Your sales cadence is the blueprint to every planned interaction with your leads. If nothing else, it gives you consistency in your follow-up process to determine if they’re a business opportunity, worth keeping on your marketing lists, or better off letting go. And as the average number of interactions needed for this has increased over the years, a cadence helps you measure their effectiveness and provide feedback for change.
So what should yours include in order to be successful? Here’s the skinny on what we’ve seen work (and what hasn’t):
What works: Establishing your buyer personas
You might think you can sell to anyone, but chances are you’ve got a target audience that should receive the bulk of your outreach. If you understand who’s a part of that audience and what motivates them, you’ve established your buyer personas.
Aren’t sure what yours are? No problem! Here’s some handy feedback on where to start.
What works: Focusing on email
Digital introductions will make up the core of your sales cadence because they’re less intrusive than cold calling. Leads are able to receive short, informative pieces of content from you that educate them on who you are and how you know their market, and keep you front of mind when they’re ready to buy.
What works: Automating your outreach
According to business.com, it takes an average of 7 interactions (or touchpoints) to get a lead’s attention, while an ideal cadence plans for 8-12. Based on that, and the number of leads you’ll have to vet, you’re probably thinking that’s gonna be a lot of emails. That’s right, Scoob, which is why we encourage using prospecting automation to make that process far more manageable.
What doesn’t work: You’re gonna need a bigger email
Don’t worry about cramming a ton of information into every message you send. That assumes a single email will grab your lead’s attention, prompt them to read it entirely, and solidify you in their memory. In reality, long prospecting emails are distracting, confusing, or simply a turnoff. A better bet would be to keep them around 4 sentences.
What doesn’t work: If you send it, they will come
A lead might respond after your first email, but that’s typically not the case. Remember what we said about interactions? That’s why you need to earn their trust by sending a series of relevant, engaging content that shows you aren’t gimmicky, and that you’re actively interested in earning their business.
What doesn’t work: Automation’s for closers
Email automation is great, but don’t expect it to close deals for you. You still need to ask leads for phone calls so you can vet them properly, and so they can fully trust who you claim to be as an organization. Pro tip: always send a calendar invite for your calls. It’s easy for leads to forget they’ve agreed to a discovery session.
Think you’ve got your own sales cadence pretty well established? If not, let us know by clicking on the link below to schedule a lead nurturing discussion.
