With lead generation tools and email marketing software now available widely, it’s easier than ever to find and contact potential leads and prospects. That also means there’s a lot more competition to get their attention.
To stand out, high-performing sales teams rely on a strong sales cadence. By taking a more structured approach to outreach, a sales cadence helps salespeople improve their outreach, optimize their campaigns and ultimately drive more sales.
In this article, we’ll look at the meaning of a sales cadence, how to create a sales cadence for your business and some examples to inspire you.
What is a sales cadence?
Here’s a quick sales cadence definition: A predefined sequence of sales activities and touchpoints spread out over set intervals that a salesperson uses to contact a prospect.
Those touchpoints could include when and how often you:
Email prospects
Call (e.g., following up on the phone)
Interact with prospects on social media (e.g., messaging on LinkedIn)
Text message prospects
Hold in-person meetings with prospects
For example, a basic sales cadence might be:
Day 1: Email to introduce your company and its solution
Day 3: Follow-up phone call
Day 5: LinkedIn connection request with a personalized message
Day 8: Second email
Day 10: Second phone call
Sales cadences usually include additional details for each step, defining the format and approach. For example, emails could include plain text or personalised videos, while social media touchpoints can vary from commenting on posts to sending direct messages.
An effective sales cadence provides a roadmap for how and when your sales team interacts with potential customers, bringing predictability and order to your sales process.
The benefits of implementing a sales cadence
By ensuring regular, consistent contact with prospects at optimal times and through the right channels, a sales cadence plays a pivotal role in moving leads through the sales pipeline.
A properly implemented sales sequence is an essential tool for any sales team.
Increased sales efficiency
Sales teams have plenty of demands on their time; based on statistics, only 54% of respondents said they spent most of their day selling.
Final thoughts
While flexibility and creativity are undoubtedly an important part of the sales process, a sales cadence adds a repeatable, consistent pattern that serves as a foundation for your outreach.
Once you’ve found a sales cadence that works for you, keep experimenting with improving it. That might mean changing the number of touchpoints, the intervals between them, the channels, the content or even adding an entirely new cadence for a different audience segment.
By continually measuring results and optimising campaigns, you can keep enjoying the benefits of your sales cadence now and in the future.