How To Reach Back Out To Old Prospects
Reaching back out campaigns or, "re-engagement campaigns," are a vital part of our outbound lead generation at ScaleUpSales - and for good reason.
There are a tremendous number of factors that can affect the success of a good outbound campaign, but the one least out of your control is the availability of your prospect.
You might reach out to someone who absolutely loves your pitch, needs your service, and wants to work with you, but factors like their own timeline, ability to take action, or just general busyness can get in the way.
Re-engagement campaigns are the way to catch these fish who slip through the nets, while making the most of the marketing material you already created to reach out to them in the first place.
But there are key differences in your re-engagement campaigns that you need to be aware of in order to effectively retarget the prospects who never made it onto a call.
As I said, there are a number of reasons why your prospect didn't respond to your messaging, but it's always err on the side of caution should you choose to reach back out to them.
This starts with the first reaching back out message. You need to explain exactly why you're getting back in touch with them. Let them know that you have emailed, DM'd, or InMailed them before, then explain exactly why you wanted to get back in touch again.
Why? Because the last thing you want to do is confuse a prospect with a pitch or offer that they can't remember or make them feel like you're filling up their inbox unnecessarily again.
You need to achieve three key things in the first 1-2 lines of your message when you re-engage them.
This will give them the information needed to make an informed decision on whether or not to respond, and with the right context, a prospect will appreciate the fact that you slid back into their inbox.
2. Learn from your last outreach efforts
The elephant question in the room for any unresponsive prospect is: "Did they just not understand my pitch?"
And the beauty of an effective re-engagement campaign is that you have (or should have) a healthy bank of negative responses from prospects in the past.
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Maybe you saw an overwhelming number of responses such as, "We have an internal process for this," or, "We're happy with our current service provider,".
These can and should be used to inform the content that you send to them when you reach back out.
Analyze what prospects who turned you down in the past responded with, define trends in their responses, and then come up with strategic lines of copy that can be used to assuage those objections while you sell your service.
The goal here is to answer their questions while reminding them of your offer, which is easier said than done. But in line with providing the right context, you can also establish why they might not have needed your service in the past, but why they absolutely do now.
This won't just reduce the number of rejections you see in your own inbox, it'll also show your prospect that you respect their position while showing them that what you can provide them with is better than what they currently have.
And that goes a long way.
3. Timing is crucial
Timing for a re-engagement campaign can make or break its success. You need to find a time where you can confidently assume the prospect is ready to be re-engaged with.
But how do you do this? Well, it's going to differ depending on your offer.
The key thing is to find your "Goldilocks Zone", a time frame that's not too early (otherwise you'll just get another rejection, or even worse a spam complaint), and not too late (your prospect may have completely forgotten who you are or worse have been reached out to be a competitor).
At ScaleUpSales, we vary our re-engagement depending on our clients and their service, but a general rule of thumb that can be effective is this.
Reach back out when there has been a change in the market, with the prospect, or the economy that has made your service all the more valuable.
Remember what I said about context? This will ensure that you have done your research and know that the prospects needs are greater now than they have ever been. The thorn in their side has started to sting just enough that it warrants them needing what you offer.
Your LinkedIn message, email, or DM will come at the perfect time and they'll appreciate you all the more for reaching out at the time they need you the most.
In conclusion... Re-engagement campaigns are a fantastic way for you to break through to a previously uninterested prospect, but going in blind and not informing yourself from your last attempts at outreach can leave you back at square one.
Meet your prospect on their level, establish context for your pitch, your re-engagement, and yourself - and most importantly, do this at a time that works for them.
Head of Products & Sales | Connected Vehicles & IoT | 10X TAM growth via product strategy innovation
2 年Intriguing. Seems like there will be a sweet spot. Soon enough that the prospect remembers they were too busy to respond the first time, but long enough that their possible annoyance at being "sold to" has faded. This is where you are familiar enough to them to reduce your threat level (the rule of repeat exposure) but not yet "defined" as anything in particular so your message still has opportunity to shape their perspective. I like this because I don't see it as a sales "trick" but a recognition of how human brains work and an appreciation for being human.