How to Set Sales Opportunities when you Have Zero Time

Lately, the AEs on my team have been coming to me with a problem that business owners also commonly have. They've been asking me:"How are we supposed to set opportunities when we have a pipeline to manage, demos to run, and every other damn thing to do???"I think they were expecting some kind of sales jujitsu magic. But really, it's all about method. Here is the step-by-step guide I walk them through. These same principles can be used just as effectively by small teams without sales reps, business owners, etc:1) Identify the core audience you want to meet with- company size, industries, roles, etc.2) Draft a cold email sequence that asks for the time and does NOT try to sell your product. (Why? Because salesy emails don't work and besides, you just want the introduction at this stage). Align your emails with what your audience cares about in order to get their attention. It should be more about them than you.Make sure to include one (and only one) relevant link within the body of most steps in your sequence. I like to use social proof for this (Ex: We recently won xyz award for xyz thing we're doing for xyz people). These links will come back into play later and will become critical to your time-saving strategy.3) Use LinkedIn Sales Navigator to prospect a list of relevant contacts. LinkedIn is hands-down the best source for prospecting because people self-report all its information on them, so it's generally accurate.4) Scrape the emails of each prospect from LinkedIn using the extension tool of your choice and funnel them into your outreach automation platform (Outreach, Salesloft, Apollo, Reply, or anything else you want to use).5) Enroll your prospects into your email sequence. Take the extra 30 mins to personalize the beginning of each email to your top prospects (at the start where they'll notice it!). This time spent on the front end will save you loads on the back end by earning you better engagement on the first try.6) Use your outbound platform to monitor the engagement of your contacts. This is where your relevant link in the email body comes into play. Generate a list of prospects who clicked the link. Now you have a list of 'warm calls' since all these people now have some familiarity with you. Call them up, answer their questions, and set up some time.7) Next, generate a list of contacts who opened your email more than once. Call them up too, answer their questions, and set up the time.8) Check back for clicks and opens daily to keep building yourself a nice, easy warm call list. Don't bet on email alone, if you want to grow your business, you need to pick up the phone! The BDR team I currently run sees the effect of warm calling daily. 90% of the demos they set are with prospects who remember their emails. Think of the email as the wedge that opens the door and the call as you walking right through it.There will be some trial and error with messaging and call scripting, but once you find your stride, you are set! You'll be effortlessly sourcing opportunities and giving yourself those evenings and weekends back.Hit me up in the comments with your questions!