How to build a modern outbound sales machine

Do you want to grow your sales? A powerful way to stand out from the crowd is to build a modern sales development machine that helps you to create a predictable way of scaling your sales. Regardless of your industry, modern sales development has been genuinely altering and redefining sales growth. But you can’t be efficient without a specific skillset. This skillset is based on three fundamental pillars: the right people, the right strategy, and the right technology. Combine the three, and you get results. 

Outbound prospecting – How can you grow your sales?

Even though organic growth is critical for getting your business to the next level, usually companies at some point confront a fluctuation in their sales pipelines because their organic growth reaches a saturation point. This is why you should be aware that, in order to continue enhancing your sales, you need proactive growth. This requires the establishment of an organization and a system that provide you with a constant flow of business meetings with the people of your choosing. In this way, you will be able to control and predict your growth and revenue. 

Tips for starters

Tip 1. Ground rules

Humanization at scale . While in outbound sales there is a widespread tendency to use automated approaches, it is vital to humanize at scale. This can add value to the life of your prospect and make processes more efficient.

Personal & Relevant. Build an intimate narrative. Thus, avoid sending generic templates. Your templates should be personal with relevant content, tailor-made to the prospects’ pain points and industry goals. Measure what works and what is not, so that you can scale your activities.

9+ contact moments. On average you need 9 contact moments with your prospect. So create content that will benefit your prospect and don’t focus only on “call to action” tactics. Another key component is the use of diversified channels, by combining emailing, calling, linking, etc. to add value in each contact moment.  

Sales development is inbound marketing, but upside down. Even though in inbound marketing you produce content to reach your target audience, sales development is the other way around. Nevertheless, in sales development, you cannot be limited to “call to action” tactics. Instead, you should create content that is engaging and valuable for your prospect. 

Tip 2. Organization

One of the best ways to leverage an outbound sales machine is to select the right sales development reps. Outbound sales are the most difficult part of the sales process, so you need experienced experts who can assess each situation wisely, aided by cutting-edge support and tech stack. The table below depicts the core sales roles that it is of imperative importance to cover. If you are a small company, you should still be conscious of the responsibilities of each role, even if one person is responsible for more than one of these functions.

How do you set up the right strategy & playbook?

A common problem that is observed in new businesses is that they rely solely on organic traffic. At some point, the organic growth reaches its limit. Then the business, in an effort to generate more leads quickly, ends up following an inconsistent and non-personalized approach. 

The playbook is the foundation of prospect success

The art of constantly adapting your strategy and its features is a valuable asset in a rapidly changing world. The possession of a playbook allows you to create a strategy towards your ideal customer profile, monitor the customer’s journey, and adapt throughout the year. Most importantly, it enables you to deliver a consistent amount of new business in addition to organic growth, eliminating the ups and downs. 

Don’t forget to constantly reevaluate your campaign on key performance metrics in order to optimize and improve over time.

The playbook consists of the following key features:

Ideal customer profile (ICP). To define your ICP you should determine your target market, target persona, target number, and the type of approach. 

Key indicators for success. In order to acquire a competitive edge, you should know your prospect’s needs, address in advance any concerns or objections they may have, and use convincing written words.

Commitment. Include a simple company intro that highlights your unique selling points, a “call to action” adapted to each situation, and personalized content according to your ICP.

Storyline. “Craft your story like a poet”. Use impactful business cases by giving multiple options for your prospect to engage with. The best way to do it is through personalization. So, build your campaign sections based on the individual’s needs and KPI’s.

Campaign. The ultimate goal is to create a formula that can reach a predictable amount of meetings. Thus, design carefully your contact moments and combine different channels to ensure that your message reaches its mark.

sales development playbook

What tech stack do you need?

As soon as you have set your strategy, it’s time to choose the suitable tools for your workflow. Technology comprises a variety of options and solutions to many of the challenges your business faces. But with so many promising technologies available, how can you choose the right one? Taking the plunge and investing in tech stack can be daunting. Therefore it is important to define your criteria (ie target audience, individual sales strategy) before the selection, focusing on your ultimate goal.

Our tech stack connected with our workflow

Lead/Account Sourcing. Segmentation based on an account or persona.

List building & verification. Verify our lead list to enrich it with the right content information. 

Sales engagement management. “Orchestrate your positive contact moments in a multichannel outreach”. This is where you create your campaign in sort of a drip down. It is valuable to use a sales engagement platform so you actually can see with the same messaging which “call to action” resonates better. It may differ for target audiences, industries, etc. 

Personalized videos. Short videos and screenshots or screen videos of personal presentations for the prospect.

Quality testing. “Prevent (technical) deliverability”. Check everything before you deliver it (ie quality of the domain, templates, content).

CRM & document handling. The Pipedrive is connected to our G suite. Add in the Pipedrive your contacts’ information, clients’ documents, etc. and automatically will be integrated into the G Suite.

In the modern world, potential prospects are overwhelmed by the deluge of information and don’t respond kindly to such interruptions. So, you have to make it worth their while. Once you start creating modern sales development machines don’t forget to include a proper strategy, suitable people with the right knowledge, and a compatible technology with the rest of your tech stack. Are you ready to build your modern outbound sales machine and reach new levels of efficiency? Then take a look at the full webinar with Terry van den Bemt, Davy Guijt, and Jamie Petterson here

To learn more about creating a modern sales development machine please contact us at www.salesliftstudio.com .

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