5 meetings/wk, 60% open rate, 20% CTR, 12% reply rate, $70k - $500k deal size

How many times do you follow up with sales prospects? Once…twice…never? For this newsletter, we interviewed the founder of a lead gen agency about how he uses a 17-touch prospecting campaign to get appointments with companies like Coors. In this post, we’ll outline his entire process so you can try it out for yourself.

*Background*

Justin Stephens's client is XYZ Automation (name hidden), a specialized robotics company that provides automation for conveyors, packaging, and palletizing systems specifically for the food and beverage industry. They create the machines that help move goods through the factory, get them packaged, and move them out the door to be delivered to distribution centers.

Ideal prospects: engineering managers and plant managers

Sales Cycle: 1yr.+

Deal Size: $70,000 - $500,000+

Handoff: Once the meeting is set, the sales rep takes over

*Campaign Strategy*

XYZ needs to get in front of engineering managers, plant managers, etc. of? Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) companies with large warehouses (Think: Kraft, Coors, Coca-Cola). With a long sales cycle and large deal size, lead generation is very important. Their salespeople have a long relationship-building process so getting a foot in the door as early as possible is critical.

Instead of a typical prospecting approach of 3 - 7 touches, He opts for 10 - 20 touches over 7 months.

To successfully build outbound campaigns, he asks himself 4 questions:

Who am I going to target?

What am I going to say?

How do I say it?

When am I going to contact them again?

*List Building*

To find prospects and build lists, Justin uses a variety of different tools, including LinkedIn Sales Navigator, Seamless, Zoominfo and niche online directories.

*Outbound Sequence*

One of his sequences goes as follows:

Part I:

1 - Email

2 - Email

3 - Email

Part II:

4 - Email

5 - Email

6 - Email

7 - Phone

8 - Postal Mail (Card)

9 - LinkedIn

10 - Postal Mail (Box)

11 - Phone

12 - Email

13 - LinkedIn

14 - Postal Mail (Card)

15 - Phone

16 - Email

17 - Postal Mail (Card)

If prospects engage with the first three emails (multiple opens or clicks) he will put them onto the second part of the sequence.

The goal of these touch points is to build a relationship and generate a response (not book a meeting). Going from stranger to meeting is a big leap. He’s looking to get people engaged first before getting them on the phone.

Justin uses Cleintly to send automated email sequences and hyper personalize messages with client images (e.g. putting their logo on a coffee mug or whiteboard in a picture)

*Email Copy*

Two rules - (1) Keep it simple and (2) stand out from the crowd

Format for writing emails:

- Simple and direct subject line

- Talk about their? problems (using industry buzz words)

- Ask an engaging question

Example:

Subject: pallets

I work with XYZ Automation. We specialize in automation in food and beverage.

Specifically, pick and place, stacking, packaging, palleting, and the conveyors that put it all together.

Do you have people setting up pallets by hand over and over? Is it hard to fill jobs on that? We help with that

Standing out:

He uses CoVideo to put videos of himself in outreach emails that he sends to his clients. Using this software he can do things like overlay their website onto the video. He has great success with this approach.

All in all his messages are direct, to the point, and relevant to the prospect.

*Results*

* Started in May 2020 - June 2020? -? Campaign Still Running as of July 2020

* Sent - 1,200 emails

* Open rate = 60%

* CTR - 20%

* 12% reply rate

* 17% bounce rate

* Meeting book rate - 4 to 5 qualified opportunities per

week

* Oppy size = $70,000 - $500,000

*Wrapping Up*

It’s important to understand that it’s necessary to tailor your approach and messaging depending on your market. For example, following up 17+ times may not be the right approach with a larger total addressable market (TAM) but in this case, it makes sense. Also, Justin mentioned that prospects in this market aren’t contacted by salespeople as often which leads to higher engagement rates and meeting book rates.

Feel free to drop any follow up questions in the comments.