"Don’t judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds you plant."
- Robert Louis Stevenson
I, the founder of BizAmps -A B2B marketing agency have been in this field for quite some time now. I am here to share with you some of my learnings that will help you make better choices while scaling your sales agency.
The following are the principles I learned in my 3-year journey in the B2B space.
DISCLAIMER:
· This blog does not tell you ‘how to do it’ but tells you ‘what to do’
· This blog contains enough information you need to start your own sales agency.
So, let's begin!
1. Channel and Cadence.
Channel
In my 3 years’ experience, I’ve noticed that some channels work better than others.
Example:
· LinkedIn works best when one wants to approach angel investors.
· Calling works when the target is not tech-savvy.
· Direct mail works when you want to stand out.
When you start using all these channels, there’ll come a point where you’ll know the channel that is working the best for you. When you do, don’t stop using other channels, but scale the one that works the best.
Cadence
Don’t just send one message. Even though sometimes it works, you should send multiple messages with various time intervals.
One way is to send 1 message in 7 days.
2. Offering
The offerings matter.
Firstly, if the product has a need in the current situation then the leads will hit the sky.
Example: In the Covid-19 pandemic, the sale of sanitizers spiked.
Secondly, different people find value in different offerings. So filter your audience accordingly
3. Messaging
Messaging is very important. It can either make or break your campaign.
While hiring people, try looking for someone who has done such work before. There is a high possibility that you won’t find such a person. No one really knows what could work for sure.
So be prepared to conduct A/B testing yourself. A/B testing your subject line can increase open rates by 49%.
Also, pay attention to the details and test everything.
4. Scaling and Debugging
When you figure something out, scale it.
When you try to multiply, you are bound to face certain barriers like your account getting limited or getting banned. Don’t worry here, it’s a small thing. Create another account and continue your work at the same speed.
Sometimes your mails might end up in the spam folder. Look for tools and figure out a way through which the emails can last longer.
Later in the blog, I’ll explain the techniques to scale.
Let’s dive into these points even deeper
1. Email
One thing to keep in mind while conducting email outreach is that your email must be of 5 lines, preferably under 100 words. If the person has to scroll down, it won’t be read.
Keep it simple. Use plain text.
Keep yourself updated with the latest tricks.
One word subject lines like ‘ leads’, ‘BizAmps’, and so on, using “Hey XYZ” instead of “Hi XYZ” are some of the latest tricks that increase response rate by 10-12% provided your initial response rate is over 0%.
One important thing to note here is to not be misleading in any way. Misleading reduces the credibility of your future emails.
FUN FACTS ABOUT COLD EMAILS:
· 35% of recipients open emails based on the subject line alone.
· Email personalization can increase your reply rate by 100%.
2. LinkedIn
Keep your text under 2 lines and 2 paragraphs.
Linked in has various features that you need to understand and use correctly, for instance, the ‘Inmail’ has a greater space than the free messages window and thus, both should be used accordingly.
Here, a proper understanding of LinkedIn’s UX comes handy.
LinkedIn has your CV, your picture, and more relevant information about you than any other platform. You can capitalize on that, making your account more relevant.
Lastly, know your limits. Don’t sound too sales-y. Refrain from spamming people with irrelevant information.
The biggest mistake a marketer can make is underestimate the potential of LinkedIn.
FUN FACT ABOUT LINKED:
· 57% of LinkedIn users are men, and 43% are women.
· 61% of LinkedIn’s users are between 25 and 34 years old
3. Calling
Don’t be afraid of calling. Being afraid will make you sound less confident and that will be a major turn off.
Record the calls. Listen to it later and write down a few hooks that you think the client resonates with and stress on those things when following up.
You can also write down new hooks and use it as a script.
However, calling has its own limitations.
FUN FACTS ABOUT COLD CALLING:
· The best time to make a cold call is in the afternoon between 4:00-5:00pm. The second best time is 8:00-10:00am.
· The first 10 seconds determine the response to your cold call. Make those 10 seconds count.
These 3 channels when used together for 3-6 months can result in getting responses from prospects. Be persistent.
Another thing that I learned in this 3-year experience is that a change in the message that earlier gave negative responses gives positive responses.
A while ago I decided to change the headline of the content we were working on. This minor change resulted in the huge success of the campaign.
Once you have all this in place, the question is-
How to scale your sales agency?
There are 2 ways to scale your sales agency.
·Automate
Automation can make the process easier and faster. There are various tools available online that help you automate.
·Duplicate
Get more people. Increase the size of your target audience, mainly because automation can prove very costly if you don’t utilize the paid tools optimally
Roadblocks
I. Learning curve:
When we started off, we only focused on cold emailing. Later we added LinkedIn on top of it. We started calling after 2 years.
Basically what I want to say is that you learn as you do.
Look out for what works best for you and scale on that.
The advantage here is that the faster you learn, the more the people you leave behind in the race and catch up with the ones ahead of you.
II.Science
It’s a science, not an art.
If you A/B test enough, if you debug and resolve your problems quickly so that they don’t repeat then you’re there!
And also, when you find something working for you, MULTIPLY.
Lastly, do what you like doing. If you find yourself procrastinating then probably you’re not that into the work. If that’s the case, get someone else to do it for you.
For Example-
Hate calling? You can easily find people who love calling and might be willing to do it for you at a low cost.
Want to know more? Watch my 43 min video on
‘Automate B2B lead generation workshop’
