Creating An Ultimate Outreach System
62: Run laps around you competitors.
Hello ladies, gents, cartoon animals, and others.
Back to outreach. What you will find in the article below is more suitable for someone running the WiFi money vs. someone working in the corporate environment. If you are wondering why - the answer is straightforward.
On your 9-5 you will have a standardized approach your superiors will expect you to follow. The same goes for the provided prospecting tools and the general framework behind them. Maybe that’s the reason why the majority of sales reps end up as average salesmen. No doubt, there are a few brave reps who will incorporate at least one additional outreach channel into their current arsenal.
Friendly tip - make sure you don't spread your approach to your colleagues. You would be surprised by what happens once you hit the quota while the other sales reps on your team do not. Plus, you don’t want sales reps who sound like the kid below when cold calling using your methods.
Before We Move Forward - Prospecting
Not sure how many times we have to repeat that the prospecting part of the game can either make or break you. The idea is not to create another prospecting article - what prospecting is all about. But take into, consideration that based on your requirements and methods you plan to implement. You will need different kinds of tools and databases (leads for those who are confused).
In case you are doing outreach because of your 9-5. There is no need to worry. Since your company will provide you with everything… Or at least they should. WiFi money makers you do what you have to do. There are many ways to obtain leads depending on your budget and requirements. Read more in our lead list and prospecting tools article where we have provided a complete overview of the tools worth checking out.
Our favorite prospecting tools and databases:
Numbers: Apollo.io and leadrocks.io
Local Leads and socials: Phantombuster.com
Zoominfo is not included. If you have access to it - consider yourself lucky.
Ultimate Outreach System?
What do we consider the “ultimate” outreach system? One that can’t be ignored. Your goal as a sales individual is always to go for the clear yes or clear no answer. An email reply saying “Stop bothering me, I am not interested” is 10 times more valuable than any type of silence from your prospect. On to the next points. A good outreach system comes at a decent price and to a certain extent, it depends on your budget.
We can all agree that the ultimate is not the best term to use. But that’s what we are planning to describe. Not everything has the same “weight factor”. This means the efficiency and “weight” of cold calling is not the same in the B2B sense compared to dealing with local (physical) businesses for example.
You will have to pay attention to that and create a system based on your experience. If you are yet to secure a tech sales role or start your own lead generation agency. That is something you will learn along the way. Give yourself patience and make sure you keep notes on what is working and what is not working. It’s the real way to get better at something.
Tools Of The System
Cold Emails
When it comes to 9-5 cold email senders - things will be different when compared to the WiFi money makers. The main difference we are talking about is the domains. The majority of the organizations don’t care about it. But it’s a big factor that will potentially decide whether you will land in the prospect’s inbox or not. As we said not much you can do on your 9-5 except run your own private outreach domains. Method is risky in the sense if you get caught, you might end up getting out of the company.
You already know that fortune favors the bold.
For the WiFi money makers. First of all, you have to realize that cold emails require a certain technical setup to make it work. We suggest reading an old article of ours 10 rules of cold email. This way we will avoid going into technical details in this article. But at the same time, anyone curious enough will be able to understand what cold emails require to make it work. In each case, you want to have at least 4-5 domains sending out cold emails all the time. Even that is a small number that should easily be 10-15. It all depends on your needs and how big operations you are running.
Plus the budget you have. The great thing about the warmup sequence is you don’t have to worry about it - it all comes in one package, which was not standard back in the day. The message should be simple and clear. Reach out to prospects with relevant offers, and combine them with volume - scale as much as possible. All the science there is when it comes to cold emails.
Looking for software that will help you send cold emails and warmup accounts? Smartlead.ai. In case you are new to the game we suggest checking out Sales Script AI to get a basic understanding of how your cold emails script should look.
Cold Calling
What separates boys from men? The majority of 9-5ers and those in volume sales will argue that it’s the best outreach channel. We have mixed opinions about it. But it will be mandatory and by far the most efficient outreach - especially if selling into SMBs. The great thing about cold calling is that your competitors are often bad.
Which means you need to put in the minimum work to run laps around them. In each case, you should realize why most suck at cold calling and what you should do to not end up like that. Good tonality, clear speaking and not rushing → congrats you are easily at the top when it comes to cold calling.
When it comes to WiFi money tools you can use for cold calling? Close is currently the best solution when you compare money and value. Extra points because you are getting an in-built autodialer - which they call a power dialer.
LinkedIn
LinkedIn is different from both cold emails and cold calling. In the sense that your social proof and how will you position yourself will play a big role right from the beginning. It’s going to determine if you are going to be able to book meetings with prospects or not. Small details such as mutual connections, clean-looking profiles, and even relevant posts about your product (LinkedIn influencers - which we hate) play a role in landing a meeting.
Another tip we often preach about is creating an army of LinkedIn AI female profiles and combining them with outreach tools such as Waalaxy to automate everything you can. By doing this, you will not only have one outreach profile. Instead, you will have the opportunity to scale your outreach with multiple LinkedIn profiles. Sign up through the provided link and you will get one month for free.
Ringless Voice Mails
Again, one of those outreach channels you will not hear about. Since there are legal concerns. Volume is what makes methods like these work. In our opinion, it can’t be compared in effectiveness when you compare it with cold calling and LinkedIn.
But it takes little to scale up and increase the volume. Exactly why you should use it. The great thing about it takes you 30 minutes to set everything up and start blasting AI-generated Voice Mails. Keep in mind there is a reason why ringless VMs are not built into SaaS solutions.
The tool used to create AI-generated voice mails? ElevenLabs.io
Ringless VMs are not the same as “standard VMs” - both should have a place in your outreach system.
Letters (Envelopes)
Yes, you have read it correctly. There is not much more to add. Something that everyone dealing with local businesses should give a try. The goal is straight-up simple. When you are dealing with mom-and-pop shops, you have to look up authentic. Not to mention, it is often difficult to contact them. Requiring you pull all kinds of tricks. Using letters and envelopes can help you bypass the gatekeepers.
It also serves as an effective pattern-interrupt style of outreach. Rarely does anyone send letters anymore. Plus if you are smart enough you will be sending a “personalized version” around. In any case, make sure to check out our local business outreach article where we went in-depth on how to pull it off.
Text Messaging (SMS)
Probably the most effective outreach channel there is. But it’s something you will have to do at your own risk. In the sense that individuals are sensitive about their personal phone numbers. This means there is always a chance you could be the lucky winner and somehow end up with someone trying to sue you. It’s all part of the game you must accept in order to play. We are not going to go much into detail. The idea behind it is the same as with cold emails...
Our suggestion is not to start blasting straightaway with SMS. But instead, leave it for later in the outreach sequence. Leaving you with something you can use on prospects “sent you an email earlier but didn’t receive a response yet”. Not much else to add. The same principles apply to Viber and WhatsApp outreach which are extremely popular in certain parts of the world. If you decide to go that route, you will need specific software to handle that aspect for you.
SMS outreach can be done using Close same as cold calling - you are getting two options from one tool. Keeping it practical.
Other Socials (Instagram, Twitter, Facebook)
This is not our thing. We like to focus on the outreach channels above to get things working. With confidence, we can confirm that all of them do work. But a factor you have to consider is what you are selling.
Not all of the products are suitable for this type of outreach. How will you be able to sell cybersecurity over Instagram? No doubt someone managed to pull it off. But it is not standard practice. Facebook groups are great targets. Depending on what you are selling - targeting those is a great way to get easy points. When you think about it they also serve as a sort of lead base since you are getting a number of profiles interested in “group topics” relevant to your offer.
PhantomBuster is a solid solution if you are looking for social leads.
Putting It All Together (Sequence)
Now that you have all the relevant outreach channels and ways to pull it off. It’s time to put it all together. Experienced sales reps will understand what we are talking about. For those who are yet to become experienced - we are talking about a sequenced type of outreach. It’s mandatory and all the professionals know exactly why. First of all, money is in the follow-ups. Now combine that with attacking your prospect from a few different angles. Remember you are going for straight yes or no. That’s what every successful sales rep should aim for.
Let’s get to the logic behind the sequenced type of outreach. When it comes to the sequence we feel that (if done right) is something that you have to do in order to be successful in outreach. At the same time, it’s going to teach new guys to not blast their prospects through all the outreach channels at once. You will do so… But with a smarter approach. We won't go into great detail about how to structure your sequence since it’s subjective. Depending on the outreach channels you are using.
Example of B2B sequence:
Cold email (Day 1)
LinkedIn (Day 2)
Call (Day 4)
Cold email follow-up (Day 5)
LinkedIn follow-up (Day 7)
Call (Day 10)
Here's an example of what the outreach machine looks like when combined with proper sequence-based outreach. Providing you with enough room to customize. Feel free to adjust it based on your needs and experience what works best for you.
Add More Volume
Now that you have acquired all the tools and created the sequence you prefer. It’s time to increase the volume. Volume ultimately is what is going to separate the average outreach system from one that brings results.
When it comes to outreach machine you always want to ensure that the quality of your outreach doesn't decline while scaling it up. This as a result will allow you to have a “less attractive offer” but still achieve results because you are doing it at a larger scale. Think about having both an attractive offer and volume. We both know what the results of that are.
How Do We Add More Volume?
Summary of already mentioned above.
Cold emails
As we already mentioned you need to have multiple domains in your outreach sequence as well as in the warmup sequence. There is no magic. When it comes to domains and how many of them you can have. The answer is as many as you can afford.
Cold calling
Hardest one to scale. What you could experiment with is an autodialer and hiring someone else to make the calls for you. Not the most optimal way to pull this off but it will get work done. It completely depends on your offer and whether will you be able to outsource your calling.
Things are simple when it comes to LinkedIn but the limiting factors are going to be the number of accounts you have. The other factor to take into consideration is having a correct technical setup - proxies and profile browser. If you decide to create your AI-generated army our advice is to leave each LinkedIn account to age (2 - 3 weeks minimum) before doing anything from it.
By doing this you are removing the what-if factor that can happen if something goes wrong during the profile creation. Last step? Combine with Waalaxy to take care of boring stuff when it comes to LinkedIn. How many accounts of LinkedIn should you have? We suggest at least 2-3 accounts.
Ringless Voice Mails
Would argue it’s the easiest one to scale. Locate prospects → segment the list → personalize → outreach. Keep it simple and read the fully in-depth guide posted above.
Letters (Envelopes)
Again there is no reason to create a summary. The method is fairly simple and the principle is the same as with the ringless voice mails. The only thing you have to pay attention to is to look as genuine as possible while doing it. Remember you are targeting moms and pops shops which are specific in a certain way.
Text Messaging (SMS)
Something you will be able to easily scale with the Close and relevant tools. Add in the phone number based on the geographical location you want to reach out to and start sending your text messages. Important to mention that deliverability plays a part in SMS outreach. Similar to the cold emails (domains). Not going into details on SMS deliverability. But you can't spam with one number without consequences.
When it comes to WhatsApp and Viber there are multiple apps allowing you to spam the hell out of your prospects. But we didn’t personally test any and that’s the reason why we are not posting links.
Other Socials (Instagram, Twitter, Facebook)
You need a similar setup to LinkedIn to pull this off. You will have multiple aged social accounts. Separate profile-based browsers, and a good list of proxies that will ensure you don’t get your accounts banned. The great thing about this is that you can outsource it to your VAs with minimal SOP.
Final advice?
Don’t overthink it too much. Start small and build on top of that. 9-5 sales reps know what we are talking about. It’s easy to get overwhelmed at the start. Two outreach channels in your system for the start will be enough. After you get experience start adding more and scale it. Plus don’t forget to test out what works for your offer - different niches have different needs. You got this.
Find email addresses for your cold outreach - Findymail - affiliate
Check out our list of approved products to make your life easier
You mention both Waalaxy & Phantombuster when it comes to automating LinkedIn Outreach? Care to explain the difference between the two?
To keep it simple
Waalaxy for outreach & connections. It's a cleaner-looking, more practical, and cheaper tool.
Phantom for specific LinkedIn scraping example - LinkedIn groups. But you can also do outreach & connections with it.
Meaning both tools have almost identical use cases when it comes to LinkedIn outreach. The great thing about Phantom is that with one account you can do many things not just LinkedIn. But it will make it more expensive in the long run.
EDIT: Waalaxy is a cheaper option if you are going on a long term contract and volume. Otherwise, you are better off with Phantom.