Not all leads come to your door – sometimes, you must go and get them. That’s where outbound leads come in.
In contrast to inbound leads (where potential customers find you through content, SEO, or word of mouth), outbound leads are contacted actively through cold calls, emails, social media contact, or direct advertising.
Targeted contact
- 82% of customers are willing to sit down with salespeople who make initial contact.
- Cold emails still pay off – when aimed, they get 32% more responses than non-targeted contact.
- Great outbound businesses receive 50% more sales-ready leads than those using inbound alone.
Consulting with Sharné
Outbound, as opposed to inbound, means you’re prospecting new customers from external sources. They may not be problem-aware, so outbound leads often need more education and persuasion to switch to your product.
Here’s the thing about cold outreach to unaware prospects – you’re not just sharing info, you’re opening their eyes to possibilities they haven’t even considered. Your job? Take them on a revelation journey from “I didn’t know I had this problem” to “wait, this is actually costing me” to “this solution is exactly what I need.”
Since they’re not actively searching for solutions yet, your messaging needs to create that lightbulb moment first, then smoothly connect the dots to your offering as the obvious answer. It’s less about selling and more about enlightening them to a better way of operating they hadn’t imagined.
Turning strangers into customers
Before Salesforce became the CRM giant it is today, it was a fighting startup trying to break into a saturated market. They pioneered cold calling 2.0, a strategy that replaced old-school sales calls with highly targeted email outreach and followed up with warm calls. The result? A 300% increase in outbound sales conversion rates and establishing a billion-dollar business model.
In another instance, HubSpot is renowned for inbound marketing but does not overlook outbound. Through the integration of account-based marketing (ABM) and targeted outreach, they landed enterprise clients who would not have discovered them via inbound marketing alone. The blended strategy resulted in a 200% rise in enterprise deals in one year.
Let’s get personal
Challenge: One of the biggest concerns regarding outbound sales is coming across as pushy or intrusive. A flood of boilerplate sales messages will not work.
Resolution:
- Learn about your prospect’s business and pain points.
- Forget the script; have a conversation.
- Follow up with intent – 80% of sales require five or more follow-ups, yet most reps give up after one.
Be strategic
- Identify your ideal customer: Don’t spend time calling the wrong prospects.
- Use pain points and industry trends.
- Combine calls, emails, LinkedIn messages, and retargeting ads to get more done.
- Follow up strategically: Space out follow-ups and give value (e.g., case studies or analysis).
- Track and optimize: Keep an eye on response rates, refine messaging, and double down on what’s successful.
