Cold Outreach Best Practices: How to Use HubSpot Sequences and AI for Better Results
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The Challenge of Outbound Sales
Doing outbound is extremely time consuming. As a salesperson, splitting your time between prospecting, outreach and following up, all while juggling hundreds of leads can be difficult. Luckily, there are tools and structures available within HubSpot to help you ease the process and Swayle makes them even better with AI outreach. Let's take a look at how you can use sequences to book even more meetings and how AI can enhance your outreach efforts.
Understanding Touchpoints in Sales Sequences
What is a Touchpoint?
An important thing to consider is that you'll probably never book a meeting through the first touch point. Let's briefly consider what a touch point is. A touch point is an attempt to contact, where the recipient has a chance to interact with your message. For this purpose a call that is not answered, and where no message is left, is not a touch point. If a message is left or an SMS is sent, that is a touchpoint. Same goes for an email. An email that is not delivered is not considered a touch point.
How Many Touchpoints Do You Need?
Now that we've established what a touchpoint is, how many do you actually need in your sequence? The number of necessary touchpoints vary. According to HubSpot your sequence should have 8 different touchpoints, while Salesscreen reports that 6 is the number. Our findings suggest that 8 works great. This illustrates the fact that there is no simple answer. To find what works for you, testing is needed. A good guideline is to have between 6 and 8 touchpoints in a sequence. The only thing you must not do is stop trying too early. You’ll leave a ton of great conversations and opportunities on the table if you try only once or twice.
Crafting Effective Sequences in HubSpot
Catering to Different Prospect Preferences
Your prospects may have different preferences regarding how to contact them. Some never answer the phone from unknown callers, some do not read cold emails and some prefer to know everyone on their LinkedIn personally. Therefore, a mix of approaches lets you maximise the effect of your messaging. To structure a sequence within HubSpot is easy. Their sequence builder lets you send automated emails based on templates, and create calls and tasks.
An Effective 8-Step Sequence Example
Let us take a look at what a sequence might look like. Remember, the aim is to elicit a response. Questions are great for that reason. As soon as you get a response, the sequence should end.
Day 1, Initial Email: Start with a personalised email that references a relevant event or industry trend. Briefly introduce your company and paint a picture of how your solution creates an ideal scenario for the prospect.
Day 4, Follow-up Email: Send a gentle reminder, but include a compelling statistic from a case study. This builds credibility and reinforces the value of your offering.
Day 5, First Call Attempt: Make a phone call. Use this opportunity to deliver your pitch and gauge interest. Do not leave a message if unanswered.
Day 7, LinkedIn Connection: Reach out on LinkedIn, acknowledging previous contact attempts. This adds a personal touch and helps the prospect put a face to your name.
Day 9, Second Call Attempt: Make another call, leave a message. This persistence shows dedication and provides another chance for direct communication.
Day 12, Email: Send a follow-up email asking if you're speaking with the right person about this matter. Name drop a colleague of theirs and ask if that is a better person to contact.
Day 14, Linkedin message: Ask whether they're experiencing the specific problem your solution addresses. If not, ask if they can share their solution for how they solved the issue.
Day 21, Break-up Email: Send a final email acknowledging that this might not be the right time. This leaves the door open for future communication without being pushy.
This sequence combines various touch points across different channels, increasing your chances of connecting with the prospect through their preferred method of communication. It gradually builds familiarity and provides multiple opportunities for engagement. You can always add more steps on Linkedin or calls if you’d like, but make sure not to overdo. Any more steps than 8 should be spaced out, so to not bother your prospect unnecessary.
The Limitations of Static Sequences
The problem with this approach is that with just HubSpot it's static. You can create a lot of different sequences tailored at different industries, ICPs and so forth, but you will never create sequences directed at each prospect. It is simply too time consuming. We know that a tailored approach, with high relevance to the recipient performs better, maximising your chance at initiating a conversation. That is why Swayle helps you by tailoring content in each touchpoint to evert prospect in a way that has never been done before.
Leveraging AI for Personalized Outreach
HubSpot sequences are a great way to connect with more leads without working yourself to the bone. By using AI to tailor your outreach and following some tried-and-true cold outreach best practices, you can seriously up your outbound sales game.
Want to see how Swayle can enhance your HubSpot with AI? Book a tailored walkthrough.
Further Reading
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Jakob is an experienced salesperson with a background in economics and behavioral science, specializing in B2B sales at Swayle. He shares insights on the B2B industry.