Sales cadence

Without a plan, follow-up usually fades after the first ignored email, and a prospect who was interested is lost to neglect. Too little contact and the prospect forgets the seller exists. Too much and the relationship sours before it begins. A cadence sits between the two, and it ends by rule, not by whoever gives up first.

It also makes outreach testable. When every prospect receives the same sequence, you can see which touch earns replies and change one thing at a time. A rep's private habits cannot be compared or taught; a written cadence can.

• Base the length and spacing on the real sales cycle, not a template copied from elsewhere.
• Place touches closer together at the start and further apart as the sequence goes on.
• Mix channels. An email followed by a call usually does better than five emails.
• Change the angle of each message. Repeating the same pitch reads as nagging.
• Set a stop rule. After the final touch, move the prospect to a slower nurture track.
• Remove the prospect from the sequence the moment they reply, so an automated message never lands after a real conversation has begun.

Few prospects reply to the first message. A cadence is the plan for what happens next. It sets how many touches a prospect receives, on which channels, how many days apart and what each one says. A simple example is a twelve-day sequence: an email on day one, a LinkedIn connection on day three, a call on day five, a short follow-up email on day eight and a closing note on day twelve.

A cadence is the plan. The software that runs it is a sales engagement tool. Without a cadence, follow-up becomes a matter of who remembers to chase.

• Running one cadence for every buyer. A senior buyer and a practitioner may prefer different channels and different lengths.
• Automating the message and the judgement. Automation should hold the schedule while a person decides the angle.