Sequences are the most powerful sales automation tool you can use, reducing time-consuming and monotonous tasks within your sales process. As a refresher, a sequence is used to send and create a series of timed and targeted email messages, SMS messages, phone call tasks, follow up tasks, and reminders to nurture your prospects.
Prospects in Uptics can be auto-enrolled (ideal) or manually enrolled into sequences. SmartLists are used to auto-enroll prospects into your different sales sequences, and the auto-enrollment depends on the property values and attributes you have assigned to each respective SmartList.
Think about all of the different segments of prospects and leads you have, as well as the different types of messages you'd like to get in front of each segment.
Think about your business and the types of prospects you currently have at your disposal...which segments would be beneficial to create a sequence for?
I would say all of them to maximize your prospecting efforts but take a look below at some different types of segments you may want to create sequences for and how they may apply to your business.
Paid Ad Leads (i.e. Facebook, LinkedIn, Google, YouTube, etc.) - These prospects have shown interest and should be directly enrolled in a sequence if you are capturing their email. Paid Ads can be a game-changer for those who know how to use them effectively.
Application/Form Submissions (from online forms on your landing page, i.e. Jotforms, Google Forms, etc.) - These prospects have shown even more interest than paid ads. In fact, if you can drive paid ads to a form submission, you can further qualify and segment your prospects. If they didn't already receive some sort of Call-to-Action (i.e. booking a phone call or meeting), make sure you do so in the first communication you have with them in the sequence.
Cold - These prospects are people that don't know you and may not have ever heard of your company, but they have attributes that define them as a potential buyer of your goods or services. Lists can be purchased, obtained through a web scraping platform or service, or be put together manually (time-consuming).
Power Base, or Low-Hanging Fruit - Family, friends, neighbors, and community members. Who do you have an influence over? Who have you already proven credible with? Who views you as an expert? Who do you know that has power in their own organization to make a deal happen with your company?
Current Business Affiliates, Suppliers, or Vendors - These prospects are already duty-bound to your business since you pay for, and perhaps promote, their goods/service. Could they be a potential buyer of your goods/services?
Maybe/Previously Interested (not converted into a sale)- If they were interested before, they may still be interested now. Whether it be from previous cold calling campaigns, old paid ads or form submissions, or any other source, there are sales to be found in this segment! Warm leads gone cold...
Not Interested - Even if a product or service may not have been a good fit in the past, things change and circumstances could point in the direction of your business. It's beneficial, even if they weren't interested in the past, to at least touch base every 6-12 months so they know you're still around.
Current Buyers/Clients - Can you upsell or sell additional goods/services to them?
Referrals - These have higher conversion rates, so depending on your business model these prospects may be better to message directly. However, there are certain situations or scenarios where a sequence may be helpful. If you don't convert your referrals, put them into a "Nurture" sequence to periodically remind them of your presence. If you don't currently have a referral program, think about how you could implement a referral program into your business to help increase revenue.
Former Buyers/Clients - Things change...maybe they are missing your service or product and haven't had the time to reach out? Sometimes they just need to be reminded that you're still around.
Competition's Customers - Some of these prospects may fall into other segments as well, but why not reach out and let them know what sets your business apart from the current company they are buying from or using as a service.
Some of these segments may be better suited for a more personal campaign, limiting communication to SMS and/or phone calls; however, you will find that for most of these different types of prospects, or segments, a well-balanced sequence with a combination of email, SMS, and phone call communication will be most effective.
Ideally, you will create a sequence for each segment above over time (and other potential segments that are not listed), but it's ok to start with less. Perhaps at first, you will want to tackle the sequence for your main outbound prospecting campaign that includes leads from paid ad sources, or a cold call list. From there, you can gradually begin to build up your sequence database as you start to identify different segments and different messaging that you'd like to get across.
This seems like a lot of work, but you will find that there will be a lot of sales copy crossover between different sequences and that each sequence you build will be easier and easier.
