Amy Wunderlich

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7 Phone & Video Prospecting Tips for Sales Reps to Crush It

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7 Phone & Video Prospecting Tips for Sales Reps to Crush It

Plenty of sales reps love the convenience of email and LinkedIn prospecting. But rapid-fire, stock messages do little to build rapport and trust with your prospects. 

That’s why, as much as some people despise it, you have to pick up the phone. 

As young reps continue to phase into the sales force, there is a growing challenge for them to get beyond the keyboard. And while the pandemic certainly didn’t help matters, fostering those face-to-face (or voice-to-voice) connections has become more critical than ever.

Suffice it to say that salespeople can’t afford to rest on their laurels. We have to fight harder to build pipeline, persuade prospects, and win deals. 

That means moving from behind the keyboard, picking up the phone, and utilizing videos in prospecting.

If you’re ready to crush it, here are seven tips that can help our reps make the most of phone and video in their prospecting efforts. 

1. Don’t rely on email alone

It’s important to connect with people on social and email, certainly. But think about it: when’s the last time you bought something over email? 

Never mind that people are wary of scammers and phishing attempts. No one buys from text on a screen. 

People buy from other people. More importantly, they buy from people they trust. 

That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t use email. But there are ways to make email more engaging and personal. 

For example, emails that use video get a 96% higher click-through rate than those that don’t. It makes sense: video shows off your face, which helps to foster that personal connection.

So if you’re relying on a “spray and pray” approach to email where you’re sending as many as you can hoping for something to stick, just stop. You’ve got way more tools at your disposal. 

2. Make your videos watchable

Just getting started using video in your prospecting efforts is a great first step. But if you really want to maximize your chance of success, then you need to make your videos as watchable as possible.

Most people drop off of videos 70-80% of the way through. So it’s important to structure your video so you get their attention and deliver necessary value as quickly and efficiently as possible—before they click away. 

Here are some tips to make your videos more watchable:

  • Start with empathy. Show the prospect that you truly understand the problem they’re facing. 
    • Lead with value. Catch the prospect’s attention by offering something to help with that problem as early in the video as possible. 
  • Use a list to structure your video. “3 things before our call tomorrow,” or “4 things I noticed on your website.” That will help make the video more scannable and increase the prospect’s likelihood of retaining that information
  • Caption your video. Adding captions to videos can increase the watch rate by up to 80 percent. Captions also help with scannability. 
  • Put your call-to-action in the middle. It logically makes sense to throw the CTA at the end. But by that point, most people have dropped off. Put it in the middle to increase the likelihood that people will actually see it. 

3. Use the prospect’s name off the bat

The first few seconds of a video are key to getting your relationship with the prospect off on the right foot. One great way to do this: use the prospect’s name.

This goes back as far as Dale Carnegie: people perk up when they hear their own name. When you use their name, you set the tone of the relationship as a familiar one, which increases their likelihood to trust you. 

What’s more, when you use a prospect’s name in a video, it’s proof that you aren’t batch-sending messages. You’re taking the time to record a personalized message, which shows that you’re putting effort into building that connection. 

WATCH: 10 Tips for Building Human-to-Human Connections on Sales Calls

4. Don’t just call prospects once

It’s no surprise that phone calls used in tandem with email help to increase the likelihood of a response. 

The problem, however, is that only 10% of sales reps make more than three attempts to reach a prospect. Calling more than three times may seem like a lot, when you consider that it takes anywhere from seven to fourteen touches to get a conversation with a prospect, then frequent follow-up is key to making that conversion. 

Also remember that while email and social media are powerful tools, they have one purpose: to get you on a call with the prospect. That’s the only way you’ll be able to sell them. 

5. Don’t waste time following up if your data is incorrect

Spray and pray is popular because it’s quick and easy. Even if half the data is incorrect, you’re spending so little time on each prospect that it nets out positive. 

But when you’re taking the time to follow up multiple times, record videos, and build relationships with prospects, investing in the wrong people can be a significant time sink. 

That’s why it’s important to do your homework. One tip we recommend at Factor 8 is if you get a voicemail, hit the 0 button to find the directory or talk to someone else in the company. 

What I tell people is: try to be James Bond for about 10 dials. You’re going to learn something critical that will help you find the right person or provide you with important information that you can then use to land the deal:

  • Who reports to who?
  • What system do they have?
  • How long has your decision maker worked there?
  • Are there any current projects that are a priority?
  • How many employers/locations are there?
  • Other key influencers that you should include in the process?

Use your personality, talk to people, and get some critical account information that can help you become more successful as you build your relationship with them over time. 

READ MORE: How to Use Sales Intelligence to Boost Profits

6. Qualify, qualify, qualify

First of all: sales qualification is not the same as lead qualification. The latter is a marketing indication that a prospect may be ready to buy due to their engagement. Sales qualification is about how much money you can make with a particular account—what’s the potential that they’ll buy from you?

There are a number of factors that go into play here:

  • Size of sales team—more reps means more revenue
  • Is the company B2B or B2C?
  • What tools or platforms does the company already have (especially important if you sell SaaS)?
  • Do salespeople have to acquire their own tools or does the company provide them? 

One great tip for this: don’t blow past the gatekeepers! In your haste to get to the decision maker, you may end up missing the opportunity to gain some vital information on the company that can help you tailor your video and phone communications. 

READ MORE: How to Build an Account and Lead Qualification Strategy

7. You were hired for your personality—use it

If marketing could source leads and close deals on their own, we wouldn’t need sales.

The reason you have a job is because salespeople can do something marketers just can’t. You weren’t hired to send canned messages. Marketing can do that more efficiently than you. 

Salespeople are there because personality makes a huge difference in how prospects feel about potential vendors. For many businesses, it’s the people that are the differentiator between themselves and their closest competitors. 

So let people get to know you. You’ve been hired to be a personality. Use it!

If your sales team struggles to use phone and video effectively, Factor 8 can provide the training and resources needed to get everyone up to speed. Learn more about our training and coaching services here. 

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Improve Manager Rep Relationship

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How to Improve the Relationship Between Sales Reps and Managers

With all the economic uncertainty out there, it’s tough to find and keep good reps right now. Data from HubSpot indicates that sales rep turnover is around 35% (even in an economic downturn, attrition is shockingly high).

So how do you keep your star players around? Well, according to our Sales Team Retention Research Project study, the top reason both reps and managers stay with a company is ongoing training and development opportunities to help them succeed in their roles.

In my opinion, the key to a solid rep-manager is: both sides support each other to develop and grow. Here are some tips to put it into action to improve the sales rep-manager relationship. 

What should managers do to retain their reps?

READ: How to Hire and Retain Sales Reps

1. Create coaching opportunities outside the normal flow

A lot of managers wait until the pipeline call or the forecast call to coach. While those meetings add value, they focus on specific outcomes. Where reps often struggle is investing in skills that they can apply to a variety of situations, like negotiation and price anchoring. Spend 30-60 minutes with your reps to work on these skills, and you’ll start seeing more engagement from them. As a general rule, newer or underperforming reps should be coached once per week and tenured or high-performing reps should be coached once per month.

2. Create an explicit growth template

Reps can’t grow if they don’t know what their growth path is supposed to look like. This means you need to actually document the basic competencies and objectives you expect. Then monitor rep improvement on a weekly, monthly, and quarterly basis—not just during an annual 360-review. 

READ: Increase Sales Coaching Frequency

3. Don’t be hypocritical

People have a strong B.S.-meter. They know when you’re faking them out. So if you’re going to expect things from them, you better make sure you’re holding yourself to the same standards.

This doesn’t mean you need to be “macho” or push bravado all the time. You’re going to make mistakes, just like anyone. But set the example of always striving to be better, holding yourself to a high standard, and fixing problems when they arise. 

4. Drive deeper engagement

The more engaged your reps are at work, the more they’ll stick around. So make sure their work stretches them and helps them grow. Provide opportunities for them to push themselves without setting them up to fail. 

When appropriate, let them provide input on the direction and growth of the product and company. They have valuable insights that you can use. Plus, it helps them feel included. 

5. Stay hungry and humble

Even though you’re in a management position, there’s always the opportunity to learn more. Don’t rest on your laurels. Stay hungry, and always look for ways to learn, grow, and improve. 

DOWNLOAD: Tips for Retaining The New Generation of Sales

6. Don’t expect your people to always copy you

Don’t fall for “mini-me” syndrome. Just because you have a great process for selling doesn’t mean it’s the best for everyone. Instead, think about how effective reps are in driving results and meeting quotas, and focus on helping them close gaps and reach those goals faster. There can be an openness in process and style, while at the same time consistency in results. 

7. Seize on little opportunities to build human connections

Managers can do a lot to show reps that they care about them not only as sales machines, but as individuals. And these don’t take a lot of extra time. 

Especially in virtual environments, reps hear from their managers only to discuss forecasts, or when there’s a problem. Find other ways to connect with them as well, even if it’s just to talk about how they’re doing on a personal level. 

What can reps do to build a better relationship with their managers?

1. Be solution-oriented

Don’t come with problems and no solutions. Be a solution-oriented thinker. It helps show the manager that you’re taking ownership of a problem, rather than force them to handle every little thing that comes up. 

2. Be coachable

The opposite of coachability is “I already know everything.” Know what you know, but also know what you don’t know. And be open to learning and growing. It’s really hard for a manager to support a rep who thinks they know everything. 

READ: 10 Tips for Sales Success from a High Performer

3. Don’t blame the leads

We all hear it all the time: If only the leads were better… Strike that phrase from your vocabulary! Stop blaming outside sources for your problems. Find a way to make the most of what you already have. 

4. Get comfortable with ambiguity

Things aren’t always going to be straightforward, especially at different stages of companies. Can you execute when the answer isn’t fully defined? Are you willing to put the answer together yourself? If so, your manager will love you for it. 

5. Always be curious

No one knows everything. There’s always a chance to learn, grow, and evolve. While your manager should be open to your own style, don’t assume that your way works best. Learn from others, and find a way to implement those learnings in your own unique way. 

Final thoughts on the ultimate rep-manager relationship

The key to a good rep-manager relationship is this: support each other, hold each other accountable, and focus on growth. If you do that, you’ll build a solid foundation that makes both parties hesitant to leave the organization. Happy selling!

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What is Inside Sales

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What is Inside Sales?

What the heck does it mean when we refer to “inside sales”? 

Inside sales is the practice of selling products or services remotely, and it’s seen HUGE growth in recent years. As technology continues to advance, so does the future of inside sales. This is an exciting time in the industry! Keep on reading for key takeaways on what to expect in the future.

READ: Different Inside Sales Roles Explained

Artificial Intelligence

One of the biggest trends in the future of inside sales is the use of artificial intelligence (AI). AI can be used to analyze data and identify patterns, allowing sales representatives to focus their efforts on the most promising leads. When used correctly, AI can even assist with customer service – freeing up time for sales representatives to focus on closing deals.

Another trend in the future of inside sales is the use of virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) technology. These technologies can actually give potential customers an immersive experience, allowing them to see how a product or service will look and feel before making a purchase. This is really useful for products that are difficult to visualize, like home renovations or new furniture.  

READ: How to Use ChatGPT to Write Sales Emails

Remote Work

One of the most significant benefits of inside sales is the ability to work remotely. More and more companies have recognized the benefits to remote work after significant changes around the world (especially the pandemic). Remote work allows sales representatives to be located anywhere in the world, which also allows companies to expand their customer base and tap into new markets!

READ: Transition from Field to Inside Sales

Communication & Marketing

In the future, inside sales will also be impacted by advancements in communication technology. With faster internet speeds and more reliable communication channels, sales representatives will be able to communicate with potential customers more easily and efficiently. We can expect faster response times and better customer service, ultimately resulting in increased sales.

Another development is increased use of video and multimedia content. Sales representatives will be able to create videos and other multimedia content to showcase products and services, but also to provide personality and interact with a more human touch.

This human element ties into the idea that companies will need to focus on developing a strong brand identity. They’ll need to create consistent messaging across all channels and build a reputation for quality and reliability. Sales representatives will need to be brand ambassadors, and work to build trust with potential customers.

Companies will also need to focus on data-driven decision making. With access to more data than ever before, sales teams will be able to analyze customer behavior and make informed decisions about their sales strategy. This will require a strong understanding of analytics and data management, as well as a willingness to embrace new technology.

DOWNLOAD: Human-Centered Communication

Building Relationships + Customer Engagement

As the inside sales industry continues to grow, companies will also need to focus on building strong relationships with their customers through a combination of personalized marketing and customer service. Sales representatives will need to develop a deep understanding of their customers\’ needs and preferences, and tailor their approach accordingly.

Changes in the buying process will also have a huge impact moving forward. With more consumers conducting research online before making a purchase, sales representatives will need to adapt their approach to meet these needs and even anticipate them. This may involve providing more information online, offering live chat support, and using other digital tools to engage with potential customers.

Final Thoughts

The future of inside sales looks increasingly bright! With advancements in AI, VR, and communication technology, sales representatives will be able to work more efficiently and effectively than ever before. 

And as companies continue to adapt to changes in the buying process, inside sales will play an increasingly important role in the sales industry. Utilizing all of the above will set you up for success and help you make a big impact on your bottom line!

READ: What Makes Good Inside Sales Training? 

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Selling to Gen Z and Millennials in 2023

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Selling to Gen Z and Millennials in 2023

Gen Z and Millennials have grown up in an interconnected world with most information available at their fingertips.

Based on current trends, they value two aspects more than anything when judging a brand – speed and authenticity.

Both generations are accustomed to instant gratification thanks to the internet and evolved communication tools. They also value brands that take a strong stance against injustice.

As a more optimistic and ethically minded group, Gen Z and Millennials make calculated decisions when buying something (especially if it’s outside the tech industry!)

For that reason, selling to Gen Z and Millennials requires a certain level of knowledge, understanding, and sales intelligence.

Here are our top tips on how to tailor your selling approaches to both Gen Z and Millennials.

Understanding Gen Z and Millennials

Understanding Gen Z and Millennials significantly helps how you approach selling to them. Here’s some key factors highlighting their similarities and differences:

  • Technology Use: While both generations are tech-savvy, Gen Z has grown up with smartphones and social media, making them more comfortable with technology than Millennials. As a result, Gen Z tends to rely more heavily on online reviews and social media when making purchasing decisions.
  • Brand Loyalty: Millennials are often associated with being loyal to specific brands, but Gen Z tends to be more open to trying new products and experimenting with different brands. They prioritize value and authenticity over brand loyalty, and are more likely to switch to a different brand if they feel it better aligns with their values.
  • Social and Environmental Consciousness: Both generations prioritize social and environmental issues, but Gen Z is more likely to take action on these issues. They seek out brands that share their values and are more likely to the ones that positively impact the world.
  • Communication Style: Gen Z tends to prefer shorter, more direct communication through text messages and emojis, while Millennials are more likely to use longer-form communication like email and phone calls. You can even notice the difference in the resume examples of each generation. While Millennials focus on achievements and uniformity, Gen Z is more likely to experiment with custom design resumes and unique one-liners within their content.
  • Social Media Influence: Both generations are heavily influenced by social media, but Gen Z is more likely to engage with influencers and user-generated content. They trust peer reviews and user-generated content more than traditional advertising.
  • Shopping Habits: Millennials are often associated with being bargain shoppers, while Gen Z prioritizes convenience and speed. Gen Z is more likely to make purchases through their mobile devices and value free shipping and easy returns.
  • Financial Outlook: Millennials came of age during the Great Recession, so they are generally more financially cautious. Gen Z is more optimistic about their financial future and tends to be more willing to spend money on experiences and products that align with their values.

READ: Sales Pitch Tips to Engage Prospects

Tips on Selling to Gen Z and Millennials

First up, let’s reiterate that Millennials and Gen Z prefer authenticity and the ability to be quick and efficient. Keeping that in mind, here are five tips on how to sell to Gen Z and Millennials.

1. Differentiate Between Self-Service and Customer Support

Seems contradictory, right? Both generations actually WANT self-service options while equally expecting excellent customer service.

Gen Z and Millennials want to become an active part of the buying process because they need as much information as possible. They also want the decisions to be final on their terms.

They actively gather as much information as possible on their (and try out free trials) before contacting a brand. Both generations would rather learn more about a product themselves or through organic customer reviews than hear about it from the brand or its sales reps, especially when a new product is involved.

For example, selling a healthcare CRM to a Gen Z or millennial customer should not be done through cold calling or emailing. Instead, adopting a more personal approach is better. Introduce them to the product and allow them to take it for a test run!

At the same time, both generations also expect complete customer support from brands. This can be done through customer service reps, social media, or other easily accessible ways for them to directly communicate and seek assistance.

2. Adherence to Personalization 

Gen Z and Millennials have been constantly bombarded with information their entire lives. Over time, this leads to information saturation, especially when today there are tons of competitors in every business space.

So the bottom line is that true differentiation is only noticed by these groups when there’s personalization involved.

Traditional advertisements involve targeting a massive audience with the same ad and message (like typical TV ads). It worked because people didn’t have enough information available, and they couldn’t use their phones to research a product and check out its reviews quickly.

But that’s the FIRST thing Gen Zers and Millennials do today!

Capturing their attention alone requires a little more effort – you want to make them feel like they’ve been specifically targeted. This is also a great way for brands to show that they care about their customers.

DOWNLOAD: Human-Centered Communication

3. Fast Media Is Key 

It’s no secret that videos have become one of the most consumed forms of media. While it started with Vine’s six-second videos, we now have TikTok, Instagram Reels, and stories on multiple social media platforms.

This form of fast media is what most Gen Z and Millennials consume on a daily basis. This is where they trust information on current events, find entertainment, and buy products.

Gen Z typically uses social media like TikTok as a search engine rather than Google. Think about that for a second – that means a huge part of selling to Gen Z and Millennials involves effectively marketing on these social platforms.

General social media ads do not cut it. You need to provide quick, consumable content that’s engaging and enlightening. What value are you bringing to them? That’s how you build a following and a loyal community today.

READ: Value-Adding with the SWIIFT℠ Selling Methodology

4. Use Their Language 

In order to communicate with Gen Z and Millennials effectively, you need to speak their language. Don’t toss in phrases or words they use nowadays (especially if you don’t know the meaning or social connotation) while keeping the rest of your business tone professional.

Authenticity trumps all. One of the easiest ways to do it? Get that form of insight directly from the source by hiring a millennial or Gen Z employee.

Speaking their language involves using their specific vocabulary, using their jokes and memes, and any relevant acronyms.

Remember these are often very trendy and constantly evolving. Make sure you’ve got someone with their finger on the pulse to continually update your brand’s language along with what’s being used by your customers.

5. Values and Activism Matters 

When it comes to Gen Z and Millennials, they have very strong beliefs regarding common societal issues. They also expect their brands to adhere to those beliefs and opinions.

You can’t expect to seem authentic if you suddenly start performative allyship or activism. Gen Z and Millennials can easily call this out or feel when it isn’t sincere. And once that happens, you’ve lost their trust – and it’s unlikely you’ll win it back anytime soon.

Start establishing a strong base of values and causes your brand supports. Moreover, be open and transparent about what you’re doing for the causes you support! For example, if your brand believes in sustainability, what is it actively doing to make the business more sustainable?

You also want to make sure all aspects of the company are on the same page – from revenue, to delivery, and other teams within the organization.

READ: Improving Sales-Marketing Alignment

Final Thoughts

Selling to Gen Z and Millennials isn’t challenging if you’re actively adapting to the changing marketing landscape.

Adopting strong marketing strategies will always help your brand in the long run and allow you to build brand affinity.

One key takeaway? Have fun with it! Continue experimenting with new ways to connect with the latest generations and remember that authenticity and speed are always your number one priority.

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write better sales emails

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How to Write Better Sales Emails: 12 Actionable Tips

Have you ever written a bland sales email that made you think: If I was the prospect, I’d delete this in a heartbeat? 

Don’t lie. Because we’ve all done that.

Let’s face it: writing a sales email is HARD. In less than 100 words, you’ve got to do multiple things:

  • Hook: Get the reader’s attention
  • Add Value: Communicate your value prop clearly and concisely
  • Rapport: Build trust with the prospect
  • Drive to the Next Step: Convince the reader to follow your CTA

And worse: if you come across as trying too hard or being too sales-y, then you’ll end up in the trash.

Even if your organization has a solid sales process and your reps are great on the phone, sending an email to support your sales calls is an essential part of prospecting. So let’s walk through some tips to write better sales emails—and some templates that can get you started.

READ: Sales Outreach: How to Incorporate Emails and Phone Calls Into Your Sequences

What is the point of sales emails?

Before we dive into some stats, tactics, and strategies, let’s get one thing straight: sales outreach is simply a means to an end.

The end: getting the prospect to either hop on a call, or tell you they’re not interested.

If you aren’t achieving one of those two things, then you’re likely experiencing one of the following problems:

  • You’re not targeting the right prospects
  • You’re not capturing the prospect’s attention (either in the subject line or email opening)
  • The prospect doesn’t trust you
  • You’re not making your value prop clear
  • There are no clear next steps for them to take

Here’s the thing: 72% of business professionals prefer email communication for back-and-forth interactions. So rather than write off email as a dead art form, let’s see about making those emails better and more effective.

Who should write sales emails: sales or marketing?

And this is where we get into an age-old debate: who should write sales emails? Sales or Marketing?

A lot of organizations prefer the marketing team to take care of this. But the main reason for this is that a lot of salespeople are bad at writing emails. Either because they aren’t gifted writers, or because they get so focused on a singular goal (e.g. pitching) that they come off as too aggressive or tunnel-visioned.

But although marketers typically have more experience writing emails, that doesn’t mean they can necessarily write one-to-one communications. Here are some of the reasons:

  • Marketers struggle to write in the salesperson’s voice
  • Marketing emails tend to lack one-to-one personalization and connection
  • Marketers aren’t researching the individual prospects, so they don’t know how to tailor their message to the audience

So while salespeople should write their own emails, it’s a good idea to seek out advice from Marketing on how to do it well. Plus, this is a great way to generate more marketing-sales alignment.

Here are some ways your marketing team can help salespeople write better email outreach.

Buyer Personas & Prospect Psychology

A key part of any marketing strategy is creating buyer personas to better understand your target customer. These resources can help salespeople better understand how prospects think and tailor their message accordingly.

Data & Insights From Marketing Campaigns

Marketing campaigns create data. Sometimes this data shows that a campaign has worked well. Sometimes it shows that it’s flopped. Either way, this can be helpful in understanding which creative, copy, and other elements have been effective at drawing in your target buyer.

Key Messaging & Value Prop Statements

Remember how I said earlier that a sales email should clearly state your value prop?

Guess who’s spent months, perhaps years, researching and refining the best way to communicate that value? That’s right: the marketing team.

If something in your email isn’t hitting the right pain points, your marketing team can help you figure it out. Plus, if you’re wondering “what do I even say?” in your emails, there’s no need to reinvent the wheel.

Automation Expertise

Like it or not, your marketing team has (or should have) a ton of experience marketing key communications and messages. They know the pitfalls of batch sending a thousand emails a day (don’t do this) and how to avoid getting your email account suspended.

Don’t hesitate to rely on them for key insights and to help get started, especially if automation tools are new to you or your team.

Avoiding Tunnel Vision

Here’s the thing: salespeople can be aggressive. All we care about is selling product and getting people on calls, which is great.

But that often means that we have tunnel vision: we go into sales emails just focused on talking up the product and pushing people to get on a call. For prospects who’ve just heard about the company for the first time, this can be a bit concerning.

Having the marketing team (or anyone, really) look over the email can help you avoid some common pitfalls:

  • Are you talking about the value, or features and functionality?
  • Are you making your company the center of the email, or the prospect?
  • Are you talking about what the prospect needs/wants, or what you want them to need/want?

Remember to keep your messaging SWIIFT℠. New to SWIIFT℠? Check it out here.

Getting an outside perspective can help you break out of the tunnel vision and craft a message that’s more likely to convert.

12 Actionable Tips to Craft Better Sales Emails

So although Marketing can help you improve your sales emails, you still have to sit down and write the darn things yourself. Here are 12 actionable tips that you can implement fairly easily, and will take your emails to the next level.

1. Target the Right Leads

This is the most important, but most people skip over it. Before you sit down to write an email, know exactly who you’re targeting, and make sure they’re actually a good fit. Otherwise, your stellar emails will fall on deaf ears.

2. Don’t Just “Set It and Forget It”

Automation enables salespeople to do outreach at scale. However, that doesn’t mean you should “set it and forget it.” Make sure you’re constantly reviewing your data, and making adjustments based on prospect responses (or lack thereof).

3. Keep Your Sales Emails Short and Sweet

Great sales emails are shorter than you probably think. Stick to 100 words or less (125 max). That seems daunting, but people aren’t going to read much more than that. So you may as well pack all your key info into that space!

4. Personalize Your Emails

Don’t just copy and paste and change the first name. Research the buyer and try to understand their situation and how you can help them do their job better. There’s no turn-off like a lazy salesperson!

5. Make Your Value Prop Clear

Always picture your prospect asking the question: why shouldn’t I delete this email? Because, let’s face it, that’s the default setting. Make the value you offer them crystal clear. Better yet, write in a way that makes it irresistible.

WATCH: Fast And Easy Ways To Speak Value With Your Prospects

6. Reference Your Competitors

This may seem counterintuitive, but remember that buyers today are more informed than ever. They know who your competitors are. So you may as well own the conversation and clearly state why you’re better than them.

7. Write a Catchy—but Not Gimmicky—-Subject Line

Your subject line is make or break. Including things like questions, curiosity-invoking statements, value props, and more. Of course, keep it short—60 characters or less. But avoid the gimmicks (e.g. “alert,” first name tags, etc.). Buyers today see right through those.

8. Craft an Irresistible Hook

The first five words determine whether the prospect reads your email. Are you hooking them and enticing them to keep reading? If not, write it again.

9. Use Video in a Smart Way

Emails that use video get a 96% higher CTR than those that don’t. Add in a personalized video to engage the prospect, build credibility, and even show off some of your personality.

WATCH: 7 Phone & Video Prospecting Tips for Sales Reps to Crush It

10. Close With a Question

The goal of an email is to keep the conversation going. So make sure your email is open-ended. Closing with a question is a great way to do this.

11. Include Important Links in Your Email Signature

Rather than load the body of your email with links to press articles, webinar recordings, case studies, social media, etc., use your email signature. That way, if the prospect wants to learn more, they’re in a non-intrusive place.

12. Make Incremental Improvements Based on Data

Without data, you really don’t know what’s working and what isn’t. Look at which subject lines, hooks, CTAs, etc. are getting the best responses. Then optimize all your emails to match.

Final Thoughts on Writing Effective Sales Emails

Writing effective sales emails isn’t a skill that reps develop overnight. It requires continual practice, and perhaps additional training and coaching. Keep at it, and remember – it’s all part of the process.

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sales intelligence

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How to Use Sales Intelligence to Close Deals and Boost Profits

The buyer’s journey is evolving quicker than ever before. Prospects want personalization at every level of the sales cycle, yet customization is impossible without accurate and relevant data, as every salesperson knows. This is where sales intelligence comes into play.

Sales intelligence is a word used to describe collecting and analyzing customer data to enhance lead generation, boost conversions, close extra transactions, and offer you a much larger and more precise picture of the sales process.

Finally, the primary purpose of sales intelligence is to improve your understanding of present and future consumers. Any information you acquire will be unique to your company.

Sales intelligence data goes far deeper than traditional customer data, allowing you to get customer insights such as demand data, buyer journey duration, source of acquisition, and improved customer persona profiles.

This article explains why and how sales intelligence is crucial for your business to close more deals and boost profitability. 

Why is Sales Intelligence Important?

The sales intelligence platform can provide new ways to obtain new sales. Here are a few reasons why sales intelligence is so important for your business.

Discover Your Market Potential

You can access diverse prospects within your target market.

During talks with their target audience, many businesses merely nudge the tip of the iceberg.

The good news is that sales intelligence provides a highly complete, comprehensive perspective of your industry, guaranteeing that you don’t miss any prospective possibilities today or in the near future.

Identify Your Target Audience

Wouldn’t it be nice to get rid of most (or maybe all) of that significant research you have to do to find out what your target audience is looking for? It’s possible with sales intelligence. Static data and dynamic data are combined to make it easy for you to identify your ideal customer.

Monitor Your Competitors

Sales intelligence platforms can assist you in identifying your competition. It can also assist you in keeping track of what they’re up to.

Sure, you definitely know who some of your rivals are, but can you honestly say that you know who every one of them is?

Sales intelligence can assist you in locating each competition and monitoring their market performance.

Find Out Decision-Makers

When reaching out to your prospects, you must know the decision maker or the right person to help you reach the decision maker. It simplifies the procedure and helps you appear more professional.

Sales intelligence tools assist you in determining who the best point of contact at a firm is. You may search and filter by position titles and hierarchical levels to choose who to contact directly.

How to Use Sales Intelligence Tools to Boost Revenue

Build Your Ideal Customer Profile

One of the most critical and early phases in lead generation, qualifying, and nurturing is creating your ideal customer profile (ICP). However, because business is so fast-paced, the typical ideal consumer profile will not suffice. This is where sales intelligence can help.

By understanding more about your customers, sales intelligence data can increase the overall accuracy of your ICP. Insights such as intent drivers, content consumed, purchase triggers, region of operations, company size, and more may be obtained.

Enhance Sales Prospecting

Getting straight into the minds of your buyers and knowing what drives their buying decisions is one of the most important sales intelligence strategies. You may contact them more effectively if you understand their goal and are confident in your facts.

When intent data is integrated into sales intelligence software, you may begin to get notifications with specific purchasing signals when a prospect has the potential to convert into a client. These are hot leads on which your sales staff may zero in and provide modest nudges to persuade them to convert.

Assume a potential customer has had a fundraiser and is looking for expertise in your sector. What does this have to do with you? It signifies they are in need of and have the money to spend on the goods or services you are offering.

These insights might serve as a trigger for your sales team to contact the most relevant individual in the organization for a quick talk.

Better Lead Quality

The goal of the sales game is to obtain more leads. Many rookie salespeople believe that the goal of click funnels is to get more individuals into the funnel. In reality, the sales funnel assists in filtering out folks who aren’t yet ready to buy! When a customer becomes a possible qualified lead, sales intelligence tools alert you. This is due to the solution’s ability to track prior sales. It will also assist you in forecasting their future requirements.

You may also use website analytics with sales intelligence tools. This allows you to see what goods consumers are interested in rather than what they’ve purchased. This information can then be entered into your CRM.

These analytics can function in two ways. The first is to gather cookies and use them to reverse engineer where the user has visited. The second method is to utilize cursor trackers, which detect a user’s location and correlate it with what’s on the webpage. To process this raw data, both current methods employ AI.

Acquire Key Competitor Insights

While one of your company goals may be to sell a significant quantity of products or meet particular revenue targets, the truth remains that success depends on a variety of things other than how much you sell and how much income you generate. You must keep an eye on your opponent to stay ahead of the game.

Your competitive intelligence program can provide you with critical information. One crucial piece of intelligence you may get is the expiration date of contracts with your competition. This information is important since it allows you to create a sound strategy to entice them away from your rival and toward your brand.

You may accomplish this by demonstrating the benefits of your unique selling proposition, addressing their issues more efficiently, or simply providing a better value. With the correct tools, you can detect new competitors in real-time, monitor their campaigns and behaviors, and evaluate past data from your competitors.

Boost Revenue

When working with customers or clients, you must guarantee that your company remains relevant in the marketplace. This implies you’ll have to keep working on your brand. You’ll also need to expose your company to as many customers as possible continually. In short, you must continue to prod people with the brand to remember it.

Unfortunately, a company’s marketing budget is limited. You may increase your income by using sales intelligence technologies. They aid in determining whether or not a person has previously dealt with your firm. Following that, they choose the optimum moment to give them promotions.

It’s also a good idea to develop a filtering procedure for your customer list. Self-exporting is a big deal in the market. This may upset them and drive them away from your rival.

Final Thoughts

In the B2B arena, sales intelligence and sales intelligence tools are crucial not just for businesses because they help complete more transactions. Still, they are also vital for consumers who want to acquire a product or service that adds value to their business and alleviates their pain points. While several sales intelligence firms provide various sorts of sales intelligence tools and sales intelligence software, you must choose the one that is best for you. 

The litmus test you should use is to look at how they can assist you in completing more business with less effort. Suppose they do not provide reliable information on prospects, their interests, and insights into their behavior patterns to help you plan your follow-up activities. In that case, such tools may not be the best fit for you.

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sales team development plan

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How to Create A Sales Team Development Plan and Budget

Professional development opportunities are a major factor in the decision to change jobs. That’s according to numerous research papers, including our recent Sales Team Retention survey. So if you want to improve employee satisfaction and stave off attrition, then a sales team development plan must be a top priority. 

By giving your reps a roadmap to build their skills and advance their careers, you give them a compelling reason to stay in your organization. Read on for actionable tips to build the perfect development plan for your sales team. 

Why is sales team development critical?

Sales team development is more important than ever. Ambition found that 98% of sales reps would stay with a company forever if they were given ongoing development opportunities. 

What’s more, companies that invest in sales team development put themselves at a significant competitive advantage by retaining talent. Losing a salesperson costs an average of $115,000. 

Your sales team is only as good as the people on that team. By investing in their development, both as individuals and as a group, you can improve their ability to meet quotas and move the needle. 

How to build a sales team development plan

Sales development doesn’t just happen. It’s the result of a lot of intentional strategy and effort and requires a commitment of resources from the organization. 

As such, it’s important to have a clear plan to get you from Point A to Point B. A cohesive development plan includes role definitions, resources, expectations, and timelines. Here are some steps you can take to develop your own. 

1. Establish a sales development budget

On average, 1–3% of the total annual budget should be earmarked for development. Small to medium businesses are spending more than $77,000 annually on outsourced sales training and development. Large companies spend more than five times as much. 

If you under or over-spend on sales development, that will create bigger problems down the road. Over-spending without generating results will cause you to lose buy-in among executive stakeholders. Under-spending is unlikely to generate positive results. 

By understanding your needs, you can set a realistic budget that suits your goals and needs and, more importantly, moves the needle in the right direction. 

Download our Sales Training Budget Guide to help you determine how much to budget for development.

2. Reallocate unused resources

There’s no point in spending money on tools and resources that no one uses. A great way to invest in development without increasing costs is to look for resources that you aren’t using. Rather than waste those dollars, use them to grow and improve your team. 

3. Identify high-impact opportunities 

Most companies have limited budgets. This is especially true in today’s economic climate. 

The key to an effective sales team development plan is knowing where to spend the most time and money. After all, you want your limited resources to go where they’ll have the greatest impact. 

This is where having high-quality managers makes all the difference. When you support your managers and empower them to make decisions around resource allocation, they can effectively support your sales reps at every stage of onboarding and production. 

Effective managers understand the best delivery methods for training and development. Live in-person and virtual training sessions are both great options for team training. For companies that are local, live training sessions are refreshing in today’s remote-heavy work environment. Getting reps face-to-face for in-person training is worth the cost of the return. For remote companies or spread-out teams, virtual sessions are a great alternative to in-person meetings. For best results avoid pre-recorded training videos. When participants are able to meet in person or join a live virtual session, they feel more engaged and collaborative, which promotes learning. 

4. Prioritize your tools and tech stack

Not all tools and technologies are created equal. For example, many sales teams have a digital resource library—a big expense content bank that no one uses. It’s important, then, to look at your current resources and decide which are actually empowering your team to do their jobs better.

Instead of thinking of technologies by their product class (e.g. “asset management platform”) think of them based on the problems they solve for your organization (e.g. storehouse of information to educate our reps). 

When you break out the mold, you may find other more creative solutions to the problem (e.g. interactive, live training sessions vs. pre-recorded talking-head videos). 

5. Make use of free resources

While it’s important to invest resources in sales development, there’s a wide range of free courses, webinars, and training available online. In an interactive group setting, these resources can be a valuable tool—and they don’t require additional buy-in from budget holders!

However, it’s not enough to simply throw these free resources at a rep without any context or structure. Prepare discussion questions and exercises to test skills during webinars and presentations. 

When reps take part in live discussions and practice the skills they’re learning, they’re more likely to retain and apply them when they hit the floor. 

6. Think outside the classroom 

Training and lecturing are two different things. Lecturing is telling someone how to do something, while training is actually showing them. 

Take new hires out of the classroom so they can see skills being put to use in real-life scenarios and how to put them into action themselves. 

7. Focus on moving the needle

Hiring and training salespeople is an investment. To get the best return on that investment, you can’t treat it as a one-and-done. Skill retention requires applied learning and repetition. 

Don’t waste your investment by neglecting follow-up sessions, coaching, and feedback. Good coaching builds on the skills learned in training and helps reps understand where they are and where they need to be. 

8. Leverage gamification

Gamifying information is an easy way to improve retention and increase problem-solving. New hires who are challenged to solve problems and demonstrate skills outside of the pressure of the sales floor feel safer trying new things. Contests, competitions, and similar tactics help reps use skills in dynamic ways.

Who needs a sales development plan?

You may be wondering: do you even need a sales development plan?

The answer is YES if you want to:

  • Meet quota consistently
  • Retain your team over the long haul
  • Improve morale 
  • Grow and scale your business

Regardless of size, every sales department needs certain skills and information to be successful. A comprehensive sales development plan lays the foundation for your team to build and adopt these skills. 

Reach out to learn more about our customizable virtual sales training programs and get the best out of people. 

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