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Sales is all about creating human connections, but sometimes it can feel difficult to get the conversation started. Right now, there are people looking for products and services like the ones that you are selling. The question is: how do you reach them? In this article, we will explore outreach techniques that can help you to get the conversation started.

Improve Your Emails

Emails are an incredibly popular outreach technique. In today’s world, even the smallest businesses have a newsletter or email list. The data shows that emails can draw in traffic, particularly when they are used correctly. To succeed in the modern world, you will want to begin by improving your emails. The better they are, the more interest you will receive.

Speak to the Individual on a Personal Level

Personalization is a focus that can separate the top-performing salespeople from the rest. New salespeople will often focus on the product, but a seasoned individual knows that it all comes down to the person. When you do outreach, you need to speak to the individual, not just a customer. If you don’t, your potential customer will notice and your connection point will be less effective.

People want to feel seen and heard, so when you send a generic message, you are unlikely to see a good response. By now, most of us are well acquainted with spam and generic contact attempts. Even posting a simple picture of your dinner on Instagram can lead you to receive several canned messages from companies in the industry. You want to avoid this at all costs.

Add Some Cheer

Speak to the Individual on a Personal Level

Personalization is a focus that can separate the top-performing salespeople from the rest. New salespeople will often focus on the product, but a seasoned individual knows that it all comes down to the person. When you do outreach, you need to speak to the individual, not just a customer. If you don’t, your potential customer will notice and your connection point will be less effective.

People want to feel seen and heard, so when you send a generic message, you are unlikely to see a good response. By now, most of us are well acquainted with spam and generic contact attempts. Even posting a simple picture of your dinner on Instagram can lead you to receive several canned messages from companies in the industry. You want to avoid this at all costs.

Create Your Own Audience with Social Media

Every single day, people all around the world spend long periods of time glancing through social media. Now more than ever, there is a push towards experts in different fields thanks to the growing impact of influencer culture. As a salesperson, you can absolutely benefit from this. In fact, a lot of influencers are selling products of their own.

With social media, you have the option to build your very own audience. Creating an online presence in your industry grants you the ability to share your products or services with an entirely new set of people. This is a great way to get in front of new customers and provide additional information that you might not be able to get in a one-on-one conversation.

Plus, with social media being such a visual format, promotional products are perfectly suited for this medium. Anything from custom cups and drink sleeves to personalized apparel stand out in a big way and offer an effective strategy in drawing more customers towards your products, services, and overall brand identity.

Turn Your Swag On

Explain the Value in Different Circumstances

The best products on the market are not all created for one specific person. Most products and services have different audiences that love their products for different reasons. In sales, it is important to understand these differences and adapt accordingly.

When you can explain how your product or service applies to different people, you are automatically expanding your reach. Not only does this show how well-versed you are on the topic, but it can also make your product more desirable. Being able to adequately explain why the purchase will benefit the consumer is crucial, so make sure that you know the true value and can explain it in a simple way.

Be Friendly

This is easily one of the oldest sales techniques and it still works to this day. When you reach out to make that connection with your customer, you need to be friendly. By nature, we are drawn to pleasant people—and we tend to trust them more. Being friendly is a great way to make people want to hear what you have to say, and it can make them more open to carrying on the conversation.

While it is important to be friendly, it is also important to avoid being too friendly. Salespeople have had a fairly bad reputation throughout the years and being too friendly is one of the reasons why. If your friendliness feels forced or insincere, your audience will feel it—and they will not be interested in talking with you.

Share Important Information, Not Features

There was a point in time where people valued items with more features, and this is still true. However, the focus isn’t only on the number of features anymore. It is about the quality and whether or not the feature aligns with the product.

Instead of simply rattling off the different things that a product or service can offer, it is important to keep a focus on the most relevant features and information. Consumers want a highlight reel, not a long list of things that the product offers. If the core offerings are good enough, they can explore the rest later on in their own time.

Turn Your Swag On

Follow Up with Contacts

General outreach is the first step, but your outreach doesn’t end after the first time. The real trick to converting your sales is to always follow up. The truth is that your consumers might not want what you are offering at the moment, but that doesn’t mean that they don’t want it at all. Sometimes following up can help you to get the timing just right.

Use Data

With the amount of information that is available about consumers and different marketplaces, there is no excuse to not make decisions that are driven by data. Using the available information can help you to make conscious moves that help you to make more sales.

Know Your Audience

Outreach is not just the act of making a connection or trying to attract the attention of a potential customer. It is about the customers themselves, which is why you need to know them well. Taking the time to learn about your audience and what they want from your industry can really help you to make connections that count.

Final Thoughts

Before you can ever make a sale, you need to find a way to connect with potential customers. Outreach is a crucial part of modern sales and there are plenty of ways to be successful with it. Using different techniques can help you to learn more about what does and does not work. In the end, you will be happy to see your number of sales go up over time.

Drew Thomas

Drew Thomas is a graduate of Georgia College & State University, where he earned his Bachelor's Degree in English Literature. He is an expert in brand marketing and has experience in freelance writing on topics ranging from sports to music reviews. He has also spent time as an editor, having revised website copy and press releases for local businesses. In his free time, Drew enjoys performing music, reading, hiking, and spending time with friends.

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