Build context into your cold outreach and increase reply rates with these prospecting strategies
Outbound sales can be super intimidating. With so many data providers and automation platforms, it's hard to know where to start. And then the fears creep in..."What if my prospects mark me as spam?"
Of course, the way to get the highest reply rate is to research prospects daily and craft a highly personalized message for each individual. But, most business leaders don't have the time for this and it doesn't scale.
On the flip side, blasting out an identical message to thousands of potential leads is quick and easy, but it won't yield the same results and may damage your domain reputation if the message isn't relevant and your prospects don't respond, or hit spam.
Our approach to building prospect lists emphasizes the use of event triggers instead of relying solely on industry or job title. By leveraging event triggers, we can achieve the best of both worlds - perfectly timed, customer-centric messages than can be repeated.
By researching your prospects, you can build more context into your lists and your outreach copy. Messages that address real pain points, mindsets, and needs will always outperform generic, blanket-statement scripts. Some event s can even indication buyer readiness, helping you reach out to prospects at their exact moment of need.
Open job postings at a company serve as clear indicators of a hiring budget, the need for a particular expertise, and an immediate desire to resolve this need.
They are ready to invest in talent/solutions, and fix critical gaps in their workforce. LinkedIn and Indeed are good sources of active job postings.
Business leaders who are new to their role are eager to drive positive change and growth within their organizations. They are often more accessible, with less overwhelming workloads compared to their more established counterparts. Their fresh perspective and open-mindedness make them receptive exploring new solutions.
Our data shows a 2-3X higher reply rate during the first 6 months. LinkedIn and Sales Navigator are helpful tools for identifying these prospects.
Examining the demographic makeup of a company, such as the recent hiring or firing trends, can provide a deeper understanding of the company's stage and mindset. Additionally, knowing who is already employed (or not) can reveal gaps in expertise or show the need for a certain software or outsourced solution.
Examples would be searching for an agency that has SEO employees, but reaching out to their CEO.
Or finding companies with warehouse employees, but reaching out to their head of safety operations.
Companies that have recently secured funding are often in a growth-oriented phase and have the financial capacity to invest in areas such as recruiting, marketing, sales, and engineering.
After successfully closing a funding round, these companies are under increased pressure to hit their goals, and as a result can be more receptive to collaboration and quickly trying new ideas. Try Crunchbase as a data source for this.
Contacting people who live in your city is a natural way to build trust and appear authentic. Reference the most recent sports game, or a sandwich shop that you like.
You can also ask for in-person. meetings with prospects (even if they end up happening online later) as a way to show that you really care about getting to know them.
Building prospect lists based on research strategies like job postings, recent hires, and funding announcements will help you strike the balance of personalization and scalability. Learn more about how we can automate the entire process for you here: https://hellooutbound.com/platform
