We like to reach out proactively to potential clients for whom we are certain we can deliver great value. When we find out about a firm for whom we are confident we can deliver value, we make them an outbound lead.
We have a few common sources of outbound leads:
- Lead Forensics, a tool we have installed on our website which allows us to see the firms that are accessing our site
- Networking events, LinkedIn, etc – perhaps a firm who writes a cool post aligned with our values, who needs a new site.
- Firms related to clients of ours, such as similar companies not in direct competition, who we may find out about during the course of our work for a client
Once the Business Development team has identified an outbound lead, we have a process for reaching out to try and make contact and set up a meeting:
Add to Databases
Add the outbound lead in the (Core Team Only), using the fields provided to identify the priority with which we will treat the lead.
Add them as a Company in our Hubspot account as well.
Figure out the best contact & get their info
To get a conversation started we need to find the individual best suited to discuss a potential engagement.
For smaller leads, the Owner/CEO is typically the best contact. At larger companies, our typical client profile is a CMO or Marketing Director. At very large companies, they may specifically have a web marketing manager or specialist who would be better. The goal is to find the person who is as high up in the decision-making process as possible and is willing to talk to us.
There are a number of resources that can be useful to find the right person:
- The company’s About section will often show who the right contact might be
- You can use LinkedIn Sales Navigator (Ty’s account has access) to look up companies and see their staff in a tree format, and filter to find the right person.
- Lead Forensics has a tool to look for individual contacts within a firm
- Simple google searches can do the trick as well.
Once you know who the right individual is, add their name to the Outbound Sales Database. If you already found contact information (a phone number, email address or LinkedIn profile), great!
If not, you need to do some digging to try and find that contact information. A few methods:
- Simply calling the company’s main phone number and speaking to someone
- Google search
- In particular one trick is to Google for various permutations of what the person’s email might be. For example if you are looking for Jamie Gerbitz at Big Corp. you might google for jgerbitz@bigcorp.com. If there are results that turn up, you found the right email.
- Using tools like Hunter and Lusha to find an email address. This is a last resort as these are unreliable.
If all else fails, at the least you should be able to find a physical company address. Add whatever you found to the Outbound Sales Database.
Add a Contact to Hubspot with whatever information you found.
If you can find their LinkedIn profile, this should allow you to also see if you or Ty have any mutual connections with the person. If we have a mutual connection, that’s the best way to reach out, so please check!
Reach out
Once you have contact information, start reaching out to the person, using the best available channel. The goal of the initial outreach is to let the prospect know:
- Who you are
- What caused us to think the prospect might be a fit (What the opportunity is)
- The next step (Longer intro call)
When you reach out, make a note in the Outbound Sales Database and then wait a few days. If one method doesn’t work it’s generally best to try a different method, but repeating can work too. We like to try at least three times before giving up. It’s hard to cut through the noise of people’s inboxes, but we never want to be spammy or annoying.
In rough order of preference, our typical methods of outreach are:
Personal introduction from a mutual connection
This is possible if you discover that we have a mutual connection in common. The connection may be with you, Ty, or someone else on the Cantilever team.
Make a polite request to the mutual connection to put us in touch with the person. Ideally the connection is willing to send an email to connect us.
Direct phone call
A call is a great way to make a quick connection. When you get the person on the phone or get their voicemail, explain:
Physical Mail
If you can find a bona-fide address for someone, write a hand-written note and send it to them. We don’t have any specific Cantilever stationary but if you want some, feel free to ask the design team!
Keep the email simple and short. And never apologize for reaching out! We are offering value, not trying to take anything from someone.
LinkedIn Connection request
This can come from your LinkedIn profile or Ty’s (or you can try both).
The connection request should be upfront that we are reaching out to start a conversation. No false pretenses!
After a “yes”
If a prospect is ready to move forward to a conversation, set one up with Ty, them, and you. Nice work!