I recently finished listening to SNAP Selling by Jill Konrath – a great book full of practical sales advice. But, what stood out for me was the power of outbound marketing in leading the sales conversation.

I am 100% onboard with the power of inbound marketing. My business relied entirely on inbound for many years. But the problem with relying on inbound marketing is that you are reacting to someone who has already decided to change.

They may have:

• Spoken to other suppliers already.
• A fixed idea of the solution they want.
• Assigned a budget (even if it’s unrealistic).

I’ve encountered all of those situations with inbound leads many times over the years, and it rarely leads to an ideal outcome for your business.

If you are engaged in outbound marketing, you have the opportunity to:

• Speak to your ideal customer profiles.
• Lead the conversation.
• Position yourself as an expert.
• Help define the decision-making criteria.
• Raise awareness of innovations that can make your customers’ lives better, even before they realise there’s a problem.
• Take advantage of incumbent suppliers sleeping on the job.
• Engage in discussions way before your competitors get a seat at the table.

…As Jill eloquently puts it, “You set the playing field”.

Those benefits are compelling. Especially when it comes to selling on value, not price because selling on value requires a deeper understanding both from the supplier and client. The best way to achieve that is to take your customer on a journey of discovery.

Some say that cold outreach is dead, that all you need to grow a business is excellent content and a solid inbound strategy. But that’s far from the case if you want to be the change maker. Because outbound will always be the best way to lead the sales conversation and drive decisions based on value delivered instead of the price offered.