From March 2020 to September 2020, I didn’t close a single deal. I made exactly €0.

In today’s newsletter, I’ll share why, how I got back to closing, and what you can learn from my experience.

The first quarter of 2020 was going pretty well. I had closed a few 5-figure deals, mostly from referrals. I wasn’t prospecting at all, and I was convinced business would keep coming without much effort.

As you know, March 2020 triggered a worldwide panic and all the opportunities I had been working on got paused, and eventually cancelled. I was left without pipeline, and I had to start everything from scratch.

In march 2020, I learned one thing:

You should always be prospecting.

No matter your job title, SDR, AE, CSM, if you’re an individual contributor, you cannot ever stop prospecting.

You may find yourself in a situation where your pipeline is massive, and you think you won’t ever need to prospect again. You may have an assigned SDR, or inbound leads thrown at you daily.

This never lasts. Your SDR ends up being promoted, your inbound leads dry out, and you’re left without any opportunity to work on. When that happens (like it did for me), the landing is brutal. For me, it translated into a 6 months slump, and immense self-doubt.

Slumps happen to all of us. And you are more likely to encounter them in a tough economic times. Here’s how I got out of the last one:

Step 1: Set a survival goal

Forget your stretch goals and President’s Club Caribbean trip. When you’re in a slump, your goal is to get out of it quickly enough so you don’t end up fired.

You’re in survival mode.

For me, it meant having enough cash to pay my basic expenses (think salary, website hosting, email marketing, and LinkedIn premium). I cancelled my co-working contract, and I moved back into my living room.

I compared that number with the cash in my bank account, and it gave me my survival goal.

If I can reach it, I’ll live another day, if I don’t, I’ll start looking for a job, if I make more, I can start building my business again.

Step 2: Create a prospecting routine

Now most people stop at setting goals. But without a clear, daily action plan, you’re going nowhere.

I took this survival number and converted it into a daily prospecting target. This is when I came up with the Sales Process Calculator. I found out that finding and adding 5 new prospects per day would get me there.

Then I put a recurring prospecting blocker every morning from 08:00 to 09:00. During this hour, I would:

• start with follow-ups

• find 5 new prospects

• contact them

To this day, I’m still following this routine and prospecting every weekday morning.

Step 3: Stop listening to your inner voice

These 6 months of slump were mentally exhausting. At the beginning, I kept playing doomsday scenarios in my head. What if I didn’t make it? What if I would never book another meeting? What if I couldn’t ever find a new customer.

But instead of focusing on these negative thoughts, I followed my daily prospecting routine. I kept showing up every day, and kept executing the plan. At times it was hard (ask my wife), but things started slowly moving after a few weeks.

I also started collaborating with Skip Miller, and systemized my LinkedIn content production. As a result, my first few deals came in, and I started being recognized on LinkedIn for sharing my journey.

In conclusion, these tough 6 months forced me to pivot, develop strategic partnerships, and move my business online.

And if you’re worried about selling into a recession, I suggest joining Skip Miller, Tom Latourette, and I on the 7th of July 4:30PM CEST.

We’ll talk about why selling in a recession requires a mindset change, how to identify opportunities in a challenging economic environment, and we’ll share tactical tips to qualify and get decisions without delay.

Hope to see you there.

Cheers,

Thibaut

In today’s newsletter, I’m going to share 9 things you should do when starting a new sales job.

If you’re an SDR or an AE, there’s no way around prospecting, even if your new manager promised you wouldn’t need to build your own pipeline. Being able to bring your own opportunities will make you stand out, and help you keep that job you worked so hard to get.

Unfortunately, outbound prospecting is insanely complicated to get right from the get go.

It’s so complicated because it requires a structured approach.

Most salespeople are struggling with outbound because it takes so much time to produce consistent results, and as a consequence:

• They get frustrated by the lack of replies

• They prospect in burst instead of doing it daily

• They give up after a few days of effort

But there’s something you can do about it.

Here’s how, step by step:

Step 1: Build a clear Ideal Customer Profile

An Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) is a simple representation of the type of customers you’d like to go after. I teach salespeople to create a matrix with the type of companies, and the type of job title they would typically go after.

Mine looks like this:

In today’s newsletter, I’m going to share the exact steps you can follow to improve your messages and get more replies.

Writing clear cold messages (on LinkedIn or email) is essential if you want to get replies and book meetings. You’ll get the attention of your prospects, get them to read your message, and get replies as a result.

Unfortunately, most salespeople are struggling to write compelling copy. They understand their prospects’ problems, but they cannot communicate about them efficiently.

Their copy sucks because they follow cookie-cutter templates

We’ve all used them at some point. And these templates do not work because:

• They are way too long

• Everyone is using them

• They are plain and boring

• They are product and feature centric

But don’t worry. There are 4 simple steps you can follow to create your own templates and get more replies.

Here’s how, step by step:

Step 1: Find a big problem

If you can’t find a big problem, you won’t be able to start meaningful conversations with your prospects.

The big problem is the main issue your solution is solving for your customers. For example, my customers (VPs of Sales) have issues getting their teams to generate outbound pipeline consistently. They are fed with cushy inbound leads, and when times are tough, they starve because marketing budgets are down.

There can be more than one big problem you solve. Build a list of these problems and be as descriptive as possible.

Step 2: List precise symptoms

Having a big problem is often not enough. You may find that your problem is too vague to resonate with your prospects.

A good way to solve that is to list visible symptoms of the problem, just like a doctor would do. In the example of my VPs of Sales having issues getting their teams to generate outbound pipeline consistently, here are obvious symptoms:

• SDRs are not reaching their activity metrics

• AEs are complaining about having to prospect

• SDRs rely heavily on automation

• SDRs aren’t using the sales tools at their disposal

And I could go on forever. The idea is to create a list of visible symptoms of the big problem.

Step 3: Use these symptoms in your copy

Now that you know what the symptoms are, you can easily integrate these symptoms in your copy. Here’s an example of how I would integrate the examples above:

• How are you preventing your SDRs from not reaching their activity metrics?

• How do you deal with AEs complaining about having to prospect?

• How do you prevent SDRs from relying heavily on automation?

• How do you avoid SDRs not using the sales tools at their disposal?

As you can see, I always start with “How do you avoid/prevent” and give the symptom. It’s an easy way to show your understanding of your prospects’ problems.

Step 4: Tease a resource to sooth their symptoms

If you’ve done your job correctly, you should have the attention of your prospects. Now is the time to tease a resource to help sooth the symptom.

I wrote a blog post about this a few weeks ago, but here’s the summary:

1. Find a blog post/podcast from your marketing team

2. Find out what problem it solves for your prospects

3. Summarize your findings in a quick video

4. Add 2 call-to-actions

5. Pitch the resource in your sequence

Here’s how a cold message would look like with the VP of Sales example:

“Fred, noticed you recently liked the post of Mary about 10 innovative SDR metrics to track in 2022.

Quick one: How are you preventing your SDRs from not reaching their activity metrics?

If you’re interested, I have a quick resource to share on how you can help your SDRs build a simple prospecting routine.

Interested in grabbing it?”

And that’s my guide to getting replies with cold messaging.

TL;DR:

1. Find a big problem

2. List precise symptoms

3. Use these symptoms in your copy

4. Tease a resource to sooth their symptoms

And if you’re interested in grabbing my course on writing cold outreach that get you replies, you can pre-order it for €79 instead of €99.

In this week’s newsletter, I’m going to show you how you can use a graph to catch the attention of your prospects, and get replies.

Great prospecting is about starting conversations, and to do that, you need to get replies. Using a graphical representation of a problem is a simple way to stand out, and start a conversation.

Unfortunately, most SDRs I meet do not know how to represent their prospects’ problem visually.

They don’t do it because they have no idea what problem they are solving for their customers.

When reaching out to prospects, SDRs typically:

• Write long emails

• Share case studies

• Talk about their solution’s features

• Ask for meetings without adding value in exchange

But don’t worry, I’m going to show you exactly how to stop doing that.

Here’s how, step by step:

Step 1: Identify a key problem of your prospect

Prospects typically reply to cold outreach when they think you can solve a problem for them. The best way to show your understanding of a problem is to write about symptoms.

For example, I talk to a lot of VPs of Sales and CROs. They are evaluated on their forecasting accuracy. If their team’s performance is way off for a few quarters in a row, their jobs are on the line.

An early indicator of a forecasting accuracy gap is a U-shaped pipeline. The team has a lot of early-stage opportunities, a lot of late-stage opportunities, but a lot less in between.

Step 2: Create a visual representation of this problem

Now that I have a clear idea of the symptoms I want to focus on, I’ll create a visual representation of the problem.

I like using pie charts or column charts as they are simple ways to represent data.

In my example above, I’ll open an Excel spreadsheet, create 5 sales process stages, and add some dummy data to reflect the problem. I then end up with a graph like the one below:

This week, I’m going to show you a simple strategy to book meetings with LinkedIn voice notes.

Voice notes on LinkedIn are incredibly powerful. Most reps do not know they exist, and including them in your outreach strategy will instantly boost your reply rate.

Unfortunately, dropping voice notes on LinkedIn is harder than it looks.

You will feel insanely uncomfortable at first

Most people who have tried LinkedIn voice notes fail because of the following reasons:

• They don’t know what to say

• They sound super stressed

• They speak without clear intention

• They do not finish with a question

But don’t worry, I’m going to show you how you can fix that.

Here’s how, step by step:

Step 1: Know how to send voice notes on LinkedIn

Voices notes are hidden. If you go on LinkedIn with your computer, you won’t be able to send one.

The first step is to download the LinkedIn app on your mobile phone. Be it iOS or Android, you’ll have access to this functionality (if your OS is not too old).

Keep in mind that you can only send voice notes to people you are connected with (1st degree connection). Head to the messaging section, locate the person you want to contact, and look for a small microphone icon (like below):

Sales is a profession filled with clichés. From movies like The Wolf of Wall Street to Glengarry Glen Ross, most people think we’re money-thirsty, always grinding, sharks.

Sales, and prospecting in particular, is not about hard work.

It’s about consistency. About showing up every day and tackling repetitive, boring tasks.

It’s like a gym workout. If you work out for a week and stop, you’ll get no results. If you show up every day for months, you’ll create a habit, and you’ll see compounding results over time.

In today’s newsletter, I’m going to show you how to build that prospecting routine.

Let’s dive in.

1. Define your cruising altitude:

Prospecting without knowing how many people to contact daily is a recipe for failure.

There’s a simple way to fix that. Start by figuring out what’s your target. Maybe you need to book a certain amount of meeting, or your need to generate opportunities. Then, get a rough estimate of your meeting rate and reply rate.

You’ll be able to convert your target into a number of prospects you need to contact. Just divide this by the number of days you’ll be working in that period and you have your daily activity.

You can use my Sales Process Calculator to do what I did above.

2. Build a prospecting ritual

Rituals are incredibly important in sales. We have weekly sales meetings, offsites, sales kickoffs, and president clubs.

But the most important ritual is often forgotten: a prospecting block. Block 30-60 minutes every day at the same time. You can add as many prospecting blocks as you want, based on the effort you need to reach your cruising altitude.

Most reps do not protect their times and end up dragged into useless meetings (often from their bosses). They end up with no pipeline, they prospect like crazy for a few days, only to finish burnt out.

Here’s how my prospecting schedule looks like:

Today I’m going to show you how to generate opportunities with decision-makers (Above The Line buyers as we call them with the ProActive Selling methodology).

You will discover the exact playbook I used to get a 39% reply rate from VPs of Sales and CROs, and how I got 75% of them to join an online roundtable I organized.

Unfortunately, most SDRs do not try this tactic because it looks a lot more complicated than it is.

The prospecting tactics you use today won’t work tomorrow

When I see SDRs prospecting, they are just copying existing tactics without ever updating them.

• They use the same scripts as everyone else.

• They use the same old channels.

• They never try new tactics.

I’m going to share how you can avoid these traps and use a new play that actually works.

Here’s how, step by step:

Step 1: Plan a 45 minute online roundtable

Gathering business leaders of a similar industry is a simple way to create value. They love exchanging with peers and measuring how they compare with others.

You can block 45 to 60 minutes 4 weeks from now, so you’ll have enough time to prospect and gather participants.

Here’s an example of a simple roundtable agenda:

• Intro (5 min)

• Survey results (5 min)

• Roundtable (30)

• Wrap up (5 min)

Step 2: Build a survey to send to the participants

The problem with most roundtables is the content. Without guidance, it gets super boring, and participants often decide to skip it, even if they said they would attend.

To avoid that, you can create a simple multiple choice survey with the following questions:

• How was your {previous quarter performance} vs your plan?

• What are you implementing for {next quarter} and beyond?

• How are you {current quarter goals} vs {previous quarter goals}?

• What are you hiring plans for {next quarter} and beyond?

• What’s your biggest risk for {next quarter}?

Feel free to add any relevant question for your industry, as well as collecting data that will make the roundtable more interesting.

Step 3: Build a sequence to invite decision-makers to the roundtable

Now that you have your roundtable and survey concept, you just need to create a few touchpoints to invite your prospects.

Here’s an example of the latest sequence I have used for a sales leader roundtable:

A common myth in our profession is that the latest, shiniest prospecting tools are critical to beat our competition and book more meetings.

If you’ve been in sales for a while, you know there are countless tools to help us do our job better. From CRMs to sequencers, to AI-driven lead research tools, there are thousands of options to help us start more conversations. I cannot think of another profession with more tools for each part of the job.

And this is wrong because it takes the focus away from doing what really matters.

Prospecting tools are just tools.

Most SDRs I work with have a hard time reaching their targets, even when they have the latest, most comprehensive sales enablement tech stack.

They come up to me and show their 16 touchpoint sequence, their automated follow ups, and their massive lead lists. They mention video prospecting tools they have access to, they play with personalized Gifs, or even think of launching a TikTok channel to create content on LinkedIn.

The problem?

They put all their energy on trying all the tools in their toolbox, and they forget to focus on what actually matters when prospecting.

Nail the basics instead.

The first thing you can do to reach your targets is to understand all the concrete actions that will lead you to booking a meeting.

First, understand who you’re going after, and what kind of problem your solution is solving for them. When it’s done, look for prospects where they hang out. LinkedIn is a great place to start.

When you’ve identified your leads, do some research to find a trigger and add relevance to your outreach.

Then, build a sequence with precise touchpoints, a set cadence, and exit criteria (prospect replied or didn’t reply after a set amount of touchpoints).

Finally, determine how many prospects you need to contact daily in order to reach your meeting targets, and execute every day.

Here are 3 tips and resources to help you do just that:

Tip #1: Break down your targets into daily activity. How many meetings do you need to book this month? What’s your meeting rate? What’s your reply rate? If you cannot answer these questions, go check my Sales Process Calculator.

Tip #2: Have a pre-defined prospecting sequence. Do you have a clear sequence with follow-ups and impactful messaging? Check my Ultimate LinkedIn Outreach Sequence.

Tip #3: Execute every day. How’s your prospecting routine looking like? Do you have a predictable system to generate meetings? Go check my New Outreach System.

Salespeople who believe their tech stack will make a difference end up missing their targets and losing confidence in their ability.

Master your craft first, add prospecting tools second.

Cheers,

Thibaut

That’s all for this week. 1 simple prospecting tip.

And if you’re interested in diving deeper into this topic, I’m doing a free webinar with SuperOffice.

I’ve been invited to share the exact system I use to book 1 meeting every 50 minute of prospecting. It’s on Tuesday the 26th of 09:00 Berlin time.

Join for free here.

Cheers,

Thibaut

If you follow these 4 steps, you should easily avoid missing your sales targets.