In today’s newsletter, I’ll share why I think automation killed conversations. If you’re using automation to book outbound meetings, and you’re barely getting replies, this will help.
Automation is a great way to save time, and scale your outreach, but salespeople often use it in a way that hurts their performance. They create a sequence, add a bunch of templates, hit start, and get no replies.
Here’s what I think about that.
The first automation tool I used was Yesware.
It was in 2015.
At the time, you could create a sequence, enroll prospects, and your entire prospecting was on autopilot. It was a great time.
But salespeople abused these automation tools. Under the pressure of shareholders interested in multiplying their investments’ valuations, sales teams started sending thousands of outbound messages everyday.
Prospects got tired of being bombarded with crappy cold outreach messages. They got overwhelmed. They stopped paying attention.
Then came additional spam filters from email service providers, daily limits, and now email is barely usable for outbound prospecting.
If the situation I described above is familiar, you’re not alone. Here’s what you can do about it:
Step 1: Automate what you can
Take a step back and put yourself in the shoes of your prospects. Imagine being on the receiving end of a cookie-cutter outbound sequence. What’s your first reflex?
I personally scan all the emails, LinkedIn messages, and texts I receive and I can say within a second if it’s automated or not. 100% of people who send me automated messages end up blocked and in my spam filter, just like Lynette:
So, what can you do about it?
It’s simple; stop automating email sending. Use automation to remind you of your tasks, but for nothing else. I personally use Amplemarket to help my with my prospecting, and the only automation is a workflow that adds a follow-up task after 2 business days if the prospect didn’t reply.
Step 2: Do your homework, every day
Now that you have a list of follow-up tasks, you can use your brain for what it’s been designed for; make connections between the data you have on your prospects and the problems your solution solves.
For example, if you sent a connection request to a prospect as the first step of your sequence, and they didn’t reply, you can go back to their profile, and see if they accepted the request.
Scroll through their profile, and look for triggers you can use to catch their attention. When you find a good trigger, use a catchy, short message to get their attention.
Step 3: Alternate channels
Getting replies is all about standing out in the mailbox of your prospects. When everyone is using emails, use LinkedIn. When everyone is using LinkedIn, use your phone. When everyone is using the phone, try WhatsApp.
The best way to get replies from prospects is to use multiple channels in your prospecting sequence. Combine LinkedIn, email, WhatsApp, cold calls so you can catch prospects where they hang out the most.
For example, a lot of people are not active on LinkedIn. They have a profile, they log in once in a while, but they won’t reply to the best cold outreach if it’s only on LinkedIn. Keep trying new channels and new media to get noticed and to start conversations.
Prospecting has never been about scale and automation. Prospecting is about starting conversations, one person at a time.
Hope this helps.
Cheers,
Thibaut Souyris
P.S. When you’re ready, here are 3 ways I can help you:
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