Sales outreach is the proactive action taken by members of the sales team to engage with prospects, contacts of opportunities, and existing customers. For B2B businesses, it is more than merely dialing a number for a cold call. In fact, some of the very best strategies aren’t cold calls at all. When executed effectively, sales outreach offers sales reps an opportunity to engage with prospects or previous customers and move them into a new phase of the buying process. Understanding some of the key components to successful sales outreach can help B2B business owners and sales leaders optimize results.
Sales Outreach Channels
The best sales outreach approach includes a multi-channel program. B2B business owners should develop a strategy that includes emails, calls, social media, events, and any other interactions that help start or build relationships. Creating a successful channel strategy can get a bit tricky initially. Every prospect comes with their own set of contact preferences. Some potential buyers prefer emails and calls, while others will lean towards social media to stay connected with your business. Getting to know your target audience, how they like to consume information, and where they spend their time online can help calibrate your approach to suit their needs.
Outreach Focus Areas
When most people think about sales outreach, they first think about outbound prospecting. They focus on one essential question: How do we do more outreach to land more deals? Prospecting is important, but it isn’t the only sales outreach focus area a sales rep should consider. To help reach that goal, a comprehensive sales outreach plan should include three core areas:
1. Prospecting
Outreach volumes are generally highest in the prospecting area of focus. This is because sales representatives are casting their selling nets wide, working hard to get in front of a buyer they have no preexisting relationships with. Success takes time. As a general guideline, sales reps should be ready to reach out anywhere from 7-20 times to get a new prospect’s attention.
2. Deal Management
Once a prospect is engaged in the sales cycle, it is essential to continue to execute proper sales outreach. The deal management phase requires sales representatives to be knowledgeable about buyer challenges and pain points. Understanding buyer issues equips sales reps to reach out with relevant content and provide the right resources as they progress through various sales stages.
3. Upsales
Prospecting new customers is critical for any organization. However, the majority of a B2B business’s revenue comes from existing clients. It’s essential to keep current or former clients actively engaged. A company’s account management team must have a comprehensive plan on how they should not only manage clients but how to upsell them and stay in touch with new service offerings.
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How to Increase B2B Sales Engagement by 667%
Engaging people on a human-to-human level to provide experiences and education is one of the few long-term sustainable lead generation methods that you can employ. Many other methods like contact and pitch may provide a certain level of results but the efficiency and cost are less than ideal. To maximize sales engagement platforms, you have a number of different options ranging from webinars to group lunch and learns which provide 667% higher engagement than cold outreach to set a meeting.
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