Outbound Prospecting: A Step-by-Step Guide To Get More Deals

Imagine that you operate a small printing firm and that business has been sluggish for the last few months. 

You have tried everything to promote your business, from running advertisements on social media to sending out email campaigns, but to no avail. 

It feels like you've got walled in.

You almost give up but stumble across the term outbound prospecting when you search Google.

It points out that individuals who you contact have the potential to become your customers. 

It further details that 18% of marketers say that outbound practices provide the best quality leads for their team.

You are intrigued. Rightly so. 

You can't wait to contact people to increase the number of leads you acquire and sales you make. 

This article will explore the most effective ways of outbound prospecting in the hope that it will help you increase sales. 

Now is the moment to put some steam behind your sales efforts!

Here we go!

‍

What Is Outbound Prospecting? 

Outbound prospecting is a proactive sales strategy where companies begin contacting prospective customers who have not shown interest. 

"Outbound" means "directed to the customer," so you make outbound sales every time you contact your customers.

The ultimate goal of outbound prospecting is to incorporate prospects into the sales cycle and turn them into loyal customers. 

You must play your cards right from prospecting to lead generation.

‍

The above type of contact is typically called "cold outreach." It indicates that the lead or prospect approached did not express interest in your business before the sales team communicated with them.

More than 40% of salespeople claim prospecting is a challenging part of the sales process, followed by closing (36%) and qualifying (22%). 8 in 10 prospects prefer talking to reps, which matches the percentage of agents (78%) who use it.

Since the prospect still needs to express interest in your product or service and the representative is reaching out without any prior contact, most outbound tactics are cold outreach. 

Most outbound prospecting activities involve cold calls and emails, but your outbound sales plan can also include in-person meetings and social media marketing.

‍

Who Does Outbound Prospecting?  

Generally, outbound sales teams comprise sales professionals with job titles and responsibilities.

68% of inbound marketing professionals see their exertion as "effective," while only 48% of outbound marketers could say the same. (More on benefits of inbound marketing.)

Sales personnel with the following titles and duties often make up outbound sales teams:

● Sales Development Representatives (SDRs): SDRs are typically responsible for generating new leads and prospects, sending cold emails, and making cold calls.

● Business Development Representatives (BDRs): BDRs focus on inbound sales rather than outbound sales, collaborating with marketing teams to qualify inbound prospects and bridge the sales-marketing gap.

● Account Executives (AEs): AEs are usually called "closers." They concentrate on connecting with prospects, giving presentations, and doing demos.

For B2B sales, these demos also generally include a technical presales resource. They respond to prospect queries, deal with concerns, and close the transaction.

‍

Benefits Of Outbound Prospecting 

If you want to flex your muscles to get a wider client base, reach more customers, and increase sales, outbound prospecting can save you day and night.

Find out how below.

Generating Better Quality Leads 

Outbound prospecting is an excellent method for attracting high-quality prospects to the sales funnel.

Salespeople can have better conversations with targeted clients, resulting in real opportunities if they actively pursue them.

Understanding ideal clients by recognizing their wants and obstacles is vital in your outbound sales approach. 

Instead of randomly contacting customers, your sales staff should know who they're looking for from the start and how to establish contact.

Result In Seamlessness

When done correctly, outbound sales can result in a smoother sales process, numerous quality leads, and a high conversion rate.

Increase Sales And Revenue 

Increasing sales and revenue, particularly in the short term, has been and will continue to be a significant hurdle to success for many businesses. 

Outbound prospecting saves the day, though.

It significantly assists startups and failing firms attempting to provide new products and services by allowing them to take control and do things their way.

Difference Between Inbound And Outbound Prospecting 

‍

Businesses create leads and money via inbound and outbound prospecting. 

The following are key distinctions between the two:

• Inbound prospecting uses content marketing, SEO, social media marketing, and other methods to recruit consumers. 

• Inbound prospecting involves creating helpful content and a favorable brand image to attract and engage new consumers.

• On the other hand, outbound prospecting involves salespeople or marketers cold-calling or emailing new consumers. 

• Outbound prospecting entails aggressively finding and contacting prospective clients.

• Inbound and outbound Prospecting vary mainly in communication orientation. 

• Outbound prospecting entails aggressively contacting prospective customers, whereas inbound prospecting involves building an atmosphere that draws consumers. 

• Outbound prospecting is more aggressive and direct than inbound prospecting.

• Business control of communication is another critical distinction between the two techniques. 

• Inbound prospecting gives your company less control over prospective consumers' interactions. 

• Outbound prospecting allows you to contact prospective consumers at their convenience.

Inbound prospecting creates an inviting environment to attract potential customers, while outbound prospecting actively seeks out and contacts them.

‍

How To Create An Outbound Prospecting Strategy

Effective outbound recruiting requires these steps:

Target audience: Start outbound prospecting by choosing your target consumers. Demographics, psychographics, and other criteria may be used to determine your ideal consumer.

Create a convincing value proposition: Outbound prospecting should highlight the benefits of your service. Create a short value proposition that highlights your product's advantages.

Develop a focused list of prospects: Use target audience research to develop a list of possible customers to contact. Use LinkedIn, sales intelligence software, and other methods to find new clients.

To enhance response rates, customize outreach communications to prospective clients.

Use numerous outreach channels: Contact prospective clients through email, phone, social media, and other means. Use cold emailing for introductions and phone calls for follow-ups.

Track outcomes and iterate: Use statistics to evaluate your outbound prospecting approach. 

Improve your outreach messaging, audience, and channels as required.

Following these measures may help your company produce more leads and money. Focus on adding value and connecting with prospective consumers.

With the larger share of generated leads (55% vs. 27% account for inbound sales), outbound sales remain a cornerstone for the success of many organizations, especially for selling into the enterprise market segment.

Outbound prospecting is integral to any sales strategy, but simply sending emails and making phone calls to engage your prospects is no longer reliable.

It would help if you had a well-thought-out outbound prospecting strategy to maximize your chances of success.

Here is how to go about it;

Define Your Target Audience

The first step in developing a successful outbound prospecting strategy is identifying the exact group of people you want to inform with your message.

According to Tech Validate research, 99% of marketers consider generating, storing, and using global 360-degree consumer profiles vital.

This method may entail studying your target audience and learning about their wants, needs, pain spots, and issues. 

It may also entail determining their demographics, including their age, location, work title, and interests.

Identifying your target market and tailoring your language and approach to better resonate with them can help you obtain a crystal-clear image of your ideal consumer.

Analyze your ideal customer demographics, requirements, behavior, and motivations to create an accurate customer profile.

Set Clear Objectives and Goals  

The next stage is to define crystal-clear and particular goals for your outreach initiatives and devise a strategy to attain those objectives.

This process involves defining the types of leads you want to attract, specifying the actions you want them to do (such as filling out a form or arranging a demo), and settling for the specific number of leads you want to create.

Ensure your goals are quantifiable and achievable, and measure your progress toward reaching them. 

Setting goals in outbound prospecting will help you remain focused and motivated and identify any areas that need development.

Determine what you intend to achieve through this prospecting strategy. 

Goals include generating leads, scheduling appointments, following up with existing customers, or building relationships.

Use the Appropriate Channels

Next, you must consider which platforms would be most helpful in reaching your intended audience and accomplishing your objectives.

This process may include understanding your target market and its preferences, determining your objectives, analyzing the characteristics and features of various channels, and determining the costs and resources necessary to utilize each channel successfully.

Because picking the appropriate channels may have a big influence on the success of your outbound prospecting efforts, it is necessary to make the time to do research and carefully consider what brings in the juice for you.

Develop A Messaging Strategy

Businesses consider SMS marketing vital to their future marketing plans in 87% of cases.

After you have selected your channels, the next step is to create a message plan that will allow you to communicate with prospective leads and draw attention to the value of your product or service.

During this phase, you may need to define your value proposition and determine the most effective way to communicate the key messages.

It may also entail creating message scripts that you can use in your outreach initiatives.

Use an effective message plan that is personalized to your target market and addresses the requirements and problems of your prospective leads. 

It should also clearly express your product's advantages and the unique reasons why it is the best option for their requirements.

Develop a brief, captivating message that will connect with the people you are trying to reach. 

Employ the '4Ws' - Who, What, When, and Why  

Strive to understand what motivates your potential customers.

What is the compelling event that has them searching? And why do they seek assistance from your business?

What do they need, and can your business give it to them?

Who is the decision-maker, and can the relationship be made if not theirs? 

Did you know the best time to cold-call important decision-makers is late afternoon, with peak engagement between 4 and 5 p.m.? 

‍

When do they intend to buy something, or are they just browsing?

With a qualification approach, you can recover on fruitless endeavors.

Proactive salespeople will save a ton of time by learning how to ascertain the why, what, who, and when of a buyer's interest up front, and their management will benefit from improved forecasting.

Initiate Prospecting  

Whether your business is a b2b company, the time has come to implement your strategy after all your testing and development.

When starting, you must have a clear communication channel between your marketing and sales teams to keep them on the same page. 

You can even host meetings with both teams and create a last minute presentation to ensure that everyone is working towards the same goals.

As a result, it gets easier for both teams to align themselves with a specific objective and a plan for achieving it.

Keep a careful eye on your action plan and consider where and how it might get enhanced. 

Check your key performance indicators(KPIs) daily to see how near you are to achieving your goals.

Keep your testing ongoing while allowing the sales and marketing teams' comments and lessons to refine your B2B prospecting approach.

Prioritize Your Leads  

Unlike lead qualification, lead scoring enables you to provide a point value to each lead based on their information. 

If quality leads outweigh sales and marketing resources, lead scoring helps prioritize them.

Numerous examples exist of how effective lead segmentation can be, with some people achieving results such as an 89% sales uplift and a significant increase in value orders simply by segmentation.

Lead scoring uses two primary data types: demographic data and online or offline activity. 

AI bees can enhance your data or acquire demographic information from lead collection forms. 

You can base documented behaviors, or lead intelligence, on a lead's online activity but may also include offline interaction, like attending a workshop.

The sales and marketing team likes leads with a lead score that includes demographic and behavioral data.

‍

Track And Measure Success 

This process includes defining your value proposition, establishing the important messages you want to express, and finding the most effective means to deliver those messages. 

It may also entail developing communications templates or scripts for outreach activities.

You should direct a successful messaging plan toward your target audience and concentrate on potential leads' requirements and worries. 

It should also clearly express your product's advantages and the unique reason why it is the ideal option for their needs.

You must collect statistics on the success of your outreach activities and use that data to make required adjustments and improve your results.

It includes measuring data like response rates, conversion rates, and the number of leads created. 

It may also entail employing technologies like Google Analytics to track your website's and landing pages' success.

Using a B2B prospecting tool would be great idea if you want to automate most of these tasks.

If you need clarification on the value of data-backed insights, consider what Gong's clients have accomplished through their customer success initiatives:

In addition to recording quantitative data, collecting qualitative feedback from potential leads might help determine whether they converted. 

By tracking and measuring your outcomes, you may identify areas that are doing well and need improvement and improve your outbound prospecting approach.

Outbound Prospecting Tips and Tricks To Improve Your Strategy 

You must identify potential clients interested in your product or service, engage with them, and eventually turn them into paying customers. 

Which tricks do you have up your sleeves to help you increase company leads? 

Here are some strategy tips:

Speak With Current Clients And Request Recommendations

Word-of-mouth recommendations from satisfied consumers will carry the day for you. In fact, referral marketing boosts conversion rates by 70% and closing time by 69%.

‍

Referrals allow someone else to introduce your firm, which is the toughest part of sales.

Getting referrals sales is challenging, but here is a cheat sheet;

To begin:

Start by thinking of individuals as "introductions" rather than "referrals." "Introductions" seem less forceful and more like a conversation than "referrals," which sound like marketing.

Request customer introductions. After a good conversation, seek assistance. Could you help me out? Our company is expanding. Are there others like you who would be interested in these solutions?

Finally, treat your referrals like very important persons (VIPs) by offering outstanding customer service and treating them like "friends of friends" so that they recommend you again.

Personalize Your Cold Outreach Messages

Remember that every prospect is a real person with distinct experiences whom you consider a blank slate.

Learn about their main projects by browsing their website and social media platforms, and then customize your outreach and approach to match so that it seems personal and pertinent to the prospect or their business.

Consumers want tailored brand interactions in the digital age. Without it, they will easily ignore your message. 

Look at these figures to see how personalization benefits consumers and outbound sales prospecting: 

• Customized experiences make 80% of customers more inclined to purchase.

• 72% of clients only engage with tailored messages.

• 70% of companies send non-personalized emails.

• 84% of buyers choose companies that treat them like people, not numbers.

• Advanced customization yields $20 for every $1 for companies.

• Personalized emails increase sales by 6x.

It would help if you personalized every prospect touchpoint in your outbound approach: email, cold calls, Linkedin—anything. 

Utilize Several Channels 

Outbound sales typically need eight touchpoints to reach a prospect. Too few touchpoints may fail to engage the potential, yet too many may waste your time. 

Spread these touchpoints over email, phone, video, LinkedIn, etc. Every firm is distinct. 

It's essential to provide diversity.

One industry may answer the phone, while another may prefer email.

Take Action: Give a lead eight touchpoints before eliminating them from your funnel. 

Use cold calling scripts, voicemails, emails, video emails, and Linkedin messaging to enhance prospecting. 

Regularly Follow Up With Prospects

Prospects may not react for several reasons. They may disregard your email or phone if they don't know you.

After the initial meeting, five follow-up calls are necessary for 80% of sales.

They may anticipate you to be a pushy marketer who wastes their time. They may need to be more occupied with business-critical duties.

First-time outreach engagement rates could be better. Even after a response, specific leads may stop responding.

Now what? 

Regularly send personalized messages to further the dialogue.

Do you also hope and expect to do business the first time you encounter a prospect? You are not alone. 

But, studies reveal that only 2% of sales get realized when two parties meet for the first time.

The average sale only takes one or two follow-ups. It takes five consecutive follow-ups before closure.

Sell The Product's Worth First

Explain your product's or service's value proposition and how it may assist the prospect in resolving their concerns with effectiveness, productivity, safety, profitability, etc. 

Too often than not, clients focus on features rather than mainly what creates value since they are so proud of their product or solution. 

You only make good progress if you can make the prospect understand the urgent need and see the potential benefits of partnering with your business.

Additionally, you should always ensure there is stuff in it for them, regardless of the value you offer.

Provide Evidence 

For outbound sales prospecting, "the proof is in the pudding." To determine your product or service success, prospects want to see how you have assisted others in similar industries. 

63% of consumers want to hear a company's claims three to five times before genuinely believing them.

Support your story with proof, demonstrating why one of your clients decided to work with you. 

It covers what you did, how you did it, and how it affected the business. 

Make It Short  

Being concise with your messaging is another best practice to remember when conducting outbound prospecting. 

Most prospects are busy, so save their time with less drawn-out emails, messages, or conversations.

Properly Introduce Yourself 

Use your full name and business name when cold calling. 

When you call a cold prospect, you should say,

"Hi Mike, Shawn Finder from  AI bees..."

This easy yet powerful strategy makes prospects think they know you and your organization.  

Bigwigs frequently introduce themselves by name. 

So, emulate them and make your prospecting seem important. It will get you respect from future customers. 

When calling someone first, carefully utilize the first 15 seconds. 

Automate Workflows 

Automation sometimes conflicts with personalization, so we must step carefully. However, you can automate certain operations to improve sales rep, SDR, and BDR efficiency. 

Sales automation may enhance productivity, accuracy, cooperation, visibility, and cost. 

Sales teams may concentrate on relationship-building and completing transactions by automating chores and procedures.

Add Video 

Initial emails containing videos raise click-through rates by 96%. Another survey found that 72% prefer movies over text marketing. 

Humanizing your cold emails will set you apart in a world where everyone is socially detached. 

The best method for achieving this is to attach videos to cold emails. This method improves delivery, builds trust and sincerity, and grabs attention. 

Here are some cold video email outreach tips. 

Make Your Subject Line Catchy And Relevant

Your prospect will view your subject line first. So, what do you have to do?

You must use a catchy statement that they cannot ignore to make them want to learn more about your product.

Keep The Video To 90 Seconds

Brevity is important. Even as you strive to make it short, remember to capture the entirety of your message as you concentrate on how you can address a particular issue.

Introduce Yourself And Your Company

Go ahead, make yourself and your company the center of attention. Use the video to show your reputation and industry experience.

Make The Video Personal 

Include the prospect's name, firm, and other relevant information to make your viewer feel included in your efforts.

Include A Compelling Call To Action

The video should conclude by calling or visiting your website. When you ask your audience to act, you are closing the offer. Where the viewer is concerned, it's a digital handshake. Get it right!

Optimize The Video For Email

 Use a thumbnail picture that connects to the video.

Whether you are still waiting to hear back, send a customized email asking whether they saw the video.

These ideas improve your cold video email outreach and help you convert more leads.

‍

Choose AI bees For Excellent Outbound Prospecting

Have you been looking for help in refining your outbound prospecting?

We can help. Using artificial intelligence, we can customize prospect outreaches.

At AI bees, we ensure constant communication with prospects, ensuring no chances are lost. This improves response times and leads-to-customers conversion in your outbound sales efforts.

Schedule a demo today, and let us scale your business!