My work with cold outreach started with my very first sales jobs: selling supplies to coffee shops and selling sponsorships around New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
There were no marketing budgets outside of my sales activities.
So when I landed my first job where sales didn't have to generate their own leads, I thought I'd made it.
(I was young, what can I say)
One day, a new rep showed up with a background in recruiting.
The first thing she did was ask for a list to start prospecting.
I went from being the star of the sales team...
To being overshadowed by her relentless sales numbers (and the endless supply of leads flowing her way).
When we got an inbound lead - chances are, she’d been priming the pump with her outreach, and the lead was already in her queue.
Her emails were “shadow-driving” many of our most qualified leads.
And that’s when I fully understood the power of outreach.
Especially alongside other marketing channels.
The other lesson I learned?
Not in the sense of sending eBooks, Whitepapers, and Case studies (although if you those resources - we can often find a way to use them)....
But in educating prospects, calling out the challenges the role and industry are facing, the gaps that keep them stuck, and highlighting how their peers are solving for them.
The result?
First: My clients rarely get hate mail from their outreach.
(making it MUCH easier to go back and re-engage those prospects next quarter)
And Second: My clients get meetings with people they’re excited to speak with.
Like execs at Stanley Black & Decker, as well as...
✅ 22 meetings per month for a technology vendor with users of a specific software package
✅ 24 CEO-level meetings every month for a training organization
✅ 20 meetings per month for corporate consultants with executives from their hand-picked list of target companies
✅ 16 meetings in 12 days for a corporate innovation solution with companies in their exact target market
✅ 33 meetings per month for a 3rd Party Logistics provider with top tier eComm brands
After a decade of doing this, I have a lot of sequencing approaches up my sleeve. Here's a small sampling:
Have a special use-case in mind, or an approach you want to try (but don't see)? Drop me a line.
For outreach targeting a single vertical
Deliverability Audit - because even the best copy can only work if it makes it to your prospect’s inboxes
30-60 Minute Strategy Session: Consulting on Targeting, Messaging, Campaign strategy
(1) 7-9 touch outreach campaign
(1) Optimized LinkedIn Profile boosting your campaign contact’s credibility and authority
One round edits (Via Google Docs)
Best practices for initiating a new cold outreach campaign (PDF)
Subject Line + CTA Variants for testing
Starting at: $3500
For teams who targeting multiple personas or industries
Deliverability Audit - because even the best copy can only work if it makes it to your prospect’s inboxes
90 Minute Strategy Session: Consulting on Targeting, Messaging, Campaign strategy, & Verticals
(2) 7-9 touch outreach campaigns to connect with your strategic personas and verticals
(1) Optimized LinkedIn Profile boosting your campaign contact’s credibility and authority
One round edits (Via Google Docs)
Best practices for initiating a new cold outreach campaign (PDF)
Subject Line + CTA Variants for testing
Starting at: $5500
On-team support for multiple industries, personas, verticals.
A bespoke plan for you and your team.
We choose your targets and goals and create a custom plan to achieve them.
Includes:
Campaign Optimization
Complimentary Lead Gen Strategies
Campaign copy production
And whatever we need to achieve your goals.
Starting at: $3,900/mo
I've had a long runway to write cold outreach for just about every B2B industry there is (and some more "B2C" type applications as well).
I've written for startups, established SMBs, and multinational enterprise organizations.
Today, I primarily work with Founders and CEOs who own the sales process in their organizations.
While most of my clients are software, technology, or technology-enabled vendors selling products or product-based services, here’s a sampling of the industries I’ve written for:
I've seen a lot while writing for agencies and my own private clients over the years. And while some industries are tougher to crack than others, there are a handful of things that my most successful clients all have in common:
✴️ They're leaders in their market - not necessarily in size, but in vision and mindset
✴️ They understand their unique value to their market - and regardless of industry, know they’re not just another commodity vendor
✴️ They know the common “gaps” in their market - and how their solution fills them to delivers success to their clients
✴️ They believe that their solution is a game-changer for their clients - and are committed to that level of excellence
It depends! How many meetings do you need? The amount of prospect data is partially a function of the number of meetings you need to book... who you need to meet with... and the strategy we employ to book them.
As a minimum baseline, you can expect 1-2% of your list to convert to meetings. That's % of people who are likely to convert at any given time.
That said, your "batting average" can be increased by how you build your list.
Depending on who you're targeting, and the outreach strategy we're using, I can make a number of recommendations -- including specific data providers, validation tools, and methods of collecting harder to find data.
Typically, I recommend 7-9 touchpoints. The send frequency and timing depends on your objectives, goals, and prospects.
There are a few ways we can offer this. But in order to be CAN-SPAM compliant, the primary Call to Action of a cold outreach campaign needs to be personal: reaching out with a question (like "would you be open to more information?") or asking for a meeting.
Ideally, your other marketing should inform your cold outreach and they should complement each other.
That said, no matter how it's being sent, outreach is personal communication, from your reps to their prospects. So it should be written as 1:1 communication -- unlike your typical marketing email.