CEOs, Founders, and Presidents: How Opening a New Sales Channel for The Ernst & Young Led to 100+ Appointments and a Timely Outreach Strategy
By Zlatan Đurić April 28, 2021
Summary:
Representing companies of all sizes and industry sectors, the Ernst&Young directly influences industry development. Ernst&Young felt the urge to grow more and explore new opportunities. We were happy to help.
Main takeaways
When you think you’re doing fine, it’s time to do even better. Go beyond your current horizons, explore new terrains, and don’t be afraid of challenges. As long as you’re confident about your priorities and the team on board, there is nothing you can’t do.
Challenges
In fact, this turned out to be the case where the client didn’t have any particular issues. Instead, Ernst & Young wanted to boost the amazing results they already had by creating a powerful outbound channel. In order to do it, we focused on expanding the client’s ICP profile which turned out to be a bit challenging for the task at hand.
What we did
1) Initial strategy
With the client having a great understanding of their ICP, our course of action was clear and steady.
- Research. We looked for companies operating in such various industries. Gleaning a valid email address was probably the most challenging part of the entire campaign. This is why our weekly routine consisted of consulting with the client on the leads we found. Our research experts also scanned across several sources to provide the most accurate hand-picked data.
- Template crafting. Every outbound channel needs an outstanding message, so our template writers started working as soon as they received a list of validated leads. The goal of our email campaign was to invite businesses to join Ernst & Young and get the privilege of increased visibility and profitability.
- Building a round-robin appointment-setting cycle. We worked in sync with the client’s team to ensure that everyone was doing their part. Our experts provided research data and lead lists and nurtured prospects into agreeing to a F2F meeting.
2) Adjustments
We had steady performance until the restrictions and regulations were introduced because of the COVID-19 outbreak. In general, the current situation provided some new benefits because many companies found themselves looking for new directions and a strong community to carry them through the challenges. Our goal was to meet those businesses halfway through and introduce them to Ernst & Young.
The main setback for both Ernst & Young and our company was the inability to arrange F2F meetings that were the end goal of our email campaigns.
We had to act quickly by redesigning our current campaigns and rewriting emails. Our copywriters responded instantly, replacing the invitation to an F2F meeting with an offer to book a time slot for a call.
Another task was to overcome possible sales objections. It’s worth noting that you have to learn how to respond to sales objections each time you start a new project. There is a wide range of reasons why your prospects would object, and you can only explore them as you start sales communication. We spent some time talking to potential prospects and exploring their industry pain points in order to provide viable arguments to sales objections we encountered.
Results
As seen in screenshots below, our cooperation with the client started with a steady and productive performance. Aside from a dip in the open rates in July (the most intense period of the COVID-19 outbreak), we managed to build a strong outbound sales channel for reaching out to CEOs, VPs, and Directors.
- Every month, we booked up to 24 appointments for the client. Among our high-value prospects, there were companies that worked in Oil and Energy, Law Practices, Financial Services, Professional Services, etc.
- In 9 months, we scored over 100 new appointments.. We communicated directly with CEOs, VPs, and directors, handing them over to the sales experts of Ernst & Young for closing.
- We received around 500 positive responses from the prospects. Those responses had a great potential to secure long-time partnerships and provide the client with profound insights into Ernst & Young's market status.
Key takeaways
- Don’t hesitate to raise the bar. When you meet all your sales goals and your business is booming, you should start looking beyond your horizons. Company growth is a dynamic process, so even when things are nice and steady, you should keep them that way by moving forward.
- Get a reliable backup. Even if your goals and priorities are crystal clear, you can’t predict possible challenges and force majeure. Thus, in case you decide to open a new sales channel, make sure that there is a strong team that will do the necessary research for you, nurture your leads, and help you adjust to rapid changes. In the case of TXBIZ, employing SDR allowed the client to make the most out of their resources and enrich the community with new memberships and opportunities.
- Be ready for some extra work with data. It’s not easy to glean high-value data when not all your potential buyers have a visible online presence. You may need to utilize your LinkedIn connections, look across extra platforms, and even make some phone calls before you get accurate information.
- Make communication a centerpiece of your work. A good acquisition partner is never silent. You’ll get questions, hold weekly meetings on your progress, do lots of talking to make sure that the project is going smoothly — this is how you get results.
