Find yourself having the ‘how to increase outbound sales’ discussion with your sales team more often? Are you wondering if your outbound sales strategies aren't in line with your projections? Here’s some news for you - most B2B companies, like you, have the exact same concerns.

So, is it true what they say? That outbound sales is now a thing of the past? Well, some argue that inbound strategies work better, since they involve a higher intent prospect pool than outbound sales strategies do. In fact, 59% of marketing professionals believe inbound leads are of far higher quality.  

While others believe that a mix of the two is necessary for good results. Like them, we too believe that time is not yet up for outbound sales. It is still as important as ever in this fast-paced, digital age.

But why are companies still not hitting their outbound sales targets? And what should they be doing to improve outbound sales success? Here are five things you should keep in mind and incorporate into your outbound sales techniques to drive up your success rates.

  1. ‘Send All’ is a thing of the past
  2. Personalization is key
  3. It’s time to optimize
  4. Segmentation really works
  5. Automation is the future

1. ‘Send All’ is a thing of the past

If you’re still sending the same sales email to everyone and calling prospects outside of your ICP, you are just wasting your time. Gone are the days when you could use just one channel to communicate with buyers, and target a generic user group. Today, you have to be clear about who your prospects are, qualify them, and then engage them wherever they are. There are numerous digital channels at your disposal, so you can use a combination of touch points to connect with your sales prospects. This includes social media platforms too, especially to collect information and identify them.

Tip: Try different channels and see what combination works for your sales team

2. Personalization is key

Using generic messaging at scale won’t get you meetings in the SaaS world. Now, it’s all about knowing the needs of your prospect and tailoring your approach accordingly. Why, though? Simply because buyers don’t want to listen to anyone from your team talking about things that they don’t need. They want to instead engage in a meaningful conversation where you can convince them that you understand their priorities. This isn’t possible without personalizing your communication for each individual. It may be time-consuming but it really pays off. Research even shows that businesses that have mastered the art of personalization, have seen their growth increase by 6 - 10%. But how do even begin personalizing every outreach? How do they make tailored messages a part of your personalized outreach? To be able to do this at scale, you'll need a sales engagement platform that can automate tasks that don't need manual intervention while freeing your reps to craft perfect messages. 

Tip: Use memes and videos at at least one of the touchpoints for a personalized touch

3. It’s time to optimize

A lot of companies today use Google Ads to get data that can help them optimize their targeting and messaging. It helps with increasing their ad’s performance when it’s reaching the relevant audience. Similarly, your outbound messaging should also be optimized frequently. It would have been a lot of work but thankfully there are sales engagement tools (like Outplay) available now to give your sales reps the required data on what’s working and what’s not.

Tip: Update your outbound sequences every 4 weeks instead of after 6 months. Oh, and if you're looking for some real-life outbound sequences that worked wonders for brands like Drift, Hubspot and more, check out this incredible ebook. 

4. Segmentation really works

We spoke about personalization and optimization but neither can happen without a good amount of research. Market segmentation is a crucial step that your sales reps should be spending time on. Once you have your market segments in place, your team can cater specifically to their profiles. This way, your team won’t be reaching out to prospects that aren’t a good fit. This will lead to better conversations and drive your sales naturally.

Tip: Use different strategies and sales cadences for each identified market segment 

5. Automation is the future

A lot of sales reps view automation as a threat. But little do they realize that embracing it will only bring them new opportunities. As a sales leader, you should make sure that your team is comfortable and well-versed with the automated processes involved. It’ll save them time otherwise spent on administrative tasks and boost productivity. But you already know this! Just make sure your sales team knows it too. Like we saw before, it's important for sales teams to automate everything possible to focus on crafting winning pitches and creating relationships. The right sales tech should be able to do that for you. Which is why choosing the right software is the biggest part of your outbound sales strategy. Here's some help on making this choice.