Outbound is too important to ignore (+ starter pack inside)
Getting clients is 3x tougher than last year
Clay kindly supports this Substack:
Clay helps go-to-market teams uplevel their data enrichment and outreach workflows. It consolidates 75+ data enrichment tools into one credit-based marketplace, letting you search multiple tools at once for contact info, company details, and more. They’ve tripled data coverage and quality using one or a few tools like Zoominfo—at a tiny fraction of the cost.
Dear GTM Strategist!
Last week, I visited Bosnia and Herzegovina with the Swiss Entrepreneurship Fund. I met over twenty teams in three days, each showcasing its exceptional talent.
These teams craft top-notch tech solutions for clients in Scandinavia, MENA, the USA, and the DACH region. The potential for outsourcing full-stack development from this region is immense, with companies making up to $50 million in annual revenue and project deal sizes up to $2 million. Many teams are also developing their own products.
As we sat down with founders to discuss their go-to-market challenges, one thing became clear:
Almost all business deals flow through recommendations and partnerships.
I was shocked to realize that almost NONE of the companies had a structured, systematic outbound sales process in place, which can be one of the best-performing channels for such companies.
While it is common for a service company to get 60-70% of businesses via recommendations, the times are getting tougher.
Waiting for recommendations in our comfortable offices no longer cuts the chase. Companies should be more proactive in attracting and engaging potential clients.
If your organization does not do outbound - consider doing it now.
Many B2B-oriented businesses still view outbound with skepticism, seeing it as a pushy, complex, and unreliable process. But if done right, outbound as a growth motion can be highly predictable, forecastable, and a high ROI revenue channel, transforming it into a strategic asset rather than a necessary evil.
And it made me wonder …
Why does outbound have such a bad reputation?
Why do founders want to avoid it at all costs?
Well, as it turns out, we often don't have to look further than our LinkedIn inbox… Does this look familiar?
I am bombarded with poorly thought-out outreach attempts. Therefore, I rarely visit the invite section of my profile. Yet, if someone writes me a relevant, thoughtful comment or suggests a mutually beneficial opportunity - I often will respond almost immediately. Personalization and relevancy can make a radical difference.
There is a better way: How to do outbound like a boss 💪
I'm raving about outbound in 2024 because I have seen it work incredibly well if done thoughtfully. In the last year, I have worked on several projects together with my B2B Outbound sales partner, Jaka Berdnik. His outbound campaigns generated millions of € in client pipelines. Here is a case study from a recent consulting project:
If you think this sounds great but have no idea where to start, here is some good news: you can start doing outreach manually without any complex tools. Create a list of 200 companies, personalize the message (better yet, get a warm intro), send those emails or LinkedIn messages, book the meetings, and close new sales opportunities. You can move to more sophisticated tools after you gain more confidence in outbound.
Of course, there are more tools that we could include, but we believe these are the best for companies in the go-to-market stage.
What would you add? Let us know in the comments!
I am always on the lookout for new tools and opportunities.
Start your outbound engine: Structure of a successful outbound campaign.
Instead of evangelizing that outreach does not work because you are bombarded with “Dear Sir” emails, give it a shot. However - make sure to do your own research first. Keep in mind that:
Outbound sales and marketing aren't for everyone. They don't produce outstanding results for every type of business.
Conversion rates can vary highly based on your target industry or location.
Whether it is financially viable for your business can vary based on your average deal size.
Jaka provided us with a few comments on what not to do on this Cold Email Copywriting Roast:
Ready to do it much better?
Start learning about the structure of good B2B cold emails here: https://www.clay.com/blog/b2b-cold-email-templates?via=299452
Check out cold email copywriting tips to help you get started ✌️https://www.clay.com/blog/b2b-cold-email-copywriting?via=299452
Need more? Check out the cold email repository at Lemlist, too - it is great. They have a lot of community contributions and share benchmarks https://www.lemlist.com/cold-email-templates
Do you want to use templates and campaign automation? Here are more ideas: https://www.clay.com/templates?via=299452
Outbound offers an opportunity to significantly grow your business by generating millions in a predictable sales pipeline.
If you are second-guessing whether or how you could unlock this powerful go-to-market motion, reply to this email and tell me a bit more about your business and target market. I will give you honest feedback and let you know if it is worth pursuing. No strings attached. I would like to see more businesses utilizing this powerful channel to have cool case studies on this Substack 😇.
Up for it?
Let’s go to market ✌️
One email at a time!
Maja
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