5 Keys to a Sales Cadence. With Gabe Larsen [Episode 603]

Gabe Larsen, V.P. of InsideSales Labs, joins me on this episode.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Gabe says the single biggest challenge facing sales reps today is getting more and better leads.
• InsideSales recently researched the sales cadence. A sales cadence is a sequence of activities to increase contact and qualification. Great cadences allow you to educate and qualify leads.
• In researching the cadence survey, InsideSales asked sales reps and leaders to self-report activity. They also ran external audits on invented leads. Self-reporting showed the reps doing better than the actual audits showed.
• Reps believe social selling improves their results. Gabe looks at data. InsideSales looked at 10 million sales opportunities and at what happened at the end of the quarter. A lot of potential money was left on the table.
• There are five keys to a cadence: attempts (touches), media (channel), duration of the message, spacing (gap), and content (message). The average number of attempts per lead is four. 40% of leads received no follow up, at all.
• Data shows U.S. reps are sending more email messages than European reps. There is a movement to an account-based outbound model, and the inbound leads are being somewhat neglected.
• Some reps are leaving lead response alone and think that they think have little potential for a sale. The desire to hit activity metrics is having an impact on actual selling. If a customer says they want to be contacted, then contact them now.
• The most common follow up is a single email. This is not the most effective way to follow up. Email should be used to set up a conversation between two people.
• Every day that passes after a lead comes in degrades the prospect’s top-of-mind awareness. If you wait five days before contacting the prospect, you will likely lose them.
• Is there an optimal cadence? If there is, reps aren’t using it. The tool doesn’t set the cadence or fix a problem. A person using a tool solves a problem. Find a balance between activities and results.
• Personalization always trumps automation. Andy says humanization trumps personalization. Let technology augment the sales rep, without replacing the rep. Testing is essential.
• Do we need to restructure marketing? We need to think about acquisition and retention. Gabe talks about internal changes at InsideSales Labs.