Salesforce user on a laptop
Posted: Mon May 26, 2025 3:27 am
inspecting a sales pipeline and graph of data.
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6 steps of the outbound sales process
Building your own outbound sales process is recommended; you get map the sales stages that work best for you and your company. That said, there are some universal steps to get you started:
1. Identify your target audience
The “spray and pray” approach to sales — casting a wide net and hoping you reach prospects — is ineffective. To understand their needs and sell them on your solution, you need to define your ideal customer. That is, the one that is a good fit for your product.
To do this, create a buyer persona — a description of your ideal america phone number list customer. This provides demographic traits like role and company and psychological traits like motivations and challenges. Using data, research, and interviews, you can narrow down your audience and focus on only going after those that you feel are the right fit for your offering.
My tip? Print out the persona and tape it to your desk. I even add a picture or two of what they may look like. This helps me visualize my ideal customer when prospecting and making calls.
2. Generate leads
Now that you know your target audience, it’s time to start searching for them. If you have an in-house lead gen team, you can work with them to gather contact information for potential leads. If not, you can purchase lead lists from a database company.
You can also take a DIY approach to lead gen. Comb through digital resources such as LinkedIn or web directories. Then input the information into a CRM such as Sales Cloud so you can track them into the nurturing phase and beyond.
3. Outreach
Once you have your list of leads, it’s go time. You’re ready to start contacting prospects. Typical outreach methods include cold calling and emailing, but you can also try social sellingOpens in a new window — a modern way to engage and sell to customers through social media. The big question is: Where does your ideal customer spend most of their time? Try reaching out and connecting with them on these channels.
Get the latest sales tips delivered to your inbox.
Sign up for the Salesblazer Highlights newsletter to get the latest sales news, insights, and best practices selected just for you.
6 steps of the outbound sales process
Building your own outbound sales process is recommended; you get map the sales stages that work best for you and your company. That said, there are some universal steps to get you started:
1. Identify your target audience
The “spray and pray” approach to sales — casting a wide net and hoping you reach prospects — is ineffective. To understand their needs and sell them on your solution, you need to define your ideal customer. That is, the one that is a good fit for your product.
To do this, create a buyer persona — a description of your ideal america phone number list customer. This provides demographic traits like role and company and psychological traits like motivations and challenges. Using data, research, and interviews, you can narrow down your audience and focus on only going after those that you feel are the right fit for your offering.
My tip? Print out the persona and tape it to your desk. I even add a picture or two of what they may look like. This helps me visualize my ideal customer when prospecting and making calls.
2. Generate leads
Now that you know your target audience, it’s time to start searching for them. If you have an in-house lead gen team, you can work with them to gather contact information for potential leads. If not, you can purchase lead lists from a database company.
You can also take a DIY approach to lead gen. Comb through digital resources such as LinkedIn or web directories. Then input the information into a CRM such as Sales Cloud so you can track them into the nurturing phase and beyond.
3. Outreach
Once you have your list of leads, it’s go time. You’re ready to start contacting prospects. Typical outreach methods include cold calling and emailing, but you can also try social sellingOpens in a new window — a modern way to engage and sell to customers through social media. The big question is: Where does your ideal customer spend most of their time? Try reaching out and connecting with them on these channels.