It’s day two at SaaStr Annual 2016, which means 5,000 SaaS leaders from 47 countries are gearing up for a second day of killer content and networking in San Francisco. Hundreds of those leaders packed into the event’s Tactical Theater for one early session on “How to Really Do Outbound Sales,” featuring these three experts:
- John Barrows, Owner, JBarrows (@JohnMBarrows)
- Kathy Lord, VP of Sales & Customer Success, Intacct (@kat88lord)
- Kyle Porter, CEO, SalesLoft (@kyleporter)
Naturally, the outbound talk drew in perspectives on inbound sales, as well. In the end, the session offered a well-informed blend of tips on both. Here are some of the highlights:
9 “How to Really Do Outbound” Takeaways:
1. Start outbound early.
“I think for most companies, it’s absolutely immediately.” – Kyle Porter, CEO, SalesLoft (@kyleporter)
“I think it is best to start early, but you need to be thoughtful about how you marry that in with other parts of the organization.” – Kathy Lord, VP of Sales & Customer Success, Intacct (@kat88lord)
2. Balance inbound with outbound.
“There’s a wide range of inbound. One of the things I love to say, is…there’s an opportunity to outbound the inbounds.” – Kyle Porter, CEO, SalesLoft (@kyleporter)
3. Understand buyer personas early and then identify where outbound and inbound fit from there.
“Initially you don’t necessarily know who that ideal target is that you’re trying to get, and I think it’s a lot easier to do that with outbound efforts.” – Kathy Lord, VP of Sales & Customer Success, Intacct (@kat88lord)
4. Nail time management for inbound.
“With inbound, you have to be quick, you have to respond and you have to go deep as fast as you can. There’s no resting in inbound.” – Kyle Porter, CEO, SalesLoft (@kyleporter)
5. Hire the right inbound/outbound reps.
“We look for folks who have invested in that [ability to have professional conversations], are very articulate in writing…very coachable and then somebody who’s highly disciplined.” – Kathy Lord, VP of Sales & Customer Success, Intacct (@kat88lord)
“I think one of the big ones is: I love someone who’s come from a hard, challenging sales environment, whether they were selling magazines door to door, whether they were selling knives door to door…and then I absolutely love folks that came from the recruiting industry.” – Kyle Porter, CEO, SalesLoft (@kyleporter)
6. Figure out how to segment your team.
“Today, Inbound Sales Development reports to Marketing at SalesLoft, and Outbound Sales Development reports to Sales at SalesLoft.” – Kyle Porter, CEO, SalesLoft (@kyleporter)
7. Understand the modern roles of Sales and Marketing.
“Marketing is content, where sales should be at least context.” – John Barrows, Owner, JBarrows (@JohnMBarrows)
8. Use outbound to personalize.
“The best way to go about an outbound sales development process is to pick the logos that you want to be your customers…divide those among your sales development team and have them create a process for personalized communication with those folks.”- Kyle Porter, CEO, SalesLoft (@kyleporter)
9. When it comes to outbound, keep testing.
“Split test everything you do. Literally, split test everything you do.” – John Barrows, Owner, JBarrows (@JohnMBarrows)
Stay tuned for more SaaStr Annual coverage!
