A series of actions when you are trying to sell on a prospect is called sales cadence. It includes all your attempts to contact a prospect like phone calls, voice mails, emails, and social media interactions.
Sales cadences are very important as they give sales representatives a system that they can follow when they are doing their work. However, if this is not carefully built, this system may annoy your prospects, and you may lose your sales.
A perfect sales cadence will ensure leading your prospects down to your sales funnel. By doing this, you could help your company boost sales. Below are the tips on creating a sales cadence that would not annoy your prospects.
Right timing
Spamming your prospects with email is annoying. They will either ignore your email or mark it as junk or spam. You do not want to be ignored by your prospect before you have even had a chance to speak with them.
On the other hand, you do not want to wait for too long before your next follow up as your prospect might forget about you. Wait for one to three days before sending a follow-up email. Increase the number of days between contacts after each attempt, ideally up to six or seven days.
The duration between the first and last contact attempt should run between two and four weeks. Remember to be persistent, but not clingy.
Get in touch with them the right way, with the right content
How are you going to make your first contact attempt? Via phone, email, or social media? Once you get in touch with your prospect, remember to ask them which channel they prefer to use as a way of communication. Until they give you their answer, it would be hard to figure out what is the best channel to get in touch with them.
The safest way for your first contact attempt is through email or social media. It will give you an excellent chance to build rapport, warming your prospect up. Moreover, it will let your prospect become familiar with your offer before moving to a more assertive way of communication like phone calls.
No matter how you contact your prospects, you must have the right words to say. Most initial contact attempts are made via email, so make sure that your first email is worth opening and worth responding as well.
Mind the number of touchpoints
It takes 7-13 touches to provide a qualified sales lead. Sales representatives who make 12 or more contact attempts are 20% more productive than other reps who only make eight attempts.
Always aim for 10-15 touches per prospect, and you are setting yourself up for success. Remember that quality and quantity are equally crucial in sales cadences.
Test your sales cadence and make some adjustments if needed
It is crucial to check your cadence to see what works best with your prospects. You should check:
- The number of touches (email or phone) it would take to get a response.
- How many touches it would take before getting into prospecting calls until closing a sale.
- Check the rates of open and click-through of your emails.
- See what type of sales content gets the most response.
The number of prospects that turns into customers.
These are just basic tips. There are still more elements you need to consider and master to have a successful sales cadence.
Comments (1)
Very informative and insightful subject on sales cadence. As a salesperson myself I will take these tips and advice seriously and apply them.