4 Sales Plays You Can Use to Still Hit Your Q4 Quota

This post is brought to you by Skaled CEO Jake Dunlap. As the founder and CEO of Skaled, Jake helps executives around the world accelerate business growth with data-backed sales solutions.

The first week of December only means one thing. It’s crunch time.

So, that’s why I’m going to break down four creative plays across four different “non-traditional” channels to hit your end-of-year revenue goals.

Pay attention to how you can mix and match these plays and use them for new business or moving deals along, which can become more difficult during the holiday season.

The recurring theme you’ll notice in each play is a one-to-one approach. We know personalization increases open, conversion, and close rates, but there are ways to “personalize” outreach at scale that can water down our original intent.

These creative plays will not only wow your buyers and crush your Q4 goals, but teach you how to know your buyers better.

4 Creative Sales Plays To Still Hit Your Q4 Quota

1. LinkedIn: Write your content like you’re speaking to one person

Whomever your perfect buyer is (yes, pick one persona), start connecting with those people right now, and then focus every single post on pain points within their world. Imagine you are speaking directly to them.

Many sellers still use LinkedIn as a second inbox and only care about DMs or blasting the same content that their company page puts out.

To be successful on LinkedIn, you have to post original and relevant content.

To take it a step further, write like you’re only speaking to one person. And when I say content, I don’t only mean your personal posts. Comments on your buyers’ posts and other people in your buyers’ industry is content too.

2. Video: Send a video about the gift you just sent

Whether you’re connecting with a prospect via email, LinkedIn, or Vidyard – video is going to be the best way to make a one-to-one connection. And this play is excellent for the holidays.

Send your prospect a personalized video letting them know that you just put something in the mail and that they should be on the lookout for it.

Video screams one-to-one personalization when you use your prospect’s name or specific things you know about them (pro-tip: send them something in the mail and follow-up with a video). Reps that use video can see 8X higher open-to-reply rates.

Speaking of sending something in the mail—this leads to my third play.

3. Direct Sending: Use it to keep deals in motion

Don’t think of direct sending, direct mail, or gifting as just demand generation. It’s a perfect play for keeping deals moving. Especially right now, as more deals are getting pushed.

To keep a deal in motion, or give it more of a nudge, cut through the noise of your buyer’s full inbox and even LinkedIn DMs, and send them something relevant or personalized.

For example, my company worked with a client selling an iPad waitlist management software, so we sent key people iPads with pre-recorded videos (see how video is coming into play again?). It cost $400 per iPad, but we had a 75% meeting hit rate with executives.

Another use case for making sure a deal stays in motion is after you have a good meeting with a buyer, send them something simple like cupcakes to their house. Someone did that for me and it was immediate brand affinity. They even knew I had a gluten allergy, which made it even better.

Like many plays that can become overdone, when you’re incorporating direct mail and sending into your Q4 strategy, make it as relevant as you can to what you’re selling or personalize it to whom you’re selling, like my gluten-free cupcakes.

4. Content: Pull out the insights

Your company and marketing team is producing a ton of different content already: ripe for the picking. Your job as a seller is then to pull out the insights.

For example, “Hey John, we just published this study, and here are the two things that I think are applicable based on your role and space.”

Be very specific about what the insights are. Stop sending, “I thought this might be interesting,” and directly say that you know what their problem is and exactly how to solve it. The content is your proof, not your selling point.

Key Takeaways: Get creative and get noticed

Finally, ask yourself, “what are the one-to-one creative plays I can use in Q4?”. It may be crunch time, but more emails and more calls do not mean you will hit your revenue goals. Get creative and use “non-traditional” channels and plays to connect with your buyers.

You may not use these exact plays in this article, but this is how you should think about outreach in Q4 that will also set you up for a successful 2021.

• Get serious about posting and interacting on LinkedIn. Connect with one persona and target them with relevant content and thought leadership.
• Incorporate more video. Use video to warm people up, to keep them involved throughout the process, and even use it in place of a recap email – send them a recap video.
• Absolutely use direct sending. Right now, it’s one of the best ways to stand out from the competition, and it can create an emotional response and brand affinity.
• Use content right. Repurpose the content your marketing team is creating, but don’t just forward it along. Pull out what’s most important to your buyer and share critical insights.

For more creative ideas to hit your revenue goals this year, click here. Schedule your custom demo for Sendoso below.