EP 239: A new tool to add to your agency’s sales strategy with Jeff Winters
May 4, 2020
auto_awesome
Learn about the success of cold email as a new business strategy for agency owners with guest Jeff Winters. Jeff discusses his company, Sapper, which helps with outbound email marketing and sales efforts. He shares scripts, timing cadence, and success metrics for effective cold emailing. The podcast also covers topics like sales cycle timing during COVID-19, agency budget tiers, best practices for automated email sequences, and navigating business challenges during the pandemic.
Implementing a three-tiered account model can help agencies allocate resources effectively.
When writing emails, strike a balance between being casual and delivering the pain solve.
Discovery calls should prioritize understanding the prospect's needs and pain points.
Deep dives
The Three-Tiered Account Model
Implementing a three-tiered account model can help agencies allocate resources effectively. Tier one prospects, or top priority prospects, receive more personalized and resource-intensive outreach efforts. Tier two prospects require a slightly scaled-down approach, still including personalized touches. Tier three prospects receive a more automated approach, allowing for efficient outreach to a larger pool of prospects.
Effective Email Writing
When writing emails, it is essential to strike a balance between being casual and delivering the pain solve. Casual phrases in the beginning of emails help establish a personal touch and authenticity. Emails should focus on addressing the specific pain points of the prospects and offering a concrete solution or value proposition. Spreading out the offerings and tactics over multiple emails instead of overwhelming prospects in a single email can be more effective in driving engagement and conversions.
Longer Discovery Calls
Discovery calls should prioritize understanding the prospect's needs and pain points. Taking the time to ask around 10-14 questions during these initial calls helps gather essential information and enables more precise recommendations or solutions. Top-performing reps spend less time creating rapport and stay focused on discussing and resolving business-related matters during the calls.
Strategically Timing Follow-ups
When prospects respond to emails but fail to schedule a meeting, incorporating a mix of human touches and automated emails can be effective. Initiating five human touches followed by a return to automated emails can help maintain contact while ensuring efficient resource allocation. The timing of outreach should be respectful of prospects' schedules and reflect a balance between persistency and empathy.
Adapting Sales Strategies in Challenging Times
In uncertain times, agencies should prioritize outbound efforts over inbound. Flexibility, empathy, and understanding the balance between staying in business and showing sensitivity are crucial. Acknowledging the current situation in emails and extending timeframes for client responses can help maintain meaningful conversations. Ensuring that clients receive comprehensive business solutions and focusing on identifying pain points and providing value can strengthen relationships and drive new business despite challenging circumstances.
There’s always been a great debate among agency owners – does cold email work as a new business strategy. Many will argue that given SPAM filters and the volume of email that everyone gets, it’s impossible to break through and actually get the attention of someone in the C-suite. My guest Jeff Winters proves that belief wrong for his clients every day. But will it work for your agency?
There’s always been a great debate among agency owners – does cold email work as a new business strategy. Many will argue that given SPAM filters and the volume of email that everyone gets, it’s impossible to break through and actually get the attention of someone in the C-suite. My guest Jeff Winters proves that belief wrong for his clients every day. But will it work for your agency?
Jeff created a company called Sapper, a service that works with agency owners and brand leaders to help them with their outbound email marketing and sales efforts. Understanding his methodology means you can do this at home—or you can hire a company like Sapper to do it for you.
In this episode, Jeff gave us the scripts, the timing cadence and how you can measure the results. Ours may be an industry that typically does not boast a lot of success from cold calling, but Jeff has many agencies on his roster that are doing things differently and experiencing great success. I picked Jeff’s brain to find out exactly what they are doing so you can do it too.
A big thank you to our podcast’s presenting sponsor, White Label IQ. They’re an amazing resource for agencies who want to outsource their design, dev or PPC work at wholesale prices. Check out their special offer (10 free hours!) for podcast listeners here.
What You Will Learn in This Episode:
How Sapper was founded and what they do
How to master outbound email marketing
How agencies perform using Sapper’s sales methodology
Different tactics you can use for macro, micro, and nano tiered clients
How to approach frequency of communication
What to do when somebody actually responds to your outbound marketing
How to rethink your sales strategy in a time of crisis
Get the Snipd podcast app
Unlock the knowledge in podcasts with the podcast player of the future.
AI-powered podcast player
Listen to all your favourite podcasts with AI-powered features
Discover highlights
Listen to the best highlights from the podcasts you love and dive into the full episode
Save any moment
Hear something you like? Tap your headphones to save it with AI-generated key takeaways
Share & Export
Send highlights to Twitter, WhatsApp or export them to Notion, Readwise & more
AI-powered podcast player
Listen to all your favourite podcasts with AI-powered features
Discover highlights
Listen to the best highlights from the podcasts you love and dive into the full episode