An outreaching template can be both a blessing and a burden depending on how you use it. When used correctly, an outreaching template can save you precious time and resources. If used lazily, an outreaching template can come across as robotic and ruin any chance you have of procuring a prospect instantly.

‍

This guide will help to teach you how to use outreaching templates effectively as well as provide you with some examples of templates we use successfully on the Sella platform.

When to Use Outreaching Templates

There is nothing wrong with using a template at almost any stage during the sales funnel. Almost all your outreaching activities can be completed through the creative use of a template, particularly when you find yourself sending massive amounts of outreaches to different prospects to achieve the same goal.

It is good practice to start identifying messages and emails you find yourself continuously typing up to save in the form of template. Quite often you will be mass messaging potential prospects where a very similar message can be applied to each. Being able to identify when you are creating these emails is the key to understanding when you should be looking to implement a template. This will save you countless hours losing yourself down the same thought path.

You can create templates that can apply to almost all sales situations. Some examples of these situations include:

-Prospecting

-Lead qualifying

-Re-engaging a cold lead

-Proposing to move forward

-Lead nurturing (reaching out to current clients)

-Customer success

-Asking for feedback

When to Avoid Outreaching Templates

There are still numerous situations you will find yourself in during the sales process where a specifically personalized response is necessary. People generally make the mistake of looking to implement a template after ignoring their common sense. If it doesn’t feel like you should be sending a template, then you probably shouldn’t be.

‘One-off’ emails such as a deal proposal or needing to apologize to a client are notable examples of when you are better off biting the bullet and typing up something from the heart. Another common mistake many people make is sending templates to different prospects within the same company teams. This is just an obvious oversight that many people make that can break a potential deal almost instantly.

Continue to track the statistics behind each template in terms of success. If you are continually using templates that have a poor conversion rate then it is time to switch. At Sella, we are constantly tracking the success rate of each of the templates our freelancers are using. That way we can maintain a rotation of positive, high converting templates.

Tips for Using Outreaching Templates

Here are four helpful tips to ensure you are getting the most out of your outreaching templates:

1. Make them your own! I cannot stress enough how important it is to make each template you build unique to you. Most people will search and find templates for their own use on the website. This is fine if you take the template and make it better suited to you. A generic template will be identifiable almost instantly by a prospect and will only distance yourself from them.

Look to use them for inspiration and put them into your own words. This makes them more personable and sends a greater sense of effort to your prospects. Look at the following two examples and try to guess which one is a generic template pulled off the web and which one we have looked to make our own.

Example 1

Hi {First Name}

Thanks for connecting. It would be great to touch base over the phone if you have 15 mins at all?

Kind Regards

{Your Name}

Example 2

Hi {First Name}

Hope you’ve been well. Thanks for connecting. I was reading your article on {relatable content} and thought you might be interested in viewing {your similar content}.

We work to solve {their content subject} here at {your company} and would love to chat with you about your article a bit more if you have a spare 15 minutes lying around.

I reckon we could learn quite a bit from one another.

Regards,

{Your Name}

Example 2 feels much more personable and offers a lot more to the prospect which will ultimately lead to a higher conversion rate.

2. Test multiple templates at once. One of the easiest ways of determining which templates are working best for you is to implement some simple a/b testing. You can test everything from completely different templates going to similar groups of prospects, or even just making subtle changes to one template you are going to use. Being able to see what differences work better with separate groups of prospects will only improve the quality of your templates moving forward. The Sella platform already looks to do this, with each campaign using a variety of different templates so that we can continually update our database for greater success.

3. Organize and label your templates. Over time you are going to build a deep database of different templates you have used over time. Keep these templates organized and grouped into which types of prospects they are useful for and under what situation. That way no matter what situation arises you have a template you can quickly refer to.

4. Attention to detail. Although it might seem obvious, just because you are using a template does not mean you should pay any less attention to proofreading or display checking. There is nothing worse than beginning to use a template only to get several outreaches through before realizing there is a blatant grammatical error in there. It’s also important to check how the template will appear on all possible platforms and displays to ensure it looks exactly how you want it to.

Outreaching Template Examples

The following are some examples of templates our Sella freelancers have used successfully in the past during different prospecting campaigns:

1. Simple Initial Outreach

‘Hi <First Name>,

I see you're currently working with <Their Industry> and would love to chat about your <Your Solution>. Are you available to talk anytime this week?

Thanks, <Your Name>’

This is a simple initial outreach that is successful for two reasons. The first is that it shows that you have demonstrated some sort of interest in their cause by identifying someone they are already working. The second is that it’s simple and straight to the point.

2. Value Adding

Hi <First Name>,

Thought I would reach out after spotting you in my network.

At <Company Name> we develop <Your Solution> and would like to get your thoughts on the topic. I recently published an article that you may find interesting.

<Content Piece>

It would be great to have a quick chat when you’re next free?

Cheers,

<Your Name>

This works well for a few reasons. The first is that you are almost flattering the prospect by saying that you need their thoughts. The next is that you are being straight to the point with what you are offering. The addition of some content offers some extra value to the prospect where they are able to learn a bit more about you and differentiate yourself from the barrage of other prospecting messages they are likely to receive.

3. Reengaging a Cold Lead

Hey <Contact First Name>,

I was looking back on our conversations and thought you might find this article interesting that we put together. <Insert Content Here>

I'd love to get on a call with you to see how you and your team are progressing. Were you able to set up some time to talk further?

Kind regards,

<Your Name>

Sometimes you’re better off to leave yourself out of it. This template makes it all about them and then offers them a chance to get back in contact with you.

These are just some simple examples of some templates you can look to implement into your workflows. For more information on what you can do with these templates, check out our guide to starting an effective outbound marketing campaign.

If you have any questions about how we use templates at Sella or even want us to give you some feedbacks on some templates you are using please feel free to leave a comment or email us at info@ammo.co.

‍