Today’s Daily is inspired by NEARBOUND and the Rise of the Who Economy by Jared Fuller. Get your copy on Amazon today.
Why nearbound sales
When Jared and Isaac first explained nearbound sales to me, they shared things like:
Inbound and outbound are getting harder.
Sales tactics aren’t working the same way.
The most effective way to sell is to tap into trusted sources around buyers.
My first question was—okay, but why?
And my follow-up question was—okay, but why should a Seller care about nearbound sales mindsets and tactics?
As my questions were answered, my conviction grew.
Recently, I’ve seen LinkedIn posts raising similar questions.
So, today’s email is for every seller, partner pro, and leader asking the same questions I was asking about 7 months ago.
Inbound and outbound are getting harder
This is one of the most common phrases surrounding nearbound sales, and here is what it really means:
There have always been both direct and indirect methods of selling.
When the internet came out, direct methods of reaching buyers were digitized (2000s) because of tools like Salesforce. This became known as ’outbound.’ Then, in the 2010s indirect methods of reaching buyers were digitized because of tools like HubSpot. This became known as ’inbound.’
The early years of outbound made it easy for companies to target buyers with very little competition. Then, ten years later, when outbound strategies were common, the era of marketing automation made it easy to attract buyers.
But today, almost every company is utilizing some sort of outbound and inbound strategy.
Competition = noise.
In one sentence, nearbound sales is about threading the right people into your sales process.
Instead of targeting buyers (outbound) or attracting them (inbound), nearbound allows you to find and tap into who buyers trust for intel, influence, and intros.
Nearbound doesn’t compete the same way outbound and inbound did. It doesn’t add to the noise or overwhelm.
In the same way that inbound augmented outbound, nearbound will augment both inbound and outbound.
Ignoring nearbound right now is the same as ignoring inbound back in 2010 when outbound methods were popularized.
Instead of continuing to play the volume game, it’s better to recognize that sales is evolving.
Run 3 nearbound sales plays
It’s not a secret that Sales is skeptical of Partnerships.
If you’re curious to learn why, read Simon Bouchez’s Open Letter to Partnerships, From Sales.
Here are 3 motions to run simultaneously today to build confidence with your Sellers:
- Nail your nearbound sales math
- Create your nearbound account list
- Run the 3 I’s of nearbound sales
We’ll break each motion down into activities you (partner pro) should be doing, and activities your sellers should be doing. Remember, you’re the captain of this ship! Help your sellers succeed.
Nail your nearbound sales math
Understand and optimize your nearbound sales mix to align with your revenue goals.
What your Sales team should do:
- Allocate a percentage of your time to activities and deals linked to partners.
- Ensure that around one-third of open opportunities include partner presence, and track the "partner-attach rate" at both the individual rep level and company-wide.
What your Partnership team should do:
- At the start of each quarter or account assignment period, collaborate with your reps to select the accounts with the most influential partner overlap to designate as nearbound target accounts.
- Help your Sales team identify high-potential nearbound partner accounts that align with the desired revenue mix.
Learn more about nailing your nearbound sales math.
Create your nearbound account list
Identify high-potential partner accounts for each of your potential buyers that fit your nearbound strategy.
What your Sales team should do:
- Act as a liaison and identify effective partners to accelerate pipeline growth. Hold their account executive and partner manager accountable.
- Once you determine the appropriate partner contact for each of your accounts in your nearbound list, ask how your Partner Manager will initiate the conversation with your partner’s Account Executive, Customer Success, or Account Manager.
What your Partnership team should do:
- Share which partners have the best relationships and signals with your Sellers. Information such as:
When the prospect became a customer of a partner
The strength and willingness of a given partner
The particular joint value proposition of each partner
- Make partner data easy to understand. Add it to your seller’s reports and dashboards, as well as pipeline and forecast views via Reveal, HubSpot, Salesforce, or other CRM you use.
Learn more about creating a nearbound account list here.
Run the 3 I’s of nearbound sales
Once you and your Sales team have decided who to target first and who will help you get your foot in the door, it’s time to pick the play best suited to your goals: intel, influence, and intros.
What your Sales team has to do:
- Before jumping into a meeting with your partner or sending an email asking for intel, influence, or intros, do your homework and present a clear direction—for the meeting and in all follow-up actions.
- Give first. For example, if you know that one of your customers is a prospect of that same partner, reach out to the partner with valuable intel on the account they’re going after. Then ask for what you need.
What your Partnership team has to do:
- Gather intel from partners to understand customer goals and pain points. Share that information with your sellers.
- Analyze your data in Reveal to identify partner presence and draft a value proposition based on your relationship with them, and share it with your Sales team.
Learn more about running the 3 I’s of nearbound sales here.
Sales insights with Jakub Hon
Jakub Hon, Co-Founder at SALESDOCK joined Will Taylor and Tom Burgess on the Howdy Partners podcast to discuss the state of sales and nearbound.
Watch the episode here.
Let’s have the tough convos
Share this with someone critical of nearbound, and open the conversation.
