Winning the inbox: How to create outbound sequences that convert

‍Outbound sequences play a vital role in SaaS sales success. 

But in an era where the average employee receives 121 emails every day, it can be difficult to get folks to engage with prospecting sequences.

In an effort to help you create outbound sequences that actually convert, we recently hosted a webinar packed with actionable tips on what you can do to improve the effectiveness of your prospecting cadences, featuring:

• Jack Doheny, account executive at InVeterate; formerly an account executive at GRIN 
• Nate Robbins, director of sales and business development at Gong; formerly director of business development at ClickUp
• Brianne Shelly, former mid-market account executive at LeadIQ (we miss you, Brianne!)
• Millie Brooks, former director of digital marketing and demand generation at LeadIQ (we miss you, Millie!)

Keep reading to learn some of the top insights our panel of experts shared to find out what you can do to get better results with your current outbound sequences.

Wield the power of the post-script

The way Jack sees it, there’s a premium piece of real estate in prospecting cadences that many SaaS sales reps overlook: the post-script. 

“The best piece of advice when it comes to email outbound is the power of the P.S.,” Jack says. “The reason I think that’s a super powerful tool is that it gets your name above the fold when you’re sending out an email, which helps build a little more familiarity.” 

That way, your name will be top of mind when you follow up with your prospect via LinkedIn or the phone, Jack explains.

While you’re at it, it’s important to consider the reader experience when you’re creating an outbound cadence. To this end, Jack advises reps to keep the letter F in mind when crafting new sequences.

“Most people, when they read an email, will read pretty far into the first line and then they’ll skim shorter and shorter as they’re moving down into the email,” he says. “So, making sure that the first few lines that you’re sending out are as impactful as possible — related to the customer, talking about them and their problems — and then also some kind of business impact, too.” 

Another key ingredient in successful prospecting sequences is a diversity of mediums, Jack says.

“You want to have different mediums of touch points besides an email,” he explains. “One thing I utilize a lot is video inside of an email, whether that be a Vidyard or a Loom.”

Be consistent consistently

Nate’s biggest piece of advice for crafting compelling outbound cadences can be summed up in one word: consistency.

“Consistency — not only in putting people in but also following the sequence structure,” he says. “Most people only get four or five touches in before they drop off, and data shows that it takes six to eight touches before you really get the highest conversion rate.” 

If you’re stopping before then, Nick says, you’re essentially wasting time and energy.

“It doesn’t matter how great a sequence you’ve got if you aren’t taking it all the way through,” Nick continues. “If you aren’t, you are definitely leaving conversations and pipeline on the table.”

While Nick believes that generative AI writing tools have helped super-busy sales reps create prospecting sequences in less time, he believes sales teams need to stay laser-focused on using their own brains to optimize messaging.

“I always tell my team, ‘With great power comes great responsibility,’” he says. “No matter how good our prompts might get, we can’t just accept whatever it spits back at us is good enough and move on. It’s really important that we continue competing for that inbox space because it is getting tougher and tougher to break through.”

While “taking the heart out of messaging” might be tempting, Nick believes it absolutely isn’t worth the risk.

“It’s a good short-term solution,” Nick explains. “You’ll get a lot of responses. But in the long term, it’s going to kill you.” 

Leverage the power of A/B testing

The best SaaS sales reps don’t rely on gut instinct; they take a data-driven approach to everything they do. 

That being the case, Brie encourages sales reps to use A/B testing to see what’s working best and let the data guide the path forward.

“My number one piece of advice is to constantly be A/B testing and keeping up with trends and keeping up that research,” Brie explains. “I’m constantly checking on my reply rates, my open rates, my click-through rates, and I’m iterating almost on a weekly basis.”

To keep current with what’s happening, Brie suggests following thought leaders on LinkedIn, reading blog posts, and watching relevant webinars — like the one you’re reading about now.

Additionally, Brie believes that success with outbound sequences starts with personalization; she’ll often pull something from a LinkedIn bio or a 10-K report.

“Typically, my subject lines are informed by that piece of personalization,” she says. “And I like to keep it really short — maybe sometimes one word, two words, maybe max three.” 

Though Brie cut her teeth as a content marketer and was originally skeptical of using generative AI tools to accelerate the email-writing process, she’s changed her mind.

“I usually use the Scribe tool, as somebody who used to write for a living,” she says. “I was a little bit skeptical at first, but it is seriously just a great time saver.” 

Ready to uplevel your outbound cadences?

No matter how strong your outbound sequences are, they can always improve. 

Since you’re reading these words, you’re no doubt interested in figuring out what you can do to optimize your prospecting cadences and generate more pipeline. 

The tips covered in this post can certainly help you get started. But if you want to take your sequences to the next level, watch the full webinar above for even more insights.