Prospecting sequences are a series of activities you choose that are designed to engage targeted audiences and develop name familiarity. The goal of a sequence is to lead to a sales conversation.
What is a prospecting sequence?
A prospecting sequence is a series of activities to nurture new connections along the path to talking with you or your sales team. It’s a way to get people into your lead nurturing cycle, stay in touch with them, and offer useful information along the way.
The purpose of the prospecting sequence is to connect with people through various means, not just relying on one method or medium to create a sense of need with the prospect. Depending on one method, such as a series of emails, will typically generate weak results.
A one-time effort in reaching out to a prospective client is not enough. You must commit to multiple touches in multiple ways. People need to know, like, and trust you before wanting to do business with you, and you can help them through this process with multiple interactions.
How to create a prospecting sequence
When reaching out to new connections, recognize that people don’t know your name and will likely delete emails you send. So don’t make your first introduction to someone through their inbox. Find other ways to develop name familiarity first before sending emails.
For example, your sequence may look like this:
- Research the prospect and capture notes in your CRM.
- Look for a mutual connection and ask for an introduction.
- Look the prospect up on LinkedIn and send a connection request.
- Follow their company.
- Research others from their company and connect as appropriate.
- When they respond, invite them to follow your LinkedIn company page and any blog or resources page where you share ideas and tools.
- Call them to introduce yourself. Plan to leave a voicemail and let them know you’ll send an email as a follow-up.
- Send the email as promised, introducing yourself and explaining how you help businesses like theirs.
- Invite them to an educational event you’re hosting they may find helpful.
- Send an email about a relevant topic that you think may be applicable based on your research.
What you include in your sequence is dependent on your personal style, available resources, and communication preferences. If your company provides educational resources, take advantage of sharing those through email, chat, or offers through phone conversations – wherever you connect with the prospect.
Customize your sequences
One sequence does not fit all situations, so create multiple sequences to best connect with your different audiences and their differing needs. For example, one niche may require in-person visits, while another may benefit from receiving a book in the mail. Another may only benefit from strictly online interactions.
Pipeline filling takes both prospecting and marketing, and your marketing activities will reinforce and support the effort you put into prospecting sequences. Marketing activities include your website, social media activity, articles you write or videos you create, events you host, and educational emails you send out.
Get started with your own sequence by choosing some of your favorite activities and creating a series of events that you would regularly do. When people engage with your sequence activities, your marketing activities will be there to support and reinforce your message.