Think of your inbox. The convenience of instantly sending and receiving messages often gets canceled out by the overwhelm of getting through them. In the same way that too many unread messages might impede us from maintaining timely conversations, automated interactions have oversaturated many organizations’ sales efforts.
When it comes to strategy, some sales pros find striking the right balance between technological and personalized outreach could mean the difference between a prospect choosing you and your competitor.
“Automated email helps generate awareness of your company and brand, so while it plays a role in the journey to a ‘yes,’ it cannot be the only component,” said Melissa Kulawiak, senior vice president of business development at Epsilon. She believes in doing her “homework,” by researching a prospect’s background and demonstrating that she understands them. The more tailored the message, the more reason a prospect has to interact with you.
May Parell follows a similar tactic in carefully curating the accounts she interacts with as a senior sales manager at ReviewTrackers. Her strategic, data-centered approach to outreach provides convincing evidence that the prospect would benefit from her expertise: “We need to nurture those prospects with their own data to build a story around how we can solve some of their pain points.”
While there are certainly perks to automation, many salespeople in our increasingly interactive world are taking a step back to recalibrate and reconsider how much is too much of a good thing. Built In Chicago sat down with two local sales leaders to learn how they’re incorporating personalization into their strategies.
What prospecting strategy has proven to be most successful over the last few months?
The key to a seller’s success is relevancy, and sellers must use a combination of communication tools — including email, phone, LinkedIn and networking — to attain it. Do your homework. What are the prospect’s background and interests? Do you have any common connections that could make a warm introduction and provide credibility to your outreach? Tailoring your message to show that you know them and their business will go a long way in helping you stand out. This level of personalization will give prospects reason to prioritize your solution versus the competition’s. Make sure you’re clear about what’s in it for them if they decide to engage with you.
How much of a role should email automation play in a sales rep’s prospecting process, and what are the potential side effects of overrelying on it?
Let’s face it, if I see an email from Company A every morning at 8 a.m. in my inbox — whether I read it or not — it is still being noticed. The decision regarding whether those emails get opened and read comes back to relevance. It is hard to personalize automated outreach. Certainly, you can tailor a message to a vertical or title, but it will rarely be specific to that contact’s needs or goal. This is why additional outreach must happen.
Personalization will give prospects reason to prioritize your solution versus the competition’s.”
As automated email campaigns lose their potency, what skills should successful reps brush up on?
As we continue to strive for relevance with our messaging, salespeople need to focus on being organized, creative and succinct. Whether it is an email, LinkedIn message or voicemail, your message must be catchy and short in nature. Does your subject line or first sentence demonstrate value and show that you know them? Limit your emails to a few high-impact bullet points or sentences instead of lengthy paragraphs. Let your personality shine in your messages to differentiate from automated ones. Organization and follow-up are also key to getting someone’s attention. A salesperson should create a regular outreach cadence for each contact.
What prospecting strategy has proven to be most successful over the last few months?
We’ve been solidifying a list of select accounts with intent and taking a strategic approach on our outreach using that business’ customized data. First, we need to see who is looking for us and what we do. Then we need to nurture those prospects with their own data to build a story around how we can solve some of their pain points.
How much of a role should email automation play in a sales rep’s prospecting process, and what are the potential side effects of overrelying on it?
Automated email is great for consistency, but what’s more important is the content within those emails. If we rely on automation too much, there is room for error as well as a lack of personalization. In today’s world, people can tell if you’re writing to them personally or if you’re writing to their position — and that can be detrimental to outreach practices.
People can tell if you’re writing to them personally or if you’re writing to their position.”
As automated email campaigns lose their potency, what skills should successful reps brush up on?
Account executives should be strategizing and planning for each business they are trying to work with. Look up the company, cross-reference your contacts, search for articles or features in the news, and check out how active they are on social media and what they post about. People don’t care about statistics until you show them why they should, so look for signs within their business to create that story and nurture an account with a consultative approach.
