In the field of sales, planning is crucial.
But, how do you properly prepare for sales proposals, plan sales processes, or follow-up sales strategies?
These are some amongst many reasons why you need to define a proper sales cadence.
In this article, we will look at sales cadence and its importance in any business. Furthermore, we will also examine some examples of the best outbound sales cadence and more.
What is Sales Cadence?
In business, sales cadence refers to a sequence of contact points with an individual prospect. These touchpoints then have the potential to set up a connection for a sale or engagement.
Typically, sales cadences include follow ups based on a schedule that relies on multiple mediums of communication. For example – phone, social media and email. They aim to develop your business-customer relationship and close sales deals.
It begins from the first contact up until a sale is closed with the prospect or they exit the cadence. In the latter case, the prospect then goes under the nurturing stage.
In simple terms, a sales cadence can be defined as a follow-up plan for sales. That is, they are the actions taken when pursuing a prospect.
Why is a Sales Cadence Important?
Most times you will need to repeatedly reach out to your prospects before they even respond. And even more, before they actually make a purchase.
However, this lack of response does not always indicate a lack of interest in your business. Prospects may not respond for a variety of reasons such as their inbox being overfull, forgetfulness, etc.
Without conducting follow-ups, you may never know why. Now, how can you best follow up with your customers/ clients?
You can optimize this process across various touchpoints. This is where a well-planned sales cadence can be best utilized.
Why Do You Need a Sales Cadence?
A sales cadence functions much like multichannel marketing, but for B2B prospecting.
Through the expanding of your outreach via different channels, you will find various types of prospects. Some may be more receptive over the phone while others may prefer being approached through social media.
Although, a common theme you will notice is that a sales cadence comes off less intrusive. It allows you to reinforce your message and its perceived credibility without exhausting the same channel.
For these reasons, it is vital for your sales cadence to include various channels when connecting with prospects. Moreover, adopting a sales cadence not only helps your organization, but also assists your sales reps.
How Sales Cadence Can Help Your Sales Reps
- It provides your reps with a follow-up sequence of emails and calls for each prospect in your CRM system. As such, the structured design of a sales cadence would increase consistency between every rep-prospect interaction.
- Following up with your prospects regularly helps sales reps close deals in a shorter time period. In this way, you also ensure leads are moving through all the stages in your sales funnel.
How Sales Cadence Can Help Your Business
- Normally, outbound prospecting can find quality leads. However, without a proper follow-up strategy, your rate of conversion remains at the same fixed level. Incorporating a sales cadence into your outbound sales strategy helps boost sales and increase conversion rates.
- The purpose of a sales cadence is to ensure a uniform process is followed by your sales reps. Not only this but following a consistent and effective sales cadence plays a role in predicting accurate numbers.
How To Build Your Own Sales Cadence
First and foremost, it is important to realize that designing a sales cadence is not a one-size-fits-all one-time solution. It can be optimized over time and depends on various factors like buyer personas, seasonality, target market, etc.
It’s a mix of trial and error until you find a sales cadence that satisfies your business needs. Here are 7 points to keep in mind while building your sales cadence:
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Understanding Your Target Audience
Always research first to better understand your potential customers, their preferred platforms, pain points, etc. Furthermore, look into how your product can specifically benefit them.
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Communication Channel/ Medium
The most effective sales cadence includes a mix of channels. For example, text messages, phone calls, email, social media or video.
Then, choose the platforms your prospects are most active and likely to respond on.
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The Sequencing
The sequence of your touch points needs to be thought over and carefully planned. Moreover, you should also consider the number of total contact attempts.
At times, using two touchpoints simultaneously can be effective. For example, leaving a voicemail and then emailing to explain why you called. Typically, an optimum cadence has approximately between 6 – 12 touchpoints.
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Spacing of Your Touchpoints
Repeatedly contacting your prospect may come off a bit irksome. In some cases, this could even result in you losing the deal.
As such, ensure that you leave a space of at least 1 – 2 days before you contact them again.
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Duration
Duration is largely determined by the number of contact attempts alongside the spacing between each of them.
The duration is defined as the length of time between first contact with the prospect to the last. Typically, you should aim for a duration between two weeks to a month.
However, this does depend on the level of your prospect’s engagement via phone call and email.
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Segmenting Your Target Audience
Factors that may require a different sales cadence approach need to be identified. Then, based on these factors, you should segment your target audience.
Some categories you can segment them by include company size, region, industry, persona, etc.
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The Content
The quality of your content determines if your prospect will get back to you. As a result, you should make sure it’s informative yet interesting enough to catch their attention.
Building the Best Outbound Sales Cadence
A truly successful outbound sales cadence depends on a combination of phone calls and emails. As outbound calls are a cold outreach, you should try to keep a maximum of 6-7 touchpoints.
Your main objective is to establish contact with your prospect and progress the deal. Here are some examples of the best outbound sales cadence:
Example 1
Day 1: First Email
Day 2: Follow Up Email
Day 4: Phone Call + Voicemail
Day 7: Email
Day 11: Phone Call
Day 14: Break Up Email ]
If you do not hear back from your prospect after 6 tries, you should give up on them. Instead, move ahead onto a new prospect with a strong outbound sales strategy.
Example 2
Day 1: Personalized Email
Day 3: Email including pitch of your service/ product
Day 6: 1st Follow-up Video Email
Day 8: Phone call in evening + Voicemail
Day 11: 2nd Follow-up Email
Day 13: 3rd Follow-up Email
Day 16: Breakup Email ]
For repeat actions like follow-up emails, space them out so that your message can elicit a timely response.
Although your sales cadence may conclude with a breakup email, you can follow-up with them in the future. This is especially effective in cases where you may later meet their expectations or budgetary needs.
Note: Do you want to try and warm up your leads before sending them a cold email? If yes, consider sending an introduction on LinkedIn along with a video message. This way, your prospect will know who you are as soon as they open your email!
Conclusion
Overall, building a well-structured sales cadence comes with many benefits for your business. In regards to building the best outbound sales cadence, it can be challenging but worth the effort.
Sales cadences ensure that nothing falls through the cracks. Not only this but also that your prospects are moving across the stages of your sales funnel.
With a little trial and error, you too can build a sales cadence that works best for your business!