As we talk to sales reps on a daily basis, a recurring theme we keep hearing is—the pressing need to do more with less.

“We need to book more meetings / close more deals, with half the sales team we previously had” is something we keep hearing. In that pursuit, sales reps are pretty much drowning in the sea of prospecting, stuck in the endless loop of scouring through LinkedIn profiles and company summaries before they could even think about reaching out. 

And when it comes to the net outcome, the results are not so rewarding because the outreach lacks the level of personalization and relevance that’ll make prospects sit up and take notice.

In this blog post, we discuss how small teams can leverage AI to build a list of high-intent leads and reach out to them across multiple channels in a systematic way, with personalized and highly relevant messages. You’ll also see how a sales development robot can increase your meeting bookings and conversion by at least 47% by increasing your team size.

Using AI to find high intent leads

Whether you’re a small team or a big one, you don’t need a bunch of reps whose primary role is to research and build targeted lists for outreach. It would be best if you spent your time and energy on what you do best – running discovery calls and moving deals forward.

AI is truly a game-changer for sales teams, especially those operating on a limited workforce. AI can analyze vast amounts of data from various sources to identify potential leads based on criteria specified by you—industry, company size, role, and even buying signals like recent funding rounds or expansion news.

This means your team starts with a list that's already tailored to your ideal customer profile, drastically reducing the time spent on qualifying leads. But not all AI is built equal. 

When you use Plena, it’s like you are hiring an AI-based sales development robot that intelligently sources leads from various online sources and builds you a list of leads that have high buying intent. Imagine knowing, with a degree of certainty, which leads are worth pursuing and which ones are likely to be dead ends.

For starters, you can instantly build your lead list from one of the following sources:

• LinkedIn
• Sales Navigator
• Google Maps
• Custom list (offline events, webinars, etc.)

Discovering and engaging prospects with AI

Utilizing AI doesn't stop at lead generation. It extends to engaging these prospects across various platforms, including LinkedIn, Sales Navigator, and Google Maps, among others. AI-driven tools can automate personalized outreach based on a prospect's online behavior and interests, making interactions more relevant and increasing the chances of engagement.

In essence, Plena empowers sales teams to build sophisticated, high-intent lead lists and conduct efficient, personalized outreach campaigns. By automating the time-consuming parts of the sales process, such as lead research and initial contact, sales reps can dedicate more time to what truly matters—building relationships and closing deals. As a result, even with a lean team, you can achieve your revenue goals, without losing opportunties for lack of time or resources.

For instance, once you connect your LinkedIn to Plena, you can use Linkedin’s default search filters to build your list.

You can start with “General Search,” and let’s say you want to build a list of “sales managers” in the US working in the information technology domain. You apply the search filters on LinkedIn, and then Plena does the rest.

Plena thoroughly reads through every profile shortlisted (based on the search filters you defined) and extracts values that will benefit you in strategically targeting when you run campaigns. The data that Plena reads and captures will also be used by AI to personalize each engagement.

Furthermore, the sales development robot will capture over two dozen data points, such as industry, systems used, social media activity, company headcount, open jobs, etc., from different sites to determine the intent. 

Once the list is built, you can begin your outreach across multiple channels without leaving the Plena interface.

Multichannel Prospecting Using AI

As a sales rep, you cannot restrict your outreach to one platform—and definitely not when you’re a small team that is trying to make a dent in terms of sales revenue.

Prospects are scattered across multiple platforms, and catching their attention requires a multichannel approach. This means more than just being present on every platform but engaging with prospects in meaningful ways, tailored to how they use these platforms. 

The essence of multichannel prospecting is meeting your prospects where they are in a manner that speaks to their preferences and needs. This requires a nuanced understanding of each channel's strengths and how your prospects engage with them.

However, it needs to go beyond just choosing the right channels. It's about creating a cohesive, seamless experience that guides prospects through the sales funnel, regardless of where the interaction began. 

This is where Plena helps you scale multichannel prospecting (including leaving voicemails as part of the automated sequence).

Whether it's personalized emails, targeted social media ads, engaging content on professional networks like LinkedIn, or even direct mail, Plena helps you leverage the best mix of channels and set up an automated sequence, like an actual human.

Additionally, Plena also helps you with the first draft of the outreach message so that—you can personalize it further to suit your style, but also ensure that you can leverage the context ingested by AI about the prospect.

This level of personalization and relevance in your outreach can dramatically increase your chances of finding leads and successfully booking meetings with them. And when you can automate it, it becomes scalable, too.

Multichannel prospecting, when done right, opens up numerous pathways to engage potential customers, significantly boosting your visibility and, ultimately, your success rates in closing deals.

Smart follow-up and closing

Once you’ve engaged prospects, the challenge shifts to maintaining their interest and moving them toward a deal. Here, AI can automate follow-ups and ensure your sales team can focus on the most promising leads. Tools like CRM integrations can notify sales reps of the best times to follow up based on lead behavior and interaction history, ensuring your team is reaching out when prospects are most receptive.

Furthermore, AI can assist in crafting personalized follow-up messages. By analyzing past successful interactions, AI can suggest tweaks to your messaging that increase the likelihood of booking a meeting or closing a deal. 

This not only makes your follow-up efforts more effective but also helps build a stronger connection with prospects. It also helps your team to manage a larger pipeline more efficiently, ensuring no opportunity is missed due to oversight or bandwidth constraints.

Summing up…

Leveraging AI and adopting a multichannel prospecting approach can empower smaller sales teams to achieve remarkable results. By focusing on high-quality lead generation, prioritizing efforts based on data-driven insights, and engaging prospects with personalized, consistent messaging across all channels, sales teams can significantly increase their efficiency and effectiveness.

The key to success lies in the strategic implementation of AI tools, aligning them with your team’s goals and processes, and continuously optimizing based on performance data. 

Remember, the goal isn’t just to find leads and book meetings; it’s about building meaningful relationships with prospects, understanding their needs, and offering solutions that they value.