"I keep sending cold messages and get zero response", or top 10 mistakes of cold b2b outreach.

Before we start setting up a cold outreach process for a product, their founder, bizdev or sales reps have already tried it, often with zero results.

Carolina Miakova

23 September 2:35PM

OUTREACH

BY BON DIGITAL

Business development and cold B2B sales globally

We help European tech companies get partnerships and clients in the US, Australia, the UK, Canada and Singapore.

1) Bad timing
This august we launched an outreach targeted for European non-for-profits, just to receive a 40% auto response rate ("I'm on annual leave" etc). Another great option would be to start during Christmas.

2) Wrong targeting
Not considering all the possible criteria when collecting your database -company size, location, etc, or trying just 1 possible segment. If you have zero sales in the new market (friends who buy the product still equal zero sales), experiment with multiple clients' segments

3) Wrong decision-maker
Many founders are sure their product is used exclusively by C-levels, which obviously can't be true for all products.
On the contrary, if you target a position that's too low, they might not have the authority to consider your product.
When not sure, experiment with 2-3 different positions from the same segment

4) Bad subject
Only A/B tests, only data-driven decisions!

5) CTA
Even a 10 min call might be a too big ask, from the first message.
Try asking for a referral at first (who's the best person to discuss it) or start a conversation.

6) Short message
Your message is too short and vague. It's not clear what your product benefits are what you want from your prospect.

7) Long message
Too hard to read on mobile, and the only desire is to close it asap.

8) No personalisation
Try publishing your product on Crunchbase or Product Hunt, and you'll start getting over 100 emails per day offering web development or animation video. With zero personalisation: they don't give a damn about your product or company.

9) Follow-ups
There is a special place in hell for sales people who copy their first message and paste it as follow-ups. Come on, people have eyes

10) No product market fit
Can't help this one only with the outreach process

OUTREACH

BY BON DIGITAL

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