Getting the demo: 3 tips for successful email outreach
Any salesperson knows that you want to make it easy for the prospect to take the next move.
So, many sales professionals send out emails that make prospects do all the lifting. And we all know that, most of the time, prospects end up skimming through the message and deleting it altogether.
But there’s a way to get prospects to read your email and have their attention grabbed.
That’s where product demos come in.
Product demos are an easy way to convert qualified prospects into paying customers. But having a prospect to attend a demo is not easy. Most prospects would rather play with your software on their time rather than schedule an appointment to walk them through a presentation. And asking prospects to commit to a demo requires hard work and convincing.
In today’s post, I’m going to share three tips for successful outreach you can use to get that opportunity to demo. Let’s dive in.
1. Find out who the decision-maker is
A big challenge facing sales professionals is ensuring they’re communicating with the right person. If you have a great pitch and deliver it to a prospect where you end up finding out they have zero power, you’ve just wasted your time.
With many salespersons trying to communicate with the decision-makers, they tend to hide and, with the evolution of technology, it has become easier for them to avoid the people they don’t want to talk with.
The first thing a salesperson should do is to research prospects and their company. Look at the company’s website, LinkedIn page, and other industry resources will help give the information needed to approach them and make your pitch. And, if you notice that a mutual connection you have is at a company you want to approach, asking for an introduction can be helpful.
Once you discover who the decision-maker is, start to think about how you want to approach them and meet their business needs.
Don’t expect something for anything. If somebody important is going to take time out to talk to you, it needs to provide value.
2. Reach out with a clear message
When reaching out to a decision-maker, you want to have a single ask. Use a proven cold email template and personalize it to make it more relevant for the person you're reaching out to. And that is to get them to book a time with you for a product demo. You want to put them before yourself, or you'll get nowhere. Sales aren't just about sealing the deal; it's about making the experience worth their investment and time.
Remember, giving the demo is not to show off a product, it's to offer value. Alter each demo so that it addresses that particular prospect's pain points and the ways the product can address it.
Once you get their commitment, you want to schedule the demo and make it easy for them to get to the conversation.
Scheduling tools that allow prospects to choose an available slot have become increasingly popular. Tools, like Calendly, allow you to integrate your existing calendars, show your availability and share a meeting request with others.
With Close CRM, you can schedule and manage Google Calendar meetings directly in the app, using our new Meeting Sync feature. Once your calendar is in sync, upcoming meetings will automatically appear in your Close activity feed.
You also never have to worry about missing a meeting. The Close reminder bar will ping you wherever you are inside the app, and you can hop over to the call with a single click.
Meeting Sync is a fantastic way to stay on top of your product demos, plus you can integrate it with Smart Views to see which meetings are leading to closed deals (you can read more about that here).
At the end of the day, the answer to good email outreach is to focus on building relationships without the notion of a transaction. If you can do this, you’re well on your way to email outreach success.
3. Try to break the ice
Approaching a new sales prospect for the first time is a daunting task and never easy to do. Even the experienced sales professional will be nervous. And this is where icebreakers can come in.
Icebreakers can be used to set up a conversation with the prospect. With this, it can help catch the attention of the prospect and get them more interested.
Try to reference an issue (i.e. problem with their website), a case study you have done that is relevant to their industry, or talk about a topic that you are an expert in and have the authority to speak on. If you claim you can solve your prospect’s pain points, show them how with facts.
Over to you
Prospecting doesn’t have to be a stressful process. It can be a positive experience for both the salesperson and prospect.
Familiarizing yourself and getting comfortable with the above tips can give you a significant boost to make you feel confident and on your way to closing more deals.
Giving successful product demos is not rocket science. Anybody can do it—if you've got the right blueprint. Download our FREE book and learn how to deliver winning SaaS demos!
