How to Create a Sales Outreach Strategy That Attracts Ideal Customers

Inbound strategies often deliver higher-quality leads. Reports confirm they convert 10x more effectively than outbound methods. But you can’t rely solely on them since it isn’t always feasible, especially when competition is high. 

This begs the question of how, if traditional outbound techniques aren’t delivered, businesses can reimagine their sales outreach to stand out and drive quality leads.

With numerous businesses fighting for consumer attention, your success depends on a sharply targeted strategy engaging and driven by customer insights.

And how do you craft such a strategy? Let’s find out.

8 Ways To Create A Sales Outreach Strategy

Define your ICP

Your ideal customer profile or ICP is more than just demographics. It should cover the characteristics of your best-fit customers, including their industry, company size, budget, goals, and pain points.

Here’s an editable kit from Close:

Let’s take project management software as an example. Their ICP might include mid-sized tech companies with distributed teams facing collaboration challenges. With this information at hand, they can tailor their messaging, choose the right outreach channels, and speak directly to customer needs.

Remember, the clearer your ICP, the more precisely you can target your outreach efforts. It can ascertain you’re addressing leads most likely to convert.

Segment your prospect list

With your ICP ready, you need to segment your prospect list. Segmentation lets you group prospects based on specific characteristics such as: 

• Industry
• Job role
• Geographic location
• Company size 

Doing so ensures a personalized and relevant outreach and increases the odds of engagement. A well-segmented list also prevents you from taking a generic approach. It lays the foundation for tailored communication that resonates with your audience and boosts response rates.

Let’s take Slack’s enterprise product as an example. 

They would ideally target large enterprises instead of startups, CTOs for technical benefits, and HR heads for collaboration opportunities. They have a global market but could start with US-based firms for better onboarding support. For their enterprise product specifically, they could look for tech-based companies that require collaboration tools and custom integrations.

Personalize messaging for each segment

Want to get ignored? A generalized approach will get you there. However personalizing your messaging for each segment shows you truly get their exact challenges and goals. It also makes your pitch more compelling and relatable.

For instance, if you’re targeting IT managers, you should emphasize how your product improves compliance and strengthens CWPP security. By addressing their specific security needs—such as cloud workload protection and risk mitigation in cloud environments—you can demonstrate how your solution aligns with their priorities, making the message more relevant and compelling.

Alternatively, if you’re speaking to small business owners in retail, emphasize cost savings and ease of integration. If you're targeting content creators, focus on how your product offers various monetization options and helps build a loyal, engaged community.

A common mistake is assuming personalization is simply inserting names into emails. 

However, it is more than that.  You should mention other key details like recent company achievements or shared connections. Anything beyond the bare minimum and connecting with the recipient increases your odds of winning the deal. You could even mention their segment’s challenges to get a response or a click. Take a cue from Shopify-

If you’re targeting clients at events, you could get conference swag to sweeten the deal, too.

Set clear goals and KPIs

Without defined objectives, you can’t assess what’s working and what needs improvement. When setting goals, consider these KPIs:

• Response rate- The percentage of prospects who reply to your outreach
• Conversion rate- How many prospects turn into qualified leads
• Engagement metrics- Clickthrough rates, email opens, or time spent on lead magnets
• Time to conversion- The average time it takes to move a lead through the sales funnel

These metrics can help you refine your approach and guide your outreach strategy. Let’s assume your response rate is high but conversions are low. It could mean you need to target better or up your follow-up game. 

You’ll also have to ensure your team is aligned to achieve these goals. For that, you’ll have to invest in skill-based learning.

Choose the right outreach channels

Your outreach efforts are only as strong as the mediums of your communication. So, reach out to them where they’re most active. Different segments may prefer different platforms, so understanding their habits and preferences will be key to ensuring your message lands.

Try these outreach channels:

• LinkedIn Sales Navigator for B2B outreach and connecting with decision-makers
• Email for direct, personalized communication with prospects
• Twitter for engaging in industry-specific conversations and increasing visibility
• Instagram for influencers, creators, and visually-driven brands
• Phone calls and Google Meet for building trust and creating a more personal touch

Diversify your outreach efforts to test which channels bring the best results. You can even combine platforms to maximize your chances of a response.

Keep your pitch crisp since stakeholders often have multiple tasks to juggle. You can even use LinkedIn AI tools to simplify the job when talking to higher-ups at companies.

For example, 

Optimize timing for outreach

With sales, timing is everything. 

Research shows that messages sent on Tuesday and Thursday tend to perform better since prospects are potentially in a productive mindset. On the contrary, Friday outreach attempts are often ignored due to busy schedules or weekend preparations.

To optimize your timing, align your outreach with your prospect’s routines. For starters, consider the flow of their workday and their timezone. You should also analyze your past outreach performance to study patterns and determine when your target audience is most responsive. Why? Because timing isn’t simply about when you send a message. You must ensure your message reaches prospects when they’re open to engaging.

Use automation tools for efficiency

Automation is the best way to scale your sales outreach without compromising on personalization. It streamlines mundane tasks like sending follow-up emails, scheduling outreach sequences, or even managing prospect lists. The best part is that it frees up time to focus on building genuine relationships.

Platforms like Skrapp.io let you search leads to create easier workflows. It simplifies your workload so you can track open rates, responses, and conversions and follow up with leads likely to convert.

Use automation more to handle administrative tasks and deliver timely, relevant messages, but leave room for personal touches when engaging with high-value prospects. 

Other examples of automation tools are Slack for internal communication, Mailchimp for email campaigns, Zapier for organizing workflows, and Calendly for meeting scheduling.

Continuously analyze and refine

Your sales outreach strategy can’t be static. Let it evolve based on performance data and market changes. 

Then, use this data to refine your outreach system. 

• Are certain email templates consistently performing well? Replicate their tone or structure across other campaigns. 
• Specific segments aren’t responding? Go back to the whiteboard to reassess whether they align with your ICP. 
• A/B testing can also fine-tune elements like subject lines, CTA phrasing, and even outreach timing.

Most importantly, stay proactive and adapt to unforeseen changes so your outreach strategy remains impactful and aligned with overarching business needs.

4 tools to support your sales outreach

Prospecting: Skrapp.io

You need to build a high-quality prospect list to have a fruitful sales outreach strategy. Skrapp.io makes this possible. Our extension helps sales teams find verified business emails so you can save time and ensure accuracy.

What’s more, you can get 100 credits for free or more features with our paid plans, which start at $19 per month.

Calendar

Managing meetings and being timely with your follow-ups will benefit your sales outreach. 

With productivity tools like Google Calendar and Calendly, you can simplify scheduling and organize your meetings. This is extremely important since cluttered schedules lead to missed calls or double-booked meetings and harm prospect relationships. 

The best part? You can add both of these tools to your stack for free. Google Calendar’s premium features include Google Workspace’s Business and Enterprise plans. Teams can opt for Calendly’s recommended monthly plan at $16 per user.

Project management

Organizing sales efforts is critical, especially when working with multiple team members. Opt for tools like Trello or Asana to track progress, assign tasks, and ensure the team meets deadlines.

Such tools are non-negotiables since they have: 

• Task boards and timelines to track outreach efforts
• Collaboration features to share updates and assign roles
• Integration with email tools and CRMs for seamless workflows
• Reporting and analytics to monitor progress

They help you stay organized, reduce inefficiencies, and improve accountability. You can see exactly where each campaign stands and adjust plans as needed. You can choose Trello’s free plan or a paid plan starting at $5 per user per month. Asana, too, offers free and paid plans starting at $6.92 per user per month.

CRM

Your CRM system will act as the backbone of your sales operation. Platforms like HubSpot and Salesforce help sales teams manage leads, track interactions, and analyze performance data to refine strategies.

Without it, tracking conversations, managing follow-ups, and measuring your outreach campaign’s impact will be tedious. But with a CRM, you can centralize all this information and make it accessible to all stakeholders.

Here are some features to look for in your CRM:

• Contact management to store and organize prospect information
• Automated task reminders for follow-ups and deadlines
• Sales pipelines to track leads through each stage of the funnel
• Integration with email and marketing tools for a holistic view of customer engagement
• Reporting and analytics to measure success and identify areas for improvement

Hubspot offers free tools and starter packs for small teams and individuals starting at $15 per user per month. Alternatively, you can try Salesforce for free or choose their paid plans starting at $25 per user per month.

Conclusion

While building a solid sales outreach strategy requires meticulous steps to attract your ideal customers, it doesn’t need to be overwhelming. Just get the basics right, personalize your pitch, use the right tools, and be willing to tweak things to set yourself up for success.

With such an approach, you won’t need to blast out messages to everyone repeatedly. Instead, you’ll have a strategy that feels like it was made just for your prospects. When they feel seen and understood, the response rate will skyrocket.

Ready to take your outreach strategy to the next level? 

Find verified business emails with Skrapp and connect with your ideal customers today!