting at the wind.
A good strategy provides direction and direction closes
deals. Below are three foundations for an effective outbound sales
strategy.
1. Research
Find out who you want to reach out to. Your sales outreach strategy will require you to find leads. That is a lot easier if you know who you are targeting.
Collaborate with marketing and create a list of prospects
and their contact information.
2. Outreach
There are so many ways to connect with potential prospects.
Email is the most effective. You can use CRM or sales outreach software to track the
progression of your outreach. This is called a sales funnel. It outlines the
customer journey and the steps they need to take to become a converting
customer.
Each funnel step is marked by an impression and a potential
action. Your funnel can work across mediums like social media and email. It
should have follow-ups to initiate desired actions. Automate processes as much as possible. This can be done
with automatic emails or social media auto-posting.
3. Tracking
There is nothing more unprofessional than a contact being spammed with multiple emails at the same time or the same email from two different people within your company. Install software or a system for tracking sales outreach that keeps notes of dates, messaging, and outcomes to ensure your team is up to speed on the progress.
Sales Outreach Tips
When it comes to sales outreach, it is important to
understand who you are talking to. While you might have a target market each
innate target audience will be different.
Tailor Your Message
In the early days of starting your company, you might have created buyer persona templates. Buyer personas are fictional characters that represent your ideal customer. A buyer persona should include a data-based prediction of your customer's income, habits, interests, education, career, and lifestyle.
Most businesses have two or more buyer personas. The
messaging to these people can be vastly different.
For example, if you make children's toys, your buyer
personas might be eight-year-olds and their mothers. The messaging for the
children will be completely different from the moms.
In the B2B world, you'll connect with buyers, advertisers,
startups, heritage brands, and more. Knowing how to speak to each kind of
business will make your message seem relevant and trustworthy.
Even more importantly, you should personalize your sales
outreach. Address specific people within a company instead of a general name.
Try to find a connection with whom you are contacting to create trust right
from the start.
Read the Room
In some cases, your sales outreach will be rejected. Don't
get discouraged, but do pay attention to tone. If a business asks that you contact them later or stop
altogether, take a note of it. Failure to be considerate damages a business's
reputation.
How Sales Outreach Can Help You Deliver Results
Sales outreach is integral to building brand awareness. If you build it, they won't come. You are responsible to get out there and source customers.
If satisfied with your offerings, these customers will bring
in more prospects via word-of-mouth. And they will turn into loyal customers.
Repeat customers are the ticket to increasing your business's
profitability.
You may also be interested in reading - How to Win Big in Sales
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