Try These 12 Tactics To Break Through The Noise
In the B2B sales world, almost every “closed-won” deal requires a meeting. Sometimes it’s below the “power line,” and you book time with someone on the frontline. Perhaps this person would use your product. Other times, it’s above the power line, and you set an appointment with the decision-maker and the one who controls the purse strings. Either way, booking a meeting is arguably the most challenging task in sales (especially if it’s cold outreach).
According to MIT research, executives spend 23 hours a week in meetings. And time spent in email is just as alarming. The average worker gets 121 emails and sends 40 each day. Add in the scores of account reps targeting similar contacts, often sending similar messages, and one starts to wonder if it's possible to stand out in a crowd.
To say our window is paper-thin to reach prospects and book a meeting would be an understatement.
With the intense competition and so little time left for decision-makers and influencers to see, much less respond to our outreach, how are we supposed to break through the noise?
Find Balance
On the one hand, we know we shouldn’t spam, template, or “cut and paste” our way to success in sales; however, tell that to our manager barking at us about our activity metrics. These tactics balance personalization and scale. To book more appointments in today's sales environment, you need both.
Group A – Outside The Box
Labeling video and gifting as "outside the box" is probably a stretch in 2021, but reps are still giving up too early (or not using them at all). That would be a mistake. SalesLoft reports that 20% of personal gifts sent by reps result in new qualified opportunities.
Try any of the following to grab your prospect's attention:
- Video: BombBomb, Loom, Vidyard.
- Gifting: Alyce, Postal.io, Sendoso.
Group B – LinkedIn (And All The Socials)
Think about tightening up your LinkedIn game. Asking a prospect (or anyone) to connect without a personalized, non-solicitation invite is a party foul these days. Once you connect:
- Engage with prospects' posts (on any of their socials). Re-post, like, or leave a comment to spur a conversation. Consider following their corporate social channels too.
- Ask a common connection to broker an intro. Often, these common connections will be current customers more than willing to advocate on your behalf.
Group C – Email
Arguably the noisiest of channels, it's too easy to build and blast. There's room here to scale, but in more imaginative ways:
- Aim for 49 words. Go short. According to Jeremey Donovan, SVP of Revenue Strategy at SalesLoft, reply rates diminish right at the 50-word mark.
- Schedule emails for early morning or in the evening. A study by XANT shows emails sent between 6-7am and near 8pm get a 45% reply rate.
- Ask your manager to hit send. Reps will be pleasantly surprised at how replacing their name on the thread with a senior voice entices the prospect to respond, but save for later deal stages.
Hit us up, and we'll send you a proven template that gets a 90% response rate.
Group D – Phone
Cold calling is not dead (yet), but there's room to do more with the phones. Use a to-the-point script that shares a) what problems you solve for businesses or b) specific customer stories with proven ROI.
- Text. After the meeting, ask for permission to text if you have the prospect's mobile number. Texting is most effective when used sparingly, in late deal stages, or when the executive initiates.
- Schedule calling blocks from 8-9am and between 4-6pm. The same XANT study tells us those are the optimal times to connect.
- Ask your manager to call. Similar to email, a senior voice gets the attention of prospects. Reserve this tactic for stalled deals or high-value opportunities.
Group E – Play Where They Play
Get out of your inbox and away from the auto-dialer and hang with your prospects. Ideas to consider:
- Join a community group or association (make sure to stay topical and lead with insight; most groups outright ban vendors from joining or prevent solicitations).
- Go to an event – ask to attend an industry in-person or virtual conference for your prospects. A booth or sponsorship isn't necessarily required.
Baker's Dozen Bonus
Send a letter, or, even better, crumple it up. As corny as it sounds, the effectiveness of it comes in the follow-up call or email where you can share, “I’m the one who sent the crumpled letter.”
