A New Approach to Outbound Sales – Four Tips

The ML team is on the front lines of B2B outbound sales. We are also obsessed with data. Therefore, we are among the first to know when techniques are becoming less effective and immediately start testing new methods. 

In our experience, buyer behavior shifts about every six or seven years. It typically aligns with changes in technology and how we interact with it. When ML was founded over two decades ago, a salesperson could make a phone call and leave a compelling message, and the prospect would call them back. Within a few years, we saw response rates begin to diminish as buyers became less dependent on phone messages as a primary form of communication.  ML evolved along with the technology and began incorporating emails into our outreach. And we evolved even further when we had the technology to monitor the buyers’ engagement with email to prioritize prospects.  

Fast-forward several years, and another shift has emerged that requires us to take a more strategic approach. Driven by technological advancements and changes in buyer behavior, we are coaching our clients that it’s time to take a more intelligent approach to outbound sales.  

 Here are four tips to help you. 

Tip 1. Invest in Research to be More Relevant Earlier in the Sales Cycle 

Over the past year, ML noticed some interesting trends in our data when aggregated across our total client base: the percentage of prospects we were reaching was going down. However, the percentage of prospects who were interested and engaged once we did reach them was going up. We dug a little deeper into the data and concluded that while it is definitely getting harder to reach prospects, the techniques we used that got their attention were more effective at moving them forward into the sales cycle. 

Our primary technique for getting responses is hyper-relevant messaging, which we use at the very earliest stage of the sales cycle. 

Last fall, ML built a formal sales research process to incorporate into our sales development programs to capitalize on this new information. We assembled a team with primary responsibility around conducting research to identify specific information about target accounts and prospects that would directly inform the messaging our SDS (sales development specialists) use in emails and phone conversations.   

Research Requires a Blend of People, Process and Technology

To achieve the most complete and effective research, we blend technology with a personalized human element.  

• We manually review websites, corporate materials like annual reports, and LinkedIn. 
•  Generative AI (AI) tools help compile large volumes of information and quickly integrate it into a CRM. AI is changing and improving fast. We’ve been leveraging HubSpot ChatSpot and Chat GPT and evaluating many others. 
•  Intent data is GOLD. Tools like ZoomInfo help us find scenarios where a buyer is searching for information that aligns with a client’s offering. This intel exponentially improves the probability of making a connection.  

But the real magic happens when we incorporate a human touch into our research program. The best intel comes from the conversations you have by calling into an organization and talking directly with stakeholders and influencers, especially if you have a seasoned sales professional making that outreach.  

 What Types of Data Should You Gather?

Look for data that provides clues to your prospect’s goals, needs, and challenges. Equipped with this knowledge, you can then determine how your offering fits into their plans and craft messaging that will really speak to their situation and grab attention.  

• Goals. What objectives is the company focused on achieving?   What are their current initiatives? 
• Needs. According to Indeed, “In their simplest form, business needs are the aspects a company needs to achieve its goals and objectives.” For instance, if a corporate goal is to expand into a new market, a need to reach that goal may be to hire additional personnel or conduct research to identify which market presents the best opportunity. 
• Challenges and Pain Points. Last year, during our Voice of Customer survey, we heard many common challenges from clients. This knowledge helped us adjust our service offerings to better address evolving needs. Finding ways to get your customers and prospects to define their challenges can help you frame your offering using language that speaks to how they would benefit from a solution to their problem.  

Here is a real-world example of how that process plays out. The ML team works with a client that provides digital and contact center customer experience solutions. One of our researchers went beyond finding the right title at one of the target companies. He also researched their website and LinkedIn pages and found a podcast this executive had hosted, talking about how they were looking at digital innovations to drive a frictionless customer experience. The SDS was then able to leverage that research and reach out to the prospect with a highly relevant message and get a much higher quality meeting than any cold call could have achieved. 

Tip 2. Craft Relevant Messaging

Your research is vital to building messaging that will resonate with different titles and be relevant to their unique needs. AI can help you customize messages quickly. However, you must be very intentional about your approach and use prompts that will get you the best results.  

Stephen Kirkpatrick, Senior Sales Content Manager, leverages AI in the communications he creates for our clients.

“A best practice every sales team should be leveraging is testing different prompts. For example, instead of asking AI to write an email about your company, ask AI to write a thought leadership article based on key information unique to your solution or service.”

Stephen Kirkpatrick Senior Sales Content Manager

 Stephen cautions against relying fully on AI. Instead, always take the time to personalize the output and apply a human element. Says Stephen, “Chances are, AI is going to provide you with a lengthy message that can lessen how relevant it is to your audience. That is where your expertise comes into play. Based on industry challenges, stats, solutions, and more, you can build upon the jumping-off points produced by AI while fully fleshing out a finished sales message by applying your distinctive knowledge.”  

 Omni-Channel Messaging Best Practices  

Along with messaging that speaks directly to goals, needs, and pain points, here are a few additional best practices to grab attention. These are applicable whether speaking in person, leaving voice messages, sending emails or texts, or reaching out via social media. 

• Name drop. If you have had previous interactions at a company, mention them. 
• Keep it short. Whether written or verbal, keep your messages concise. We are finding emails under 100 words are most effective. 
• Talk the talk. Show you understand their business by using industry terminology.  
• Mention events and activities. Your research will have uncovered initiatives they may be attending or hosting. Mention them, but make sure they are relevant to the conversation. 
• Be consistent. Make sure the conversation you start via one channel (like a phone message) is reinforced across all channels. 

Tip 3. Collect and Share Your Intel in a Sales Enablement tool (we use HubSpot)

 At ML, everyone who contacts a prospect captures the intel they collect in HubSpot. This provides a complete history that can be very useful for personalizing messaging and has multiple benefits: 

1. Quickly incorporate your history with an account or individual into your outreach and use it to personalize your conversations. 
2. Use the data that has been collected to prioritize opportunities so your sales teams can focus on those prospects with the highest potential of converting.  
3. Incorporate the data into your reporting and analysis process and use it to identify trends so that you can pivot quickly.  
4. Understand what is working and what is not. By analyzing the results of your sales outreach, you can incorporate learnings into your sales programs.  

Tip 4. Ask Questions!  

When you connect, use your limited time wisely.

• Explain what is in it for the person you are speaking with and why they need to learn more.  
• Ask about current processes or solutions they are using and whether they are effective.  
• Let your prospect do the talking.  

 The answers they provide will help you amplify the relevance of future outreach and inform your follow-up. Updating your messaging as you move through the sales cycle builds credibility and trust. 

A Heightened Focus on Being Relevant Will Help Build a Predictable Sales Pipeline

You may be thinking that this extra research will delay the time it takes you to get to your buyer. However, by doing your homework early and crafting relevant messaging, once you do connect, converting to a meeting is faster because you have built interest and trust.  

ML has always performed proactive research as part of our lead development services. In fact, it is the backbone of our strategic outbound approach. But our newest pivot takes us to the next level to understand prospects even deeper and act on that knowledge more intentionally and intelligently. By shifting our processes to allow for more research at the top of the funnel and investing in new technologies like AI, we are enjoying better prospecting results, and you will, too. 

If you have questions about this new approach to outbound sales, we are here to help. Just send us an email or give us a call. 

Thanks for listening!