7 Outbound Lessons from Top Performers

Read time: 3 mins

Outbound has changed. A lot.

The last 12 months has been a rollercoaster for most Outbound teams as they struggle to adapt to a wildly different market place they get used to between 2015-2022.

No more grow at all costs and unlimited resources.

Instead, buyers became much more cautious and shrewd with their purchasing decisions.

This resulted in SDRs & AEs taking >4x as many touches to book an Outbound meeting in 2023 than 2020…let that sink in. >4x as much ‘‘work’’ for the same result.

And that’s only increased in 2024. Scary stuff

In this newsletter I’ll share 7 learnings I have taken from high performers in the last 12 months. I hope it helps you achieve the results you want.

Let’s dive in.

Lesson 1: The Best Reps = The Best Callers

In a recent survey 57% of c-suite said they would prefer to be outreached cold via the phone than any other channel.

The best reps have optimised for this.

• Build a talk track

• Practice on AI bots (check out Hyperbound)

• Optimise it for real life convos

• Make the dials every single day

The top reps are the ones who are honing their verbal communication skills everyday.

Lesson 2: Personal Brands Win (long-term)

Writing content and posting it a few times won’t get you any leads.

The best reps know this isn’t a sales activity its a marketing activity. They also know that marketing only works if you’re consistent on a long term basis.

• 1x Post Daily

• Use a Template

• 10-15 Comments on Prospects Post

• 30 DMs to profile viewers / cold prospects

The top reps are the ones who invest in building their personal brand for 30-60 mins everyday (no rest days).

Lesson 3: Rushless Time Management

SDRs & AEs who have a plan for their schedule are much more consistent with their results.

• Say no to internal meetings

• Prioritise list building activities daily

• Make sure you never miss activity

The top reps are the ones who do the same things every single day until they are a master.

Lesson 4: ALWAYS Ask For Referrals  

Reps who ask for referrals get 3-4 more meetings every month.

Tip - after you book a meeting, research the prospect and message them asking for a specific introduction to another prospect they know.

Make sure you explain WHY the intro would be helpful to them and offer to write the message for your prospect so they don’t have to.

The top reps NEVER miss an opportunity to get 2 meetings for the price of 1. Book one, get one referral. Win: win.

Lesson 5: ‘‘Now Right Nows’’ are Goldmines

The reps who understand sales isn’t binary are the true greats.

Every conversation you have isn’t just a ‘‘yes’’ or a ‘‘no’’. Infact, 30% of them will be a ‘‘not right now’’.

Your job is to identify who is a not right now and convert those conversations into meetings for the future.

Once you do, nurture them (without automation) and you’ll have lots of meetings for the future.

I call this, pipeline to build pipeline. It’s quite literally the easiest way to hit quota in the future.

Commandment 3 in my Outbound Bible: MAYBES ARE MONEY.

Lesson 6: 1x Great Observation Per Sequence

The BEST reps don’t waste time researching their prospect every single time they have a step. Instead, they find one great observation;

• Funding

• New role

• Hiring etc

Then they reuse that one great observation for every step of their sequence.

1 sequence, 1 observation, 10 steps ALL with a great observation, very little effort on research so you can prioritise messaging quality.

PS. I stole this from my buddy, Brian LaManna - you can get 20% off his Operationalising Outbound product here. Use code ‘‘letsgo’’.

Lesson 7: Personal Performance Reviews

The best reps block time to review their performance.

The best managers stop their team from doing activity so they can spend time fully focused on figuring out their strengths and weaknesses.

Ask yourself:

• What went well?

• What went badly?

• What am I testing next?

• How will I measure it?

• What do I need to make it happen?

The top reps are like top athletes. You wouldn’t see Usain Bolt run 100m and not look at his time. The best measure everything and when they fail they optimise.

Hope you enjoyed this weeks edition and these tips help you achieve high performance in 2024.

Remember, trust the process, my friends.

Happy Easter, see you next week for a SPECIAL EDITION.

PS. Sorry if you have had a lot of emails from me recently I’m learning Email Marketing and making a few mistakes along the way! Appreciate the patience.

Whenever you’re ready, here are 3 more ways I can help you in 2024:

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