How to Improve Personalized Outreach in B2B Sales

If you aren’t personalizing your outreach it’s time to start. 

The reason? 

Personalization is an extremely powerful tool for getting prospects to engage with you. 

Think about… How many times have you received a cold email or a Linkedin message and you know it’s just some spammy sales pitch? What do you do with these kinds of messages? 

Probably ignore it. 

But if you had to receive a specific message JUST for you, wouldn’t you be more willing to engage with the sender? 

This article will share why personalized outreach is imperative for successful b2b sales and how to do it the right way.

Consider some stats on personalized outreach

If you have been sending the same generic outreach message through cold email or Linkedin, you won’t see results. Various studies have been conducted that show how a personalized approach to b2b sales drives more business. 

Have a look at the following stats:

• 51% of marketers rate personalization as their number 1 priority Sending more behavioral-based messages was another top priority for marketers, according to the survey. (SmarterHQ)
• 70% of millennials are frustrated with brands sending irrelevant emails. – SmarterHQ
• 80% of consumers are more likely to purchase a brand that provides personalized experiences. – Epsilon
• 90% of U.S. consumers find marketing personalization very or somewhat appealing. – Statista
• 72% of consumers say they only engage with personalized messaging. – SmarterHQ
• 84% of consumers say being treated like a person, not a number is very important to winning their business. – Salesforce

These are just some stats, but there are many more that show how important personalization is. So if you haven’t tried a personalized approach to sales prospecting, now’s the time.

But before you even begin to personalize your outreach, you have to build an ultra-refined prospecting list. See below:

Make sure your list is super refined

Your prospecting list has to be refined. 

There is no point in writing personalized messages, but you’re reaching out to the wrong people. This could be people who might not need what you’re selling, people who don’t have the budget, or buying power to buy from you. 

If your list isn’t perfect, then it doesn’t matter how personalized your message is, you aren’t going to get buyers to convert. 

This is where you might need to invest in some prospecting tools that can help you refine your list, such as:

Linkedin Sales Navigator

Which will help you find the right people and find emails on LinkedIn by using advanced search filters.

Like:

• Company name
• Prospect’s name
• Job titles (aka decision makers)
• Industry
• Geography
• Company size
• Seniority levels

SalesIntel

Which is an accurate data provider to help you find your potential customer‘s contact information, such as phone numbers, email addresses and even intent data.  

Their data is verified which means that you can target real buyers and not waste time going after inaccurate data. 

This is a great tool to use and even offers integrations with Hubspot, Salesforce and other CRM tools.

Besides this SalesIntels pricing is also reasonable. You can expect to pay between $69 per month – $199 per month per user. They also offer an unlimited package too.

Expandi.io

Expandi is an automation tool that allows you to send messages to your prospects through smart sequencing. 

It also mimics human behavior, which means the chances of having your Linkedin account restricted will be minimal.

How to personalize your outreach messages like a pro

(Note: The example below will be specifically for LinkedIn and cold email outreach, but you can apply these principles to any form of b2b sales outreach; even cold calling.”)

Step 1: Use the CCQ method

Salesbread, a b2b lead generation agency that delivers 1 qualified sales lead per day, uses a method called CCQ to write personalized emails and Linkedin outreach messages. This method helps salespeople create simple yet powerful messages that capture the prospect’s attention. 

This is what CCQ stands for:

• Compliment
• Commonalities
• Questions

So after you’re 99% sure that your prospect list is perfect, you will have to do a bit of homework and research each person on the list.

Find something about them to either compliment them on, mention a commonality, or ask them a question. 

You can find this information by doing a quick Google search, or even just checking out their Linkedin profile. 

Here are some examples:

Compliment

“Michaela, I loved your article on “How to improve the buyer’s journey”. I specifically found Xzy insightful. Do you mind if we connect here?”

Commonalities

“John, I noticed that we are both in the real estate space. I’m on a personal mission to connect with those in the industry. Is Linkedin a good place to connect?”

Questions

“Jack, great webinar. Really happy that I attended. Just curious about how your company deals with (pain point). I’ve been chatting to a few people in the industry, and many of them mentioned that they are struggling to find a solution to (XYZ). What’s your take on it? Would love to hear your thoughts.” 

NOTICE: These messages have been written in such a way, just so that you can get your foot in the door for further conversations. 

Once the prospect replies you can always add a bit more detail about why you’re reaching out to them. 

Do these kinds of messages work?

Yes… Here are some replies that Salesbread received by using this approach:

Response rates are so much higher when you use a personalized approach to outreach. In fact, when personalization is done correctly you can expect a 39% positive reply rate on Linkedin. 

So the takeaway is, if you want the same kinds of replies, more booked meetings and higher conversion rates, then you have to use personalization. 

Step 2: Follow up using more personalization 

Once a prospect connects with you, you can then follow up with them and elaborate on why you’re reaching out to them.

The secret is to use more personalization, and speak about the prospect 90% of the time, and only 10% about yourself, for reference. 

(PRO TIP: Follow up with the prospect every 3 days between 3 and 6 times. If they don’t respond you can always add them to a b2b sales email campaign or reach out to them on a different platform. )

Here are some examples:

• “Michaela, thanks for connecting. By the way, I noticed that you’re in charge of content marketing. Do you also handle social media marketing and SEO? Or am I way off? The reason I’m asking is that my company does (XYZ).”
• (first name). Thanks for connecting with me. Very curious to hear about where you get your XYZ from? What does your calendar look like over the next week? I’d love to hop on a quick call. 

PS: For background, my company does (XYZ).

• Dave, good to connect, by the way, congrats on your promotion. To be transparent, I do XYZ and we help companies with (pain point)… Does this resonate with you? Or are you pretty happy with how your company is handling xyz?

Step 3: Use a low commitment call to action

Many sales teams avoid asking for a booked meeting, but when you have a low commitment, easy to follow cta, chances are your prospects will most probably oblige (especially if they are the right target audience.)

Plus because you have already started conversations by using a personalized approach and not a sales approach, you will get more prospects agreeing to calls. 

Here are some easy ways to ask for a phone call:

• Mind if we hop on a quick 10-minute call to discuss this?
• What’s your calendar looking like over the next 2 weeks to connect?
• Do you think this is worth a quick chat?
• Send over your calendar link and I will book a slot.
• Should I lease with your P.A for a convenient time?

If you want more open rates, sales calls and conversions, start using personalization

If you want the same kinds of replies that we shared above, it’s time to use personalization. 

First, make sure that your prospect list is perfect, and you can do this by using accurate data providers like SalesIntel. 

And then use the CCQ method from Salesbread to help create an easy personalized approach to b2b sales outreach.

When you apply the above principles, you will be guaranteed more qualified sales and more money in your pocket.

Author Bio:

Michaela Strydom is the content marketer at Salesbread, a B2B lead generation agency that brings their clients 1 guaranteed sales lead per day. She specializes in writing about Linkedin and cold email outreach.