#002: Increase reply rates with powerful messaging

Welcome to part 2 of our series on outbound sales. How to create more pipeline by sending the right message to the right person at the right time through the right channel.

Part 1: How to build your target lists (right person)

Part 2: Write messaging that gets replies (right message) ← This post

Part 3: Get your message delivered (right channel, right time)

Part 4: How to personalize your messaging

Read time: 5 Minutes

Last week we talked about building your target lists. This week is all about messaging and compelling people to respond. At the end, I’ll share 9+ messaging frameworks you can steal and use today.

If you know any other experienced or aspiring biotech sales professionals, please share this newsletter with them.

Here are 5 simple steps to help you create powerful messaging. Use the provided messaging frameworks to implement your new messaging.

1. Customer’s desired outcomes

2. Alternative approaches

3. Problems, obstacles, or annoying processes

4. Your differentiated capabilities

5. Emotional outcomes

Desired Outcomes

People buy products or services because they help them get to their desired outcomes faster, cheaper, or easier. Desired outcomes are the ultimate goal your customer is trying to achieve. Examples could be “publish in a high profile paper” or “bring a new drug to market”.

Desired outcomes are made up of individual “jobs” or steps that need to be completed. It’s likely your product or service is just a small part of the process that helps them reach their desired outcome.

List out the objectives your customers are hoping to achieve and the individual “jobs” they need to complete in order to reach those objectives. To gain a better understanding of how each job contributes to your customer's desired outcome, it is crucial to provide context for each job.

• When: The circumstances surrounding the job.

• I want to: What do they want this job to accomplish?

• So I can: The desired benefit that job will give them.

Alternative Approaches

Most people are already getting the job done today without you. It’s critical to understand how that is happening.

Ask yourself “If we didn’t exist, what are all the other ways our customers would still be able to reach their desired outcome?”

As you uncover these alternatives, they will fall into 3 different buckets.

Non-Science Example

Job: Hang pictures on the wall at home.

• Direct competitor: If they decide to do it themselves the direct competitors are drill brands they can choose from.

• Secondary competitor: They could hire a handyman to hang all the pictures, eliminating the need to buy a drill.

• Indirect competitor: Hire an interior designer who will propose different design ideas for your home. This eliminates the need to think about hanging pictures on a wall.

Problems, Obstacles, & Annoying Processes

Here you will find the opportunities to position your product or service. It's crucial to ask your customers for these details and use their own words. The more specific and vivid you can be, the better your message will connect with them.

Now that we know what the alternative approaches are, ask your customers “What are the problems and obstacles within those alternative approaches?”

Continuing the example from above you might uncover…

• I don’t have a hardware store near me to buy a drill

• I’m not comfortable using a drill

• I don’t want to destroy my walls

• I can’t be home during the day to let a handyman in

List out as many of these problems as possible because they will plug into your messaging frameworks later.

Differentiated Capabilities

You may have noticed each step so far is only focused on your customer. We haven’t mentioned what you do at all! You need the context of your customer’s situation to understand how you’re uniquely positioned to help them.

“What differentiated capabilities do you provide that help your customer reach their desired outcome faster, cheaper, or easier?”

Defining your capabilities

• Table stakes (commoditized value): These are commoditized capabilities and customers expect you to deliver them (quality, speed, support)

• Differentiated value: These are capabilities only you can provide your customers

***If you wrote “high quality” as a differentiated capability, read this post.

Emotional Benefits

List out each of those unique capabilities and map it to the outcomes your customer will achieve.

• Description: What does this capability do (must be unique)?

• Rational Outcomes: What objective outcome will your customer get?

• Emotional Benefit: What will they feel when they realize that outcome?

Congrats!

Now you have the key components to create compelling messaging. It’s time to put it to work.

Messaging Frameworks

As promised, I’ve curated a list of 9+ messaging frameworks you can insert your new messaging into (Mad Libs style). When combined with the messaging process above, these frameworks have been proven to boost reply rates.

That’s all for now. See you next week!

P.S. Thanks for reading this far! Our goal is to help you take your sales career to the next level. Let us know what you want to learn more about so we can best serve you.

P.P.S If you want help putting any of this into action, book a strategy call with us.