How to use trigger events?
John Barrows (jbarrows.com) said recently in a SalesHacker conference that if there is one thing a sales rep needs to do when reaching out is to start each call by providing a reason for contact. They need to be relevant to open up a conversation with a prospect.
In this article we’ll share 6 examples on how a sales rep can create more relevant outbound emails when uncovering sales triggers. Sales triggers can be events such as leadership change, funding received, vendor changed, new technology introduced, new job opening, acquisition, award, etc.Â
Whenever a prospect changes one of their executives these new appointed execs are more likely to introduce some changes to their current processes. This is a good time to follow up with them. Say you notice a target prospect has appointed new CTO called Ben. Your email could look something like:
Subject: How CTO’s can automate marketing efforts ...
congratulations on you new position. If you will be trying out some new technologies in the following weeks I’d love to show you a demo on how we can automate your marketing efforts #{insert your one line pitch}. Are you available this Th at 10am or 3pm for a 10 min Skype chat?
If a company receives new round of financing or if they’ve succeeded with their crowdfunding campaign they should have some resources available. This again is a good time to check if your solution makes a cut.
Subject: Congratulations on new funding Alex
I noticed you just closed another round of financing. Since our solution helps insurance companies such as yours reduce their risks #{insert your one line pitch} I thought we might add value to what you do.Â
Would you have 5 mins next week for a quick Skype chat?
With job openings it depends on what you’re selling. Say you’re outsourcing iOS development and you notice a prospect’s company is hiring iOS devs. Knowing this allows you to send highly relevant email and have a better timing.
Subject: Want to outsource iOS development?
saw you’re hiring iOS developers and since we outsource iOS development I said I’ll reach out to you.
Do you want to schedule a 5 min chat on Wed 9am or 3pm next week about what we can do for you?
Say the prospect just started using Marketo and your product is tightly connected with Marketo platform now is the perfect time to introduce your solution. If the prospect installed SugarCRM - and you offer an add-on for SugarCRM include that in an email. The same if they’ve put on Vimeo video - and you’re a video producing company.
If you’re able to differentiate which prospects are more likely to convert than the others based on the technologies they are using, you will find “new tech” alerts of high benefit.Â
You could usually send an email sth along the lines of:
Subject: We can help your leverage your Marketo system
saw you guys started using Marketo. Our solution helps you analyse all the inbound leads automatically and filters out the false positives #{provide a reason how your solution helps them because of using this specific technology}.
Would you like to see a 5 min demo on Tu at 3pm next week?
Say you find an article in an online magazine (NYTimes, Medium, TechCrunch ...) writing about your prospect. Notable mentions are not as significant as the previous examples but they are still better than just checking in or touching base.
Subject: TechCrunch’s article
Noticed you guys are getting some traction recently - saw you in TechCrunch article. We offer a tool that automates your social postings #{your one line pitch}. Would you like to join our webinar next Wed at 4pm on how to manage your social channels?
You might find your prospect just launched new version of their product. You might offer an online customer support system you might write:
Subject: New product might deserve new online customer support system?
saw JenniferCompany just introduced new product, cons on that! For new products to get good adoption it’s essential your customers know how to use it and where to find help if they don’t, right? We offer super intuitive customer support system #{your pitch}. Would you find 5 min on your calendar next week, say Th 9am for me to show you a quick demo?
Using triggers events to be relevant when reaching out increases engagement with your prospects and helps you form better relationships. Thus conversions and up-sells will go up.
When different triggers meet
It gets interesting if a company has changed their CMO, received funding and already introduced some new vendors - all in the previous 2 months.
Your perfect email now depends on what you’re selling. You need to assess your strengths and put forward the one that creates most conversions.
More on combining the triggers and using this to create emails in our next post.
