At Outreach, I’ve labored with many purchasers who battle with their prospecting technique.
New clients usually search recommendation on partaking prospects throughout a number of channels, what to say, and how usually.
Whatever the dimension of the gross sales org, the challenges stay the identical. And not using a blueprint, maintaining prospects engaged and hitting quotas is almost inconceivable.
And not using a blueprint, maintaining prospects engaged and hitting quotas is almost inconceivable.
Enter sequences — the muse of an excellent prospecting technique and the engine fueling your playbook.
Sequences simplify engagements with prospects and present clients, guaranteeing your most essential communications don’t fall via the cracks. Sequences are essentially the most used function in Outreach, and creating one includes three phases:
Part 1 – Sequence construction
Part 2 – Sequence upkeep
Part 3 – Measuring sequence success
Let’s have a look below the hood.
Sequence construction
Scale is a phrase that’s used often lately.
A phrase I usually hear is “development requires scalable processes.”
Creating a correct sequence construction means that you can personalize prospect engagement at scale whereas guaranteeing reps spend time centered on extremely valued prospects. Should you construction your sequences appropriately from the start and attain out to the proper prospects, with the proper message, on the proper time, it turns into a breeze.
construct sequences in Outreach
There are 4 key steps to constructing a sequence:
- Establish and outline your personas
- Design your blueprints
- Optimize particular person sequence steps
- Implement governance
Establish and outline your personas
A persona-based sequence method will set the muse.
When prospecting and connecting with present clients, your messaging and discuss monitor will differ primarily based on a person’s title and division throughout the account.
For instance, you’ll method a VP of gross sales a lot in a different way than a gross sales supervisor, proper? It is because every position has completely different challenges and issues to resolve. Beneath is an instance of which sequence method to leverage when coping with a particular persona.
Undecided who your purchaser personas are? A wonderful place to begin is with your advertising workforce. Your advertising workforce has already slotted these personas into cohorts to optimize advertising efforts. Don’t have a advertising workforce? No worries! Get a bunch of key stakeholders collectively and establish your purchaser personas collectively.
Want extra assist? Signal-up for our Content material 2.0 College course, discover ways to Configure Personas in our assist portal, or examine How Outreach Makes use of Outreach to Promote Outreach.
Design your blueprints
One of the simplest ways to jump-start your sequence creation is to make the most of one of many Outreach blueprints. This allows you to hold your sequences easy and comply with a fundamental two-tiered, high-touch/low-touch method to outbound prospecting. The picture under has some common tips to comply with when utilizing these blueprints.
Need to optimize your sequences additional? Listed here are some professional suggestions from Outreach content material creator, David Plutschak.
- Aside from follow-up and event-based sequences, each sequence must be a minimal of 8 touches spanning over three weeks.
- Create sufficient sequences to achieve all goal personas for personalization at scale. This could possibly be so simple as utilizing the two-tiered method outlined above or including in a 3rd tier to achieve extra personas.
- Outreach follows the 3-tiered method under:
- Tier 1: management personas – It is a handbook sequence centered on name steps. Reserve this tier to your highest precedence prospects.
- Tier 2: mid-level personas – It is a handbook sequence with computerized reply steps and calls all through. Reserve this tier to your heavy influencers (these that may affect the choice maker).
- Tier 3: Low-Degree Personas – It is a 100% automated sequence. Reserve this tier for whenever you’re asking for a referral, in search of the very best contact, or you might want to acquire perception on firm particulars/challenges.
In search of extra sequences to create? Find out about Outreach workflows in our eBook “It’s Not Who You Are, It’s What You Do: From Roles to Workflows,” and browse our Outreach workflows part within the assist portal.
Optimize particular person sequence steps
The following step to contemplate is the forms of steps you wish to use in every tier.
Ought to step one be a name or an e mail? How must you comply with up? When ought to your reps use a LinkedIn interplay?
Most clients wish to know the best way to finest interact with prospects throughout channels. By means of intensive A/B testing, we’ve discovered the very best method is:
- Begin robust with a one-two punch! First, begin your sequences with a number of duties collectively (e.g., have reps name and e mail on day one). After, slowly taper with steps unfold out over the sequence. This technique will instill urgency in your prospects.
- Alternate your handbook touchpoints. This manner, reps can full numerous quantities of handbook duties, lowering monotony of their day-to-day.
- Use social touchpoints resembling LinkedIn. Finishing LinkedIn view duties was so final yr! In addition to, for those who’ve included name duties, most reps will view the prospect’s LinkedIn to prep earlier than the decision. As a substitute, have reps devour and work together with content material a prospect has shared. For instance, have them remark within the thread and comply with up with a message the subsequent day.
Need to study extra about writing emails? Join our Content material 2.0 College course.
Need assistance crafting your sequences? Take a look at our Galaxy companion – REGIE.
Need to incorporate extra multichannel engagement? Be taught extra about which Galaxy Integrations could make this occur.
Implement governance
You’ve outlined your purchaser personas, designed blueprints, and optimized the person steps. The final step, however maybe most vital, is implementing correct governance round creating and enhancing content material.
We recommend limiting the flexibility to create and edit content material to some workforce members or teams who’ve been educated and vetted. This ensures your content material is top of the range, meets your model tips, and helps your sequence technique.
Take into accout: limiting content material creation to a choose group will allow you to match sequences in opposition to each other and create significant benchmarks. This lets you use knowledge to see what’s driving outcomes and iterate primarily based on these findings.
With out controlling content material creation, this activity turns into difficult. Bear in mind, it’s all the time simpler to offer permissions than take them away. Over time, you could take into account introducing content material creation to a choose group of reps (e.g., senior reps or a content material committee).
Sequence upkeep
Now that you just’ve constructed your sequences, it’s time to take care of them.
Sequence upkeep is crucial to maintaining your content material updated, related, and efficient. However, similar to common upkeep in your automobile or house, with out some fine-tuning, you danger breaking down, shedding worth, or getting thus far behind it’s arduous to maintain up.
Fortunately, sequence upkeep is simple, and with common check-ups, you’ll keep the integrity of your content material and keep on high of any points that will come up.
keep your sequences in Outreach
Your purchaser personas are outlined, blueprints are in place, sequence steps have been optimized, and governance insurance policies are set. Now your sequences are reside and within the palms of your reps — the trusted crew steering you in direction of gross sales glory! Right here’s what to do to make sure your technique stays efficient over time.
Evaluation all sequences on a proper cadence
Evaluation sequence efficiency throughout their first month. As soon as everyone seems to be educated on the platform and utilizing sequences frequently, you possibly can improve the time between opinions. A great rule of thumb is to overview efficiency no less than each six months however not more than each quarter.
Should you’ve allowed reps to create content material, overview the way it’s performing and if it’s being utilized earlier than locking it in bulk.
Monitor adoption
Take this time to see in case your sequence technique is being adopted throughout all groups. You are able to do this by maintaining tabs on the quantity of prospects being sequenced frequently.
Leverage the facility of A/B testing
If one sequence outperforms others, use that as a baseline to tweak your different sequences. Likewise, if one sequence outperforms others, use that as a baseline to tweak your different sequences.
Observe: Make one change at a time. Should you make too many modifications without delay, you gained’t have the ability to inform what change was liable for what.
When you’re prepared, it’s time for the ultimate section of your sequence build-out, measuring success!
Measuring sequence success
In my skilled opinion, that is the very best half. It’s time to measure the success of all of your arduous work! In doing so, you’re not solely seeing the fruits of your labor — you’re additionally getting an opportunity to refine your work utilizing knowledge to achieve extra clients, e book extra calls, and develop your online business.
measure sequence success in Outreach
Any nice steady enchancment cycle features a measurement section. Constructing killer sequences that improve conversion charges isn’t any completely different.
You’ve strategized, carried out, and executed. How will you now iterate on what you’ve carried out to make your gross sales pipeline much more profitable? What measurements must you take note of? Beneath are the suggestions I inform all my clients to look out for:
Regulate your efficiency knowledge
Inside the platform, you’ll discover a wide range of methods you possibly can acquire perception into your sequence efficiency. Open and reply charges may be discovered at each the sequence and particular person step ranges, and also you’ll have clear visibility into which sequences and steps outperform others.
Interpret and iterate primarily based on A/B take a look at outcomes
Make the most of Outreach’s built-in A/B testing. Simplicity is essential, so restrict the take a look at to 2 messaging methods however not more than three. This can hold your A/B take a look at manageable and mean you can collect correct outcomes.
Establish how a lot is an excessive amount of
You all the time need prospects flowing out and in of sequence. Nevertheless, there’s such a factor as including too many prospects into sequence without delay.
Should you begin seeing the variety of overdue duties rising, take into account lowering the variety of prospects sequenced. Then again, if the variety of remaining duties per day is all the time zero, take into account sequencing the next variety of prospects.
Steadiness is essential. Over time, you’ll discover the quantity that works to your workforce. We suggest including 10 to twenty prospects day by day, as it would almost certainly compound from there. Inside a month, you must have the ability to decide your ‘actual’ quantity.
You now have the instruments to create the engine that can gasoline your playbook— sequences. Now, it’s time to construct, keep, and measure your sequences. The world is your oyster!
This text was initially written by Katie Douglas.Katie is a former buyer success supervisor who joined Outreach in 2017 and departed in 2021. Whereas at Outreach, she gained the celebrated buyer success supervisor of the yr award for her section. Katie’s obsession with serving to company clients succeed was rooted in her concentrate on implementing and driving gross sales engagement methods.
