It’s nearly the end of 2021. I am heading back to Berlin tonight and I had some time this morning to do a retrospective of the last 12 months.

2021 has been a fantastic year, and here’s my list of top resources and wins:

Most downloaded free resource

• What: The Ultimate LinkedIn Outreach Sequence
• Downloads: 1.711
• Why: This simple 6-step sequence perfectly illustrates my outbound prospecting philosophy. It shows you how to write a connection request, how to use video and LinkedIn voice notes, and a simple framework I use to get a 38% reply rate and an 11% meeting rate.

Most purchased online training

• What: The New Outreach System
• Purchases: 75
• Why: As a student of the course shared, this course is “the missing link” if you’re in sales. With a 5-star rating, it’s a simple 90-minute resource to build a prospecting routine. Grab it for €59 with the code “2022”. (24 hours only)

Most downloaded podcast episode

• What: From founder-led sales to building a fast-growing tech sales org, with Frederic Krahforst and Tyrone Smith
• Downloads: 329
• Why: Pivoting from selling as a founder to building a team is a recurring challenge. Fred and Tyrone shared how they did it.

Most consulted blog post

• What: The ultimate guide to inside sales prospecting in 2020
• Views: 333
• Why: One of the only SEO-optimized blog posts I did. I guess writing with keywords actually works.

My proudest moment

• What: Being interviewed by Josh Braun on his podcast
• Why: Josh has always been a role model for me and being invited by him to come to speak on his podcast was something I never thought would happen.

Picture of the year

At the beginning of 2021, I decided to prospect every single weekday I was working. The year 2020 had been really challenging for my business, and I committed to outbound prospecting in order to make 2021 more successful.

2021 was my best year so far, and I didn’t expect such a simple habit to create the results it did.

Here are the stats of 216 days of prospecting:

1081 prospects contacted

When I started the year, I calculated my cruising altitude and found out that I needed to add 5 new prospects to my sequence every single day. With that number, I would be able to reach my targets.

It was relatively simple to find these 5 prospects every day, thanks to 3 main sources:

• People who visited my LinkedIn profile/like or commented on my posts
• People who reacted to thought leaders’ posts
• People who attended LinkedIn events

374 prospects replied (34.6% reply rate)

In order to increase my replies, I created a 4-step outreach sequence on LinkedIn. I added 2 email touchpoints mid-year and then finished with a 5-step sequence that looks like that:

• Step 1: LinkedIn connection request
• Step 2: Tolstoy video
• Step 3: LinkedIn voice note
• Step 4: Tolstoy video (with 3 video paths)
• Step 5: LinkedIn text

If you want to know how I structured each touchpoint, download my Ultimate LinkedIn Outreach Sequence.

53 meetings booked (14.2% meeting rate)

Most conversations I had didn’t lead to a meeting right away, but a good amount of prospects came back a few months later as inbound leads. I also had a lot of introductions and congratulations because people loved the creativity and relevance of my outreach.

And this was a key learning for 2021.

Prospecting is about starting conversations and proactively building relationships. When your goal is to get replies, you’ll end up having more meetings, more introductions, and more business.

But this requires building a prospecting routine and sticking to it. And if you need help building yours for 2022, go check The New Outreach System.

It’s €39 instead of €79 for the next 24 hours. Just use the code “almostchristmas” on checkout.

Cheers,
Thibaut

It’s been a few months since I discovered a new video prospecting tool called Tolstoy. Most of my last emails and LinkedIn posts have been about the use cases I have discovered while I was using the tool.

After a few exchanges with the co-founders Dov and Omer, we thought it would be a good idea to have me as an advisor. Here’s why:

I love the vision and execution of the team

I heard about Tolstoy for the first time in a coaching call I was having with one of my students. I went to the website and loved that the tool was free (it still is, but that won’t be the case forever).

The team is currently identifying the product/marketing fit and focusing on collecting data from different ICPs. They chose to keep the product free while they are doing that, which I find brilliant.

The word of mouth around the product is great and a lot of my students have reported great results using Tolstoy. A CSO even called me to tell me one of his SDRs booked her first meeting with a Tolstoy video!

Here are some examples of how salespeople love Tolstoy:

LinkedIn is filled with hidden features you can use to start conversations and create value for people who interact with you. A recent feature I have started using to do that is the “Away message”.

It’s normally intended to send an OOO message, but you can activate it to reply on your behalf when you’re away.

Here’s the one I use:

In 2021, I have managed to reach and maintain a 38% reply rate with my cold outreach. I have built a system to help me structure my prospecting routine and a key part of it is the copy I use in my touchpoints.

Here’s a framework I use all the time for asynchronous touchpoints.

Trigger

I start by finding a relevant piece of information about my prospect. It’s called a trigger and it helps prospects answer the question: “Did this person do some research about my problems?”

Here’s a list of my top 3 triggers:

• Like/comment on a post
• LinkedIn Event attendance
• Profile view

When I have found a relevant trigger, I reference it as the reason for my outreach.

For example: “Hey Mary, noticed you also liked Heather’s post about boring hybrid events.”

Question

Now that I have the attention of my prospects, I want to get them to reflect on a potential problem they have.

A good way to do that is to use an “away” question. It’s a question focused on the negative outcome of a situation.

It starts with snippets like: “How are you preventing/avoiding”, “What are you doing to avoid/prevent”.

For example: “How are you avoiding boring people to death with boring hybrid events?”

Teaser

If my prospects face the problem I mention, they will be interested in reading further.

That’s when I try to enable the Netflix effect.

Ever wondered why you keep binge-watching series on Netflix? It’s because they finish episodes with a cliffhanger. They create a tense situation and cut the episode right before the tension is dissipated.

You want to use the same tactic to get people curious to know more.

Call-To-Action

Finally, I propose a simple CTA to satisfy my prospects’ curiosity.

Note that I’m not asking complicated questions or proposing to meet. I’m not dropping a calendar link either.

I just asked a close-ended question.

For example: “Interested?”

Here’s an alternative example: