5 Outbound Sales Strategies to Increase Revenue

Based on popular opinion, outbound sales is a dead strategy with no positive results and would leave you with wasted time and negative results. The question here is whether or not outbound sales are what they make it seem. Could it be that those who say this are simply scared to try something else? Could it be that they simply want all the success for themselves? This article is targeted at educating and helping you answer these questions and also providing strategies on how to excel using outbound sales.

Unlike outbound sales, inbound sales are very common and relatively easy so it’s a no brainer that people would prefer it to a more stressful tactic. However, easy isn’t always the best. Outbound sales help you target your specific audience and with over 80% of B2B companies using both inbound and outbound sales, the best time to jump on the bandwagon is now!

What then is an Outbound Sale?

Unlike inbound sales which deals with search engine optimization (SEO), content marketing, online ads, social media, etc. outbound sales aims to seek out a potential prospect, reach out using ‘cold’ calls and emails, educate said prospect and finally convince him/her through follow-ups, demos, etc.

In outbound sales, instead of waiting for the buyer to get interested in ads or posts and follow clicks or leads, the seller initiates the relationship using calls and emails and building relationships. Instead of relying completely on inbound strategies, it is more favorable for B2Bs and B2Cs to implement both inbound and outbound sales strategies to maximize revenue.

As always, every business needs more customers so instead of using only inbound sales strategies and waiting for prospective customers to find your business, you should implement outbound sales strategies, find your customers let them know you exist through education and information and convince them to purchase your products or services.

Contrary to popular belief and poor reputation, outbound sales no longer follow the traditional method of bombarding people by calling random numbers or sending cold emails to random email addresses, rather, it involves initiating contact with prospects, building relationships and driving customer engagement. In essence, a modern outbound sales strategy requires planning and thoughtful preparations to attain success.

Inbound sales help generate leads and revenue, outbound sales would do a way better job due to the close relationships it requires hence, it generates the right leads.

Set Specific Targeting Criteria

Who is your ideal customer? Who uses or is most likely to use your product? What is your target audience? Since outbound sales, target leads, it is important to answer these questions and use your answers to define your target audience as it is a waste of time to target leads that are less likely to be converted.

Your customer profile should be detailed and based on existing users of your products or services. While all prospects do not necessarily need to fit the profile, they need to be similar. If you sell several products or services, you should tailor your target audience to suit each of these products.

Build Outreach Plans

The first step here is to compile a list of your prospects and their contact information (you can even create a lead generation team for this) afterward, your sales team can then come into play.

Whether by cold call, email drip campaign, or voicemail, it is essential to think in the long run and prepare for any eventuality. This involves creating a script for your workforce while trusting in their skills. Your script should cover all the bases to ensure the sales team follows the outline and nothing is left out. For this to work flexibility must be given to the sales team to enable them to tweak the script to suit specific needs as no two cases can be exactly the same.

Work Accounts, Not Just Leads

It is paramount to also work accounts while at it as this can help generate multiple leads at once, build brand awareness and strong relationships. To implement account-based marketing in your outbound sales strategy, a collaboration between your sales team and marketing team is required as this type of marketing involves research, attention to detail, personalized effects and follow-ups.

To implement this, you need to first make a list of target companies that fit your customer profile and research the key players and decision-makers like managers and directors in these companies. After this, you need to tailor your script to suit the unique needs of these important figures as they are what you can refer to as the big fish in your target audience.

While this type of marketing is more difficult than your usual marketing schemes, it improves personalization and relationships and yields more conversion and revenue from fewer people.

Make Connections through Social Media

Not all companies implement social media in their outbound sales strategy but including it can help maximize your reach and revenue. To get the most out of social media, it is advisable to invest in tools from 3rd party companies with options that best suit your company.
You don’t necessarily need to use social media as a market place rather, view it as a farm from which you can harvest your connections. Be social and maximize the information you gain to your advantage. It is also important to connect with organic prospects that have similar interests by having interactions and building relationships. Use social media apps like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc. which involve deep insights and somewhat professional interests.

Gather lead data

Outbound sales revolve around generating lead data and lead conversion. While most companies may already have a structure in place for lead generation, purchasing data from 3rd party providers will help you gain more targeted leads as these leads are already verified to suit target audiences.

Using 3rd party companies will also save time and effort and don’t have to replace your existing structure. Once there are leads to convert, your sales team can pour their energies into lead conversion, ensuring you get the most out of them.

In conclusion, outbound sales are just as important as inbound sales and the best way to maximize revenue is to incorporate both into your business. For outbound sales strategy, it is pertinent to focus on building relationships with prospects, gain information from conversations with both existing and potential customers and having a good understanding of the market.