Stand Out in Sales [free b2b sales course]
Summary
TLDRIn this sales-focused micro course, Devin Reed, a sales rep turned content strategy leader, reveals five essential plays to break through the noise and engage buyers effectively. These strategies include crafting irresistible cold email offers, using humor to lower defenses during cold calls, leveraging Cunningham's Law to avoid being ghosted, employing disarming subject lines for executive engagement, and utilizing text messaging to build momentum with buyers. Each play is designed to stand out in the competitive attention economy and drive sales success.
Takeaways
- 📈 In the current digital landscape, traditional sales tactics are insufficient due to increased distractions and noise, necessitating new strategies to capture attention and win in the attention economy.
- 🔍 Successful sellers break through the noise by using specific principles, strategies, and tactics, which are not based on luck but on repeatable and effective methods.
- 💌 Sales Play 1: Make irresistible offers in cold emails to stand out and initiate conversations, rather than directly asking for meetings which are often ignored.
- 😄 Sales Play 2: Use humor and acknowledgment in cold calls to lower the prospect's guard and get permission to pitch, avoiding the common pitfalls of aggressive sales approaches.
- 👻 Sales Play 3: Apply Cunningham's Law by giving wrong answers to provoke responses from unresponsive buyers, leveraging the human tendency to correct misinformation.
- 📧 Sales Play 4: Use disarming subject lines like 'no action required' in emails to maintain engagement with busy executive buyers and keep deals moving forward.
- 📲 Sales Play 5: Utilize texting as a communication channel with buyers to build momentum and relationships, but do so respectfully and only after establishing consent.
- 🚫 Avoid cold texting prospects as it can be perceived as invasive and spam-like, which can harm the relationship before it begins.
- 📝 Devin Reed, a sales rep turned content strategy leader, shares these insights and strategies in a micro course aimed at helping sales professionals improve their outreach and conversion rates.
- 📚 The course includes practical examples and templates for cold emails and texts, providing actionable steps for sales reps to implement these strategies in their sales cycles.
Q & A
What is the main challenge faced by salespeople in the digital age according to Devin Reed?
-The main challenge is getting the attention of prospects and buyers due to an overwhelming number of distractions and noise.
Why do traditional sales tactics fail in the current digital environment?
-Traditional tactics fail because they do not effectively break through the noise and engage buyers throughout the sales cycle.
What is Devin Reed's professional background?
-Devin Reed is a sales rep turned content strategy leader.
What are the five sales plays Devin Reed introduces in the micro course?
-The five sales plays are: 1) Making irresistible offers in cold emails, 2) Lowering the guard for smoother cold calls, 3) Giving wrong answers to avoid getting ghosted, 4) Using disarming subject lines to keep execs engaged, and 5) Unlocking texting to build momentum with buyers.
How does Devin suggest changing the call to action in cold emails to stand out?
-Instead of asking for a meeting, Devin suggests making an irresistible offer that provides value without expecting anything in return.
What is the purpose of using humor in the opening line of a cold call according to Devin Reed?
-Using humor is meant to lower the prospect's guard and get permission to pitch, acknowledging the awkwardness of an unannounced call.
What is Cunningham's Law and how does Devin Reed apply it in sales?
-Cunningham's Law states that the best way to get the right answer on the internet is to post the wrong answer. Devin applies this by providing common reasons for unresponsiveness, hoping the buyer will correct the wrong assumption.
Why does Devin Reed recommend using the subject line 'No action required' in emails to executives?
-The subject line 'No action required' is disarming and hooks the reader by indicating low lift, making them more likely to open and read the email.
What are the three tactics Devin suggests for texting buyers without being invasive?
-The three tactics are: 1) Sending an intro text before the first meeting, 2) Texting a post-meeting follow-up, and 3) Asking during next steps if it's okay to text for updates.
What is Devin Reed's stance on cold texting prospects?
-Devin Reed advises against cold texting prospects because it can be perceived as spammy and rub prospects the wrong way.
How does Devin Reed's micro course aim to help salespeople?
-The course aims to help salespeople by teaching them specific principles, strategies, and tactics to win in the attention economy, capture attention, and convert it into pipeline and revenue.
Outlines
📨 Mastering Cold Emails with Irresistible Offers
The first paragraph emphasizes the challenge of capturing attention in a noisy digital marketplace and introduces Devin Reed's micro course on effective sales strategies. Devin, a sales expert turned content strategist, outlines the first sales play: crafting irresistible offers in cold emails to stand out and initiate more meetings. He critiques the common practice of asking for a meeting directly, which he argues is ineffective due to its ubiquity. Instead, he suggests making an unexpected offer of value upfront, like an email deliverability report, to pique interest and start a conversation. This approach is designed to build trust and set the stage for future engagement.
📞 Smoothing Cold Calls with Humor and Permission
In the second paragraph, Devin shares his personal experience and strategy for improving cold call success rates. He discusses the common defensiveness of prospects when interrupted by sales calls and introduces a method to lower their guard using humor. His approach involves acknowledging the awkwardness of cold calling and asking for permission to pitch, which he believes earns him more time and attention. Devin's opening line is designed to be friendly and casual, aiming to convert the initial 'no' or hang-up responses into more engaging conversations, ultimately leading to more meetings being booked.
👻 Avoiding Ghosting with Cunningham's Law
The third paragraph focuses on a unique tactic to avoid being ghosted by unresponsive buyers, leveraging Cunningham's Law. Devin explains that by providing potential buyers with common reasons for their silence, such as timing, price, or scope issues, he invites them to correct him if his assumptions are wrong. This strategy is based on the human tendency to correct incorrect information, thereby prompting a response. The email template provided is designed to be non-pushy and casual, aiming to re-engage buyers and get deals back on track without coming across as nagging or demanding.
🔒 Keeping Executives Engaged with 'No Action Required' Emails
In the fourth paragraph, Devin addresses the issue of keeping executives engaged during sales trials, where they often disengage after the trial begins. He introduces a subject line strategy that has a high open rate—'No action required'—and an email template that provides updates without asking for anything in return. This approach is unexpected and disarming, which Devin claims results in high engagement and positive feedback from executives. The strategy is aimed at maintaining momentum and securing executive sponsorship without being intrusive.
📲 Building Momentum with Texting in Sales
The final paragraph introduces the concept of using texting as a sales tool to build momentum with buyers. Devin argues that texting can be a powerful way to communicate when done correctly and without being invasive. He outlines three tactics for texting buyers: an intro text before the first meeting, a post-meeting text to gather feedback, and asking during next steps if texting is acceptable for updates. Devin advises against cold texting prospects due to the risk of coming off as spammy. The goal is to establish texting as a channel for more immediate and intimate communication, which can lead to stronger relationships and deals.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Attention Economy
💡Irresistible Offers
💡Cold Emails
💡Cold Calls
💡Cunningham's Law
💡Ghosted Buyers
💡Disarming Subject Lines
💡Texting in Sales
💡Sales Plays
💡Content Strategy
Highlights
The modern sales environment is challenging due to increased distractions and noise, making traditional tactics less effective.
Successful sellers use specific principles, strategies, and tactics to stand out in the attention economy.
Devin Reed, a sales expert, introduces a micro course with five sales plays to help capture attention and convert it into revenue.
Sales play one: Make irresistible offers in cold emails to stand out and book more meetings.
Traditional direct calls to action in emails often become noise; offering value first can break through.
Examples of irresistible offers include valuable guides, templates, or checklists with no strings attached.
Sales play two: Lower the prospect's guard with humor and get permission to pitch during cold calls.
Using light humor can make cold calls more effective by earning a few more seconds of the prospect's attention.
Sales play three: Apply Cunningham's Law to avoid getting ghosted by providing wrong answers and prompting correction.
By giving potential wrong reasons for non-response, you may prompt the buyer to correct you, thus re-engaging the conversation.
Sales play four: Use disarming subject lines like 'no action required' to keep executives engaged during trials.
An email template with a 'no action required' subject line can maintain engagement and momentum in deals.
Sales play five: Unlock texting as a communication channel with buyers to build momentum without being invasive.
Texting can be a powerful tool for maintaining contact and building relationships with buyers.
Tactics for effective texting include the intro text, post-meeting text, and asking during next steps for texting permissions.
Never cold text prospects to avoid coming off as spammy or disrespectful.
Opening up texting as a channel can help stand out from competitors and build stronger relationships.
Devin Reed offers a newsletter and a playbook titled 'Content that Converts' for further sales and content strategy insights.
Transcripts
It's harder than ever
to get the attention
of prospects and buyers
because there's too many
distractions and more
noise than ever before.
And relying on the
same old tactics in
the new digital playing
field doesn't work.
If you don't know how
to win in the attention
economy, your quota
and career are at risk.
Have you ever wondered
why some sellers are able
to effortlessly break
through the noise and keep
buyers engaged throughout
the entire sales cycle?
It's not luck or magic.
There are specific
principles strategies
and tactics that they
use time and time again.
That's why they win
more often make more
money and have an
almost unbelievable
amount of success.
My name is Devin Reed.
I'm a sales rep turned
content strategy leader.
This micro course gives
you the five sales plays
that help you pierce
through the noise.
capture attention,
and convert it into
pipeline and revenue.
Sales play number one is
make irresistible offers
in your cold emails.
This prospecting
tactic is going to help
you book a lot more
meetings via cold email.
Think about the number
one goal for sellers
when they're outbounding,
to book meetings.
As a result, they default
to the most direct
call to action, which
is asking for time.
Scroll to the bottom of
almost any prospecting
email, and it'll end with
something like Do you have
30 minutes to discuss?
Because prospects are
bombarded with dozens
of these asks every
single day, they've
been conditioned
to expect them.
So this email
approach becomes noise
and doesn't work.
Buyers simply
delete or reply, not
interested, instead
of taking a meeting.
So if you want to stand
out and pierce through the
noise, Do the unexpected.
Here's what to do.
Change your CTA from
asking for time to making
an irresistible offer.
Here's what it looks like.
This is an example from
Jed Marley, friend,
fellow Hooper, and head
of outbound at Mailshake.
Instead of Asking
for something, he
reaches out and gives
something valuable with
no strings attached.
In this case,
it's an email
deliverability report.
It breaks the norm and
does the exact opposite
of what most sellers
do in their outreach.
And that's why
it's so effective.
Plus, the offer is so
relevant and compelling
that it's hard to resist.
You can create a
powerful offer too.
It could be a quick step
by step guide, like the
one you're watching now,
a copy paste template that
they can apply to their
job, Or a checklist that
shows them exactly how to
reach a specific outcome.
Remember, your first goal
when prospecting isn't
to book a meeting, it's
to spark a conversation.
If you want to get on your
prospect's radar and build
trust, make a deposit of
immense value before you
ever ask for anything.
That's how you stand out
and book more meetings.
with irresistible offers.
All right, next, you're
going to learn the all
time best cold call
opener that I ever wrote.
Sales play number two
is lower their guard
for smoother cold calls.
I spent the first six
years of my career as
a SaaS sales rep you
And I took pride in
building my own pipeline.
I didn't have much SDR
or marketing help for
most of my career, so
I had to learn how to
cold call confidently
and effectively.
But I didn't start
out that way.
After being hung up on,
cursed at, and told,
not interested, stop
calling, I realized
something had to change.
I needed to tweak
my approach.
So I asked myself, why
do most cold calls fail?
There are a lot
of reasons, but I
realized that prospects
get defensive.
They've been interrupted
by a stranger, and
once they realize
it's a salesperson,
they expect to be sold
to, which they hate.
So after tons of trial
and error, I discovered
a cold call opening
line that works almost
every single time.
My goal was simple.
Lower their guard, and
get permission to pitch.
I decided to use light
humor to lower their
guard, then acknowledge
the awkward scenario and
get permission to pitch.
that I caused by calling
them unannounced.
My hope was that by
immediately showing
high emotional
intelligence, I'd earn
a few more precious
seconds on the phone.
And just like that,
my best cold call
opening line was born.
Here it is.
Hey Chris, this is
Devin from Sell Better.
I know I'm catching
you on the fly.
Did I catch you
at a good time?
If there is such a thing?
Tonality and timing
are huge here.
I deliver it like I'm
calling my friend.
Calm and casual.
Then after the pause,
I say it with genuine
curiosity and a smile so
they recognize I fully
understand there's no
good time for a cold call.
This works because most
salespeople bulldoze
prospects and jump right
into a pitch without ever
asking for permission.
This repels prospects
because they feel
disrespected when
called unannounced
and pitch slapped.
By doing the unexpected,
I went from no's and
hang ups to to laughter
and, all right,
what you got, Devin?
And that led to
better calls and
more meetings booked.
Give it a try.
You can use what I wrote
word for word or tweak
it for your own style.
You'll have smoother
conversations, more
confident delivery,
and a lot more success.
Next up, how to get
replies from buyers
who ghosted you using
an unusual tactic.
Fail's play number three
is give wrong answers to
avoid getting ghosted.
I gotta say, this
is straight up my
favorite sales tactic,
mostly because it's
counterintuitive, and
it solves one of the
most annoying parts
of being in sales.
You're going to learn
how to use Cunningham's
Law to get unresponsive
buyers to come out of
the dark and give you
meaningful responses.
Let's start with context.
Cunningham's Law states,
the best way to get
the right answer on the
internet is to is not to
ask a question, it's to
post the wrong answer.
For example, in forums
like Reddit, simply
asking a question
often gets crickets
instead of responses.
But when someone posts
incorrect information,
people jump into the
conversation to provide
the right answer.
It's like people can't
resist correcting
information.
I was curious if this
phenomena could be
applied to buyers who
are in a sales cycle but
stop responding to me.
If you've ever chased a
buyer who's ghosting you,
you know the messages
are usually a mix of just
following up or recycling
the same CTA based on your
previous conversation.
And neither work.
So I made an email
template for when buyers
become unresponsive.
It's a small sample
size, but it's literally
worked every single time.
Here's the email template.
Hey, Suze, are we still
pacing toward the live
workshop for your team?
Usually when I don't
hear back after sending
an SOW it's because
there's a conversation
to be had around
timing, price, or scope.
Let me know if that's
it or if it's something
else that has us on hold.
Here's why it works.
By providing the three
common reasons why a
buyer would avoid me,
timing changed, price
is too high, or scope
has shifted, I make
it easy for my buyer
to pick an answer.
But, that's not
the real strategy.
My hope is that they'll
recognize one of those
is the wrong reason, and
and respond to correct
me, either by picking
one of those answers or
replying with a completely
different reason.
Both give me information
to help me get the
deal back on track.
The tone of the email
is to keep it short
and casual so it's
easy to read and reply.
I am specifically not
being pushy, naggy, or
guilting my prospect
into replying to me.
You can steal this
template for the next
time you get ghosted.
Just change the details
to fit your deal and
selling scenario.
It'll turn ghosts into
responsive buyers and move
deals forward and build
a healthier pipeline.
All right, next up,
my email template for
keeping the attention of
busy executive buyers.
On to sales play
number four.
Use disarming
subject lines to
keep execs engaged.
Back when I was a
sales rep, I ran free
trials as part of my
sales process, and they
were critical because
a good trial almost
guaranteed a closed deal.
But there was a problem.
It was hard as hell
to keep decision
makers involved.
More specifically,
they faded out of the
scene once the trial
started, insisting
they'd rejoin once I had
something to show them.
Problem was, once they
mentally unsubscribed,
It was often impossible
to get them back.
And even on the few
occasions I managed
to reel them back in,
their interest cooled.
Then asking for the
business was usually
met with disinterest.
I realized I needed
to prevent this from
ever happening in
the first place.
I needed a way to stay
top of mind during the
trial and get them to
attend the trial recap
meeting with as much
context as possible.
The answer?
A three word subject
line that has a near 100
percent open rate, plus
a simple but incredibly
effective email template.
The subject line is
no action required.
Hey Emma, sending
a quick update
regarding your trial.
I just met with Brittany
and we uncovered two
use cases to help grow
Pipeline and EMEA to
support your international
expansion initiative.
The reps are adopting
the platform and sharing
positive reviews.
Next, I'm speaking to
Brian to walk through
integrations and
security review process.
for joining us.
No action required at
the moment, I'll circle
back in a few weeks to
schedule time for me
and you to walk through
the rest of the results.
Talk soon.
This thing works
beautifully, damn
near flawlessly, and
that's because it does
two things that are
completely unexpected.
First, the subject
line is disarming.
Sentence case, no action
required, hooks my reader
in because it appears
low lift, since up
front I'm telling them
they don't need to do
anything but read it.
And two, my CTA
asks for nothing.
I know buyers are
conditioned to expect
sellers to ask for
something, time, money,
access, so instead,
much like sales play
number one, I give
instead of take.
Oddly enough.
I got a lot of replies,
despite specifically
not asking for one.
And the next email
almost always landed the
meeting I really wanted.
Even crazier, after
closing the deal,
execs would commend
me and thank me for
this email approach.
Give it a shot next
time you want to hook
an exec and keep them
involved in your deal.
You'll stay above the
power line, maintain
deal momentum, and unlock
critical exec sponsorship.
All right, y'all, the
final sales play is here,
and it's got nothing to do
with cold calls or email.
The final sales play
isn't about how to
stand out, but where.
Sales play number five is
unlock texting to build
momentum with your buyers.
Let me be clear.
You should 100 percent
be texting your buyers.
The trick is doing it
without being invasive.
Here are three ways you
can start texting your
buyers without pissing
them off or overstepping.
Tactic one,
the intro text.
Text the morning before
your first meeting.
All it takes is a
quick, Hey Sam, Devin
from The Reader here.
Are we still on
for our call at 11?
Looking forward to it.
Keep it casual
and to the point.
If they reply, you've
opened up a new channel
to use in the future.
Tactic number two,
the post meeting text.
Text your main point of
contact or champion right
after a group call with
a simple, Hey, how do
you think the call went?
This is a great way to
get comfortable with
your point of contact.
You'll also get
important feedback
you probably wouldn't
have gotten otherwise.
Tactic number three,
Ask during next steps.
Next time you're wrapping
up next steps on a
call, say these words.
Email is easy to get
lost in the shuffle.
Do you text?
This is going to seem
extremely obvious
and that's the point.
The answer for 99
percent of people
is, yeah, of course.
And then you can
say, cool, me too.
I'll share updates if
that's all right, but
I'll keep it light.
What's the best
number to reach you?
Unless they say no
thanks, you're good to go.
Bonus tip.
And this is a D
read hot take.
Never cold text prospects.
This is my hot take
for one reason, it's
too easy to get wrong.
In a world of spam
and not always the
best cold outreach,
this could rub your
prospect the wrong way.
And that's not worth
the risk in my opinion.
Opening up texting as
a channel is the way to
box out your competitors,
especially during a
crowded evaluation.
Your buyers are human
and have emotions, so
don't overthink it.
It's all good
to text them.
And because you've
earned the right to
a more immediate and
intimate communication
channel, you'll build
stronger relationships
and stronger deals.
All right, here's
what's next.
First, you can subscribe
to my newsletter, The
Content Strategy Reader.
You'll get content
strategy and creation
tips delivered straight to
your inbox every Saturday.
And if you really
want to step up your
content game, I just
published my playbook
content that converts,
which teaches you how
to stand out, build an
audience and get clients
in 30 days or less.
That's it for today.
Shout out to sell
better for putting
this course together.
I'll holler at you later.
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