On Monday I posted a screen capture of an email conversation I had with a prospect. This post sparked controversy and some interesting conversations. Someone even sent me a direct message to tell me that my comments on the post made me look like a prick!

So I thought I would tell you more about this specific deal and the tactic I used to avoid wasting time with a tire kicker.

Some context

A few weeks ago, a director of sales contacted me to ask if I could run a training session on selling into EMEA. As I have some experience doing that, I proposed to book a quick chat so I could learn more about his initiative and understand how I could help.

We hopped on a quick discovery call and I identified what caused this person to chat with me, what kind of outcome they expected, and when they thought they could make a decision.

At the end of the call, I suggested next steps and gave some homework assignment to the prospect. He came back to me with a list of requirements and topics to focus on.

We booked a second call so that we could build a plan together and prepare an offer. At the end of the call, I told the prospect that I needed to understand who else was involved in making a decision, otherwise it would be hard to justify the amount I proposed for the session.

He told me that he would deal with this internally, and he even refused to share the name and job title of the person involved in the decision. First red flag.

A few weeks later (second red flag), I received an email from him asking to build a business cases with direct questions from the management. So naturally, I replied that I would be happy to do that, but I would need to chat with the people who asked the questions.

And third red flag, my prospect refused and said his boss was too busy to jump on a call. So, instead of building the business case and work for free, I replied that I couldn’t help if the boss didn’t want to speak with me.

As you’d expect the deal stalled, and I’m considering it lost.

Why did I do that?

Now I see you coming. You’re thinking that I was dumb to let an opportunity go like that, when I could have simply built a business case to get the deal through.

Except I had no guarantee that the business case was needed to close this deal. During our email exchanges, the prospect asked me if I was really strict on price, because it would be challenging to justify it. What I saw coming was a lengthy email negotiation, without even knowing who’s calling the shots.

I pushed back to test if the deal was serious, because I prefer focusing on serious opportunities, instead of wasting time on a deal with so many red flags. Thanks to my prospecting system, I’m able to create enough opportunities to walk away from “maybes” and focus on solid opportunities.

In conclusion

My tactic to test the energy of a deal is simple. If people cannot intro me to people who make a decision, then I refuse to invest more time in the deal. I’m happy to work with them if they do the work and come back to me, but I need to speak with all the people involved in the decision.

I do it because:

• they have different initiatives
• they expect different outcomes
• they can identify more use cases and therefore increase my deal size

As a solopreneur, my time is limited. Pushing back when prospects cannot intro me to their bosses is my conscious choice to work strategically, and to stop acting as an order taker.

Thoughts? Reply to this email to keep the conversation going.

A few weeks ago, a prospect asked me to send him an offer. Pretty reasonable ask I hear you say. I’ve been sending hundreds of offers during my sales careers, but I barely closed 30% of them.

There are many possible reasons for that, but here are a few that I have identified:

• Prospects ask for offers to get rid of pushy salespeople – many salespeople believe that sending an offer will get them closer to closing a deal.
• Offers are used as education documents – an offer should be a validation document. You build with your prospect. If they’re not the ones building it, they may not understand it fully.
• Offers are great ways for prospects to pitch internally – prospects love to see a ton of details so they can pitch features and benefits to their bosses. Except their bosses don’t care about that.

As a result, I have decided to systematically refuse to send offers to my prospects.

Here’s what I do instead:

1. Push back

When prospects ask for an offer, they either try to get rid of us or to take control of our deals. As we, salespeople, tend to be fairly optimistic, we often interpret this ask as a positive indication about the health of our deals.

Instead of accepting right away, here’s what you can say:

“I would love to send an offer, but it feels like it’s a bit too early to do so.”

2. Suggest your next steps

Now that you have their attention, come up with your plan. If you want to be proactive, you can ask for an introduction to their colleagues.

Here’s an example of a sentence I like to use to do just that:

“What would really help would be for me to speak with one or two reps in your team to understand how they are currently prospecting, and what kind of challenges they are faced with. I’ll then be able to come back with a detailed plan on how I think I could help. Would it be a bad idea?”

3. Give them some homework assignment

If your deal is healthy, you shouldn’t face much pushback. Prospects that are engaged in a deal will work towards closing it. If the deal isn’t qualified, you may face some pushback, which is a great indication to cut the call short or call their bluff.

The single best way to test if a deal is qualified is to involve prospects in your process, and give them some homework assignment.

Here’s how I do it:

“OK, then I need you to intro me to these two reps and set a follow-up session so I can share my findings.

What do you think?”

When you finish your calls with this simple push back, a few things happen:

• You test your relationship and the involvement of your prospects with the deal
• You stand out from all the other “Yes Man” salespeople who send tons of offers but never close any
• You set clear next steps and talk to more people in the sales organization

I tested this tactic on my last few deals and I have had tons of introductions and deals picking up energy.

So remember, when prospects ask for an offer:

• push back
• suggest your next steps
• give them some homework assignment

You’ll understand if your deals is legit, you’ll get prospects working with you, and you’ll close deals faster.

It’s almost the end of February and most of you should have received your targets for the month/quarter/year. No matter if you’re an SDR, an AE, or managing a team of reps, it’s always a good idea to have a clear, actionable plan to reach your targets.

In this quick article, I’m going to show how to build that plan, step-by-step. Our goal is to find how many initial prospect meeting we need to run, assuming we have zero pipeline.

1. Set a yearly/quarterly/monthly goal

The first step is really simple. Just go and find out how much you’re supposed to close, or how many meetings/opportunities you’re supposed to generate. If you’re an AE, you’ll most likely have a yearly target, divided in quarters or months. If you’re an SDR, your targets will most likely me quarterly or monthly.

When you know your big number, divid it to match it with the period you’re evaluated on. For example, a €1.000.000 yearly target, evaluated quarterly = €250.000.

2. Set your average deal size and find out how many deals you need to close

If you’re new to the job, go check your CRM to find out the average deal size of your colleagues. If you have some experience already, use historical data, or known assumptions based on the pricing of your solution.

In our example above, €25.000 average deal size -> 10 deals to close per quarter, 40 for the year.

In January 2022, I booked 8 outbound meetings for 400 minutes of prospecting. That’s 1 meeting every 50 minutes.

Here’s how I did it:

1. Blocked 20 minutes to prospect daily

At the beginning of 2021, I decided to put a 30 minutes blocker at the beginning of every week day. It’s what Skip Miller calls a Power Hour. No one can book me, no one can disturb me as I’m 100% focused on getting rid of my prospecting tasks.

In 2022, I managed to reduce that slot to 20 minutes. It’s the first thing I do in the morning, no matter how busy my day is.

I start my day with this task because I know I will skip it if it’s not baked into my routine. It’s a bit like going to the gym. It’s not the most comfortable and enjoyable task, but it’s what you need to do to stay in shape (or generate opportunities).

2. Started with follow-ups

I always start my day with the same ritual. I pour my coffee, I open my computer, and I start bumping messages to prospects in my sequences. It typically takes 5 minutes as I use one single sequence.

And yes, the 5 minutes include LinkedIn messages, videos, and LinkedIn voice notes. I always use the same asynchronous messages, which can be dropped in any channel or media.

You know I love prospecting with videos.

As of early February 2022, I have a 36.13% reply rate and a 23.26% meeting with outbound. Every single sequence I use (outbound or inbound) includes a prospecting video.

And it’s a lot simpler than you think. Anyone with a webcam and a microphone can be successful with the right approach. You just need to get rid of your fear of video prospecting, and what best than a simple framework to help you do just that.

Here are the 5 steps I use to shoot and send prospecting videos:

1. Build your script

Have you ever tried shooting a prospecting video, only to freeze because you don’t know what to say after hitting the record button? If you said yes, you’re not alone.

Most reps I work with are faced with this terrifying feeling when shooting their first videos. The best way to solve this problem is to use a loose script.

Here’s the framework I use:

Trigger: A relevant piece of information about your prospect. It helps prospects answer the question: “Did this person do some research about my problems?”

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

Question: A question focused on the negative outcome of a situation. I recommend starting with snippets like: “How are you preventing/avoiding”, “What are you doing to avoid/prevent”.

Example: “I’m curious, how do you avoid losing half of your participants midway because of boring hybrid events?”

Teaser: A resource to help your prospects solve the problem you have uncovered in the question you asked.

Example: “If you’re into it, I can share a 3-step checklist on how to run engaging events with hybrid crowds.”

CTA: A close-ended question to get the prospect to reply.

Example: “Interested?”

In the first years of my sales career, I had no clue what inbound leads looked like. The only opportunities I had were through outbound prospecting.

Fast forward to today, I have almost 18.000 LinkedIn followers, a mailing list of 2.000+ people, and over 1.900 podcast downloads every months.

I get a ton of meeting through inbound leads.

Yet I prospect every single weekday.

I do it because it’s my business’s life insurance. I can’t control the outcome of my content and marketing initiatives, but I can control the outcome of my prospecting sequence.

On average, I book a meeting every 25 prospects I contact, which makes calculations easy.

If I need 2 meetings a week, I’ll contact 50 people a week. If I need 20, I’ll contact 500.

My prospecting routine is a trusty humming engine and I just need to keep fuelling it with prospects. It’s generating a steady flow of conversations, which in turn generate opportunities and business.

If you’re interested in building your own prospecting engine, then check my New Outreach System.

You’ll find out how many prospects you need to contact daily, how to get more replies, and how to navigate conversations to book more meetings.

I’m also working on a levels concept to help you create the V1 of your prospecting system, and then upgrade it as you get more familiar with your prospects’ problems. We’ll cover emails, video prospecting, advanced prospecting routines, and much more.

And today, you can get the system for €99 instead of €149. You pay once, and you’ll keep getting upgrades. The price will go up as the value of the program increases, but you’ll get access to everything at no additional cost.

Grab it today for €99 with the code “week3email”.

Price goes back to €149 in 24 hours.

If you have a marketing team, then I bet you’re missing out on opportunities to use their content to start outbound conversations and book meetings.

In “traditional” tech businesses, marketing departments are responsible for Marketing Qualified Leads (MQLs). They come in the form of webinar leads, eBook downloads, or demo requests.

And these webinars, eBooks, podcasts, blog posts can be turned into killer outbound prospecting assets. Here’s how:

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

Look for the resources page on your website. If your company is serious, you’ll have tons of long-form blog posts, some webinar recordings (often gated), and downloadable content.

For example, if you go to my website, you’ll find a blog, some videos, some downloadable content, and my podcast.

I recently did a podcast interview with a founder who books outbound meetings using user research as an excuse. That’s a great piece of content for VPs/Heads of Sales Development, who happen to be my prospects.

2. Find out what problem it solves for your prospects

One of the main issues I see with cold outreach sequences is the focus on features/USPs instead of problems.

Now that you have a good piece of content, your job is to flip it so it focuses on problems instead of solutions.

In sales, we hunt for problems, and leading with one is a great way to catch someone’s attention and start a conversation.

In the example above, the podcast title is “How to use user research as a prospecting tactic”. The problem it solves is “building a prospecting sequence when you don’t have a clear product-market fit, with Jack Lancaster”.

3. Summarize your findings in a quick Tolstoy video

The podcast with Jack is packed with nuggets of value, but it’s 35 minutes long. No one has time to listen to it.

So instead of sending it as is in my prospecting sequence, I’ll record a quick Tolstoy video where I talk about the problem and list the key points of the podcast.

Here are the 4 key points in my user research sequence example:

• Have a clear ICP
• Know your prospects’ problems
• Lead with these problems
• Ask if a user research call would make sense

I’m simply curating a long resource and making it more accessible to my prospects.

4. Add 2 call-to-actions

Now that the video is ready, add a call-to-action leading to the resource you just summarized, and a call-to-action to your calendar link.

This will help intrigued prospects explore the resource in details and/or book a call with you.

Some prospects won’t watch the video, and this is fine. Some will be interested and will listen to the podcast. Some will even reply to the video or book a meeting.

5. Pitch the resource in your sequence

Now don’t include this video in your prospecting sequence. Most reps are adding links to their email/LinkedIn texts, thinking prospects will stop everything they do to click on them.

In most people’s minds, a link in an unsolicited message equals a cyber threat, or someone trying to sell them something.

Use your copy to tease the resource instead. I recommend using a problem-centric question, followed by a teaser.

For example:

“Mary, curious to know how you’re preventing your reps from turning people off with pushy cold outreach. If you’re into it, I have a quick resource on how they can use user research to get a 38% reply rate.”

And don’t forget one thing:

Outbound prospecting is about starting conversations, and leading with problems is the shortest path to meetings.

And if you need a simple framework to create outbound prospecting sequences that get a 38% reply rate and an 11% meeting rate on LinkedIn, go check the New Outreach System. It’s been purchased by more than 100 salespeople, and I’m bumping the price to €149 in 24 hours.

I’m working on a levels concept to help you create the V1 of your prospecting system, and then upgrade it as you get more familiar with your prospects’ problems. We’ll cover emails, video prospecting, advanced prospecting routines, and much more.

And you can access all of it for €79 instead of €149 in the next 24 hours.

2022 is in full motion and I have recently discovered a prospecting tactic that allowed me to book 4 meetings for Tolstoy. It’s inspired by one of my students, Jack Lancaster.

Jack is the co-founder of Spoke.ai and a product guy by nature. He has been working at N26 for a while, before launching d a few businesses successfully. Now he’s trying to help Product Managers share information across remote organizations.

He has decided to try user research as a trigger to get in touch with product managers, and book meetings with them. Here’s his tactic and how you can use it too:

1. Have a clear ICP

First thing to do is to understand who you’re trying to reach out to. I typically separate prospects into two categories:

• Above The Line Buyer (ATL): Fiscal buyers, typically decide/change budgets based on their key initiatives
• Below The Line Buyer (BTL): User buyers, typically own budgets and cannot go above without the ATL’s permission

For example, a CRO (ATL) of a €200M ARR SaaS won’t have the same problems as the Head of Sales Development (BTL) of a €10M ARR EdTech business.

2. Know your prospects’ problems

ATLs and BTLs have totally different problems and initiatives.

ATLs will typically worry about strategic problems and initiatives like risks, market shares, brand, or time. BTLs will focus on more specific problems like how to get a raise, how to avoid being fired, how to hire people fast enough, and so on.

For example, a CRO is worrying about reaching her €300M ARR target within 12 months, when a Head of Sales Development is freaking out about his +30% opportunities quota.

These goals come with a series of problems and challenges to overcome.

3. Lead with these problems

Now that you know who to speak to, and what problems they care for, include the exact wording you found in your outreach. Be as precise and descriptive as possible.

For example, I’ll ask the CRO what she’s doing to prevent sales reps from quitting when she announces that every one of them has to generate opportunities through outbound.

For the Head of Sales Development, I’ll ask how he’s planning on reaching his goals with a team of SDRs who only deals with inbound leads.

4. Ask if a user research call would make sense

Finally, ask if they would be interested in telling you more about these challenges, because you may have something of interest for them.

For example, I’ll write:

“If any of these issues sound familiar, would it be a bad idea to hop on a quick chat so I can give you insights on how to mitigate them?”

And I insist on the “would it be a bad idea”. It’s a negative reversing sentence that works extremely well in cold outreach.

In summary:

• Know your ICP
• Know their problems
• Lead with these problems
• Ask for a user research call

Be an aspirin, not a vitamin.

And if you need a simple framework to find your Ideal Customer Profile, find out what problems they are working on, and build your outreach sequence based on them, go check the New Outreach System. Use the code “week2email” on checkout to get a €20 discount.

2022 has officially started and I’m back in Berlin after 12 days of holiday. I completely shut down and paused my normal activities and routines, including my prospecting.

And getting back to it on Monday was challenging, to say the least. I was rusty, I didn’t really remember what I was supposed to say, and the quality of my outreach was down. But I still got 5 replies and booked one meeting.

Here are the 4 steps I took to get back to it, and you can do it too:

1. Acknowledged that I was rusty

I switched off on the 23rd of December to spend time with my family and enjoy some great food. I completely stopped posting on LinkedIn, prospecting, and taking calls. I was totally off.

So when I went back to it on Monday morning at 08:00, it was a struggle. I stopped using my prospecting muscle for a while, and I could feel it.

My prospecting videos weren’t fluid, I was stuttering when leaving voice notes, but I didn’t care. I just focused on executing, and repetition would get me back to my pre-holiday level in no time.

2. Started with follow-ups

As my last touchpoints were on the 23rd of December, I followed up with every prospect as if the cadence hadn’t been interrupted. I review my 6-step sequence structure, checked the content of each touchpoint, and followed up with the right one.

Don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t easy. I had lost the flow of words, I kept stuttering and I had to redo my prospecting videos a few times. In total, it took me 10 minutes (it normally takes around half of it when I’m working at normal speed).

3. Found 5 new prospects

I use 3 sources to find 5 interesting prospects on LinkedIn, every day:

• Profile viewers
• My post likes/comments
• Other people’s post likes/comments

As I hadn’t posted for 12 days, I only found 2 interesting prospects from my profile viewers. I captured them into my Outbound Prospecting List (more on that next week).

I then went to the last post I did on the 23rd of December, and luckily I found 3 interesting prospects. This task took me 15 minutes, which is again longer than normal.

4. Reached out to them

Finally, I quickly reviewed my prospecting scripts and engaged with these 5 news prospects.

It wasn’t nice to watch. It took me longer than before, I was confused and it felt like going back to the gym after a 2-week spring break (you know when everything cracks in your body…).

But after 4 days, I was back to my cruising altitude. This morning I started with my prospecting block and I was done in 20 minutes.

You can do it too. Your performance in Q1 will be determined by the pipeline you build in the next 3 – 4 weeks, so don’t spend too much time planning.

Start executing today.

And if you’re interested in building your prospecting routine for 2022, grab the New Outreach System for €59 instead of €79. Use the code “thursday20” on checkout.

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