When it comes to outbound sales, things can be very inconsistent and erratic. 

Having certain guidelines as best practices is important because sales is high stress and it can be very messy sometimes, after all-you are dealing with people. It is easy to forget things when you are on cold calls or sales meetings.

There are many, many best practices to follow but these are four very important ones:

• Consistency
• Spend time on finding the right leads
• Followup
• Use sales automation tools

Consistency

Not only does consistency build trust, it is the proof that you’ve put in effort over a period of time; improvement as a result of consistency is the best motivation out there. Especially in the world of email copy, staying consistent is the difference between a response and the trash folder.

Being consistent isn’t just about following up.

Being consistent means:

• having a consistent offer+brand and positioning
• having consistent messaging

Consistency means you know your sh$t. It means you got things figured out when it comes to business. Consistency is very important! Your image has to be consistent. Consistency shows professionalism. 

Value Value Value

Always give value in your calls. By value, I usually mean valuable insight. You have to reframe how you think of yourself. Instead of a salesperson, you are an advisor that is there to figure out their problems and then deliver a solution.

You likely know more about their problems than they do. You have seen other people with the exact same problems. Your job is to give them valuable insight on how to fix their problems, whether that means choosing your product or not. 

Leads Leads Leads

The right leads are so important. If you don’t have the right leads, you will be pitching to the wrong people! And if you are pitching to the wrong people, your close rate will be horrible if anything at all. 

To find the right leads, you have to think about your ideal customer. 

• What problem do you solve and who do you solve it for?
• What size of the company?
• How much revenue do they make per month?
• What industry are they in?
• What do they do on a daily basis?
• What types of marketing are they spending money on

Once you know your ideal customer, find out where you can find them. Are they advertising on google ads? Do they post on certain websites? Where are they marketing? Are they in facebook groups?

Once you find these leads, you have to find out to get them-in bulk. Scraping leads is the best way to get them in bulk.

Sales Automation Software

The right sales automation tools can save time, enhance productivity, and alleviate stress. There are automation tools that handle all parts of the sales process

Sales automation tools save a lot of time. You can find sales automation tools that handle email outreach, dialers, lead generation, followup, calling and more. You can even find tools that do all of these things (like prospect.io). Sales automation tools take care of unimportant tasks so you can focus on high value tasks such as closing deals and managing customer relationships. 

Here are some examples of sales automation tools you can use:

• Prospect.io (this one I use currently and I love it)
• Woodpecker
• HubSpot Sales
• Autoklose
• Yesware
• Mailshake
• Apollo

Keep these best practices in mind when applying your sales outreach. They can make a massive difference in your bottom line as well as your productivity.