Are you using  cold prospecting? Not only you. Everyone (almost) does it, but some are more successful at it than others.

Why? Perhaps they draw conclusions from mistakes made in the past, perhaps they read the studies of their marketing authorities. Everyone is looking for their optimal pattern of behavior in this matter. Today we will present what, we think, works best in the context of cold prospecting for SaaS.

We know that reaching potential customers who don’t know your brand beforehand can be a daunting task. That’s why it’s so important to have an effective strategy of cold prospecting,  which will allow you to arouse interest and build relationships with your target audience.

Matter one: Lean Canvas Model

Use this simple tool that will allow you to clarify a few key issues in defining your business model. The classic Model Canvas contains 9 fields that are filled in by answering respective questions arising from them.

In our case, it does not have to be as many as 9 areas. Focus primarily on:

1. problem – what customer’s problem will you be able to solve?;
2. solution – show the client how you will solve his problem;
3. target market – for whom your client creates a product/service?
4. unfair advantage – what resource you have, that your competitors will not copy?
5. unique value proposition – the reason why we are unique and why it is worth working with us.

Include this information in your messages to the customer. The most important thing is to name the customer’s problem and propose a solution calibrated to the prospect’s target audience.

Matter two: accompany your client, not visit him

You write direct messages on LinkedIn to companies you think might become your customers? Very good! However, we hope your narrative doesn’t go something like this there: Hi, I’m selling this and that for this and that money. If you want it, buy it.

Messages like this just don’t work. Include a lead magnet in the message , something that the prospect won’t have to pay for, but will interact with you. For example, it may be shared:

• ebook,
• webinar ,
• podcast.

And here we come to the essence of this part of the article.

1. It’s not like you have to ONLY send emails/messages to a potential customer all the time.
2. In this way, you will “visit” him from time to time. And this may make the host perceive you as an entity wanting to extort money from him. You can then get the image of a distant uncle who contacts his nephew only when he loses his job and asks him for financial support before he finds a new one.
3. The key, therefore, is not to “visit” the prospect via e-mail, but to accompany him almost non-stop in everyday functioning.

Then such an uncle regularly contacts his nephew. Once he will call and ask how his studies are going, soon after that he will send him a meme on WhatsApp to watch, then he will send a link to a podcast with valuable – according to his uncle – content, another time he will invite his nephew and his girlfriend for dinner. When will the nephew be more willing to support his uncle financially when he is in trouble?

Customer touchpoints

What you need in cold prospecting are customer touchpoints. The idea is to give the prospects the impression that they know you, even though you have never interacted. We have such experiences like this. We have recently had this dialogue with one of our clients:

– I recommended you to my friend who is looking for a digital marketing agency for IT&Software – the client began.

– Cool. Thank you.

– He told me that he knows you because he sees your posts and other materials that you share on LinkedIn.

Just to be clear, he knew us, we didn’t know him.

This is the touchpoints feature:

1. Always be present in the prospect’s space.
2. Get noticed by the prospect.
3. Give the impression that you are always there to help him if he needs it.

Example touchpoints:

• post on LinkedIn,
• video material,
• podcast,
• blog article,
• direct message with information about your services.

By the way, remember that the optimal situation is if you have at least seven touchpoints with the client.

We mentioned above about messages on LinkedIn addressed directly to the prospect.  What this process look like in practice? We break it down into four steps:

1. The first message is to explain why we are sending the invitation. Why? Because on our profile we share with digital marketing materials suitable for the SaaS sector.
2. The next day, we invoke to yesterday’s contact and, in reference to it, we send a video dedicated thematically to the prospect’s activities.
3. When a week has passed, we contact the prospect again to ask if they have been able to view the last video. At the same time, we offer our readiness to explain in detail all matters raised in this material and additionally signal that we are willing to share knowledge about what solutions would work in acquiring customers in their company. By the way, we attach a new video material, obviously correlated with the prospect’s activities.
4. After another week, we return with information about our latest publication, to which we send a link.

And now a growth tip. The moment you politely write that this is your last message and you will not be contacting again, then prospects contact you and want to interact. This is our experience.

Preparing an offer for a prospect should – according to Alex Hormozi – focus on four elements:

• clear result to be achieved,
• the probability of its achievement,
• time needed to achieve the result,
• effort required.

It is essential that the last two components are as close to zero as possible. Two things to remember:

1. The less invasive something is, the easier it is to engage the prospect.
2. The shorter the time horizon for achieving his goals you present to him, the sooner you will get him.

Control and monitoring as the way to success

We happen to observe situations in which copywriters decide on an effective style of writing. They focus on the wow effect, they expect expressiveness to increase sales. Based on experience, we believe it doesn’t matter. The most important is the offer for SaaS, which must contain proof that the client will achieve the goal he set for himself. Show in it:

• how many customers have used your services,
• who and how much earned on that,
• how long did it take to start seeing positive results.

The problem is that marketing companies rarely decide to experiment in action, but follow the beaten track, which may not be suitable for every contractor. And if they are already experimenting, then:

• they do not measure these experiments,
• they do not set dashboards in the databox,
• there is little ex-post control of new ideas put into practice.

Ultimately, it is difficult for them to clearly determine what made their client successful or not.

Key takeaways:

• The Lean Canvas Model is a helpful tool in the first contact with the customer in cold prospecting .
• After the first form of contact with the prospect, try to stay close to him at all times and not disappear from his sight.
• Being around to the potential customers doesn’t mean constantly sending them DMs, but using other touchpoints.
• Monitor the effect of your actions to be able to rationally assess which ideas were successful and which did not bring the desired result.
• Experiments in marketing activities? Yes! But be sure to measure them!