How to sell to Engineers with a warm email & double reply rates
Warm intros are great, but LinkedIn Sales Navigator and warm intro tools don't work if you sell to Engineers
Sales Navigator and warm intro tools don't work if you sell to Engineers.
Engineers are a tricky persona to sell to because they are not receptive to cold outreach and don't communicate like salespeople.
👨💼 Salespeople love LinkedIn.
👨🔬 Engineers don't love LinkedIn.
👨💼 Salespeople love connecting with everyone.
👨🔬 Engineers are less likely to connect with people on LinkedIn.
👨💼 Salespeople are extroverts.
👨🔬 Engineers are introverts*.
👨💼 Salespeople ship revenue.
👨🔬 Engineers ship code.
Sales Nav and warm intro tools are built in a way that is contradictory to how Engineers behave.
Warm intro tools map relationships based on data from LinkedIn connections and email contacts.
✖ Engineers don't message engineers at other companies using their work email.
✖ Engineers don't habitually send and accept LinkedIn connections.
✖ Engineers have weak ties to their LinkedIn connections.
Pro tip: Map relationships based on work overlap.
People working in the same city and department for at least a year are likelier to have strong bonds with their colleagues.
Here is how an enterprise software company leaned on its in-house Engineers to get in front of Engineers at their target accounts:
1️⃣ Mapped relationships of the 200 Engineers who worked at their company
2️⃣ Identified 900 decision-makers who work at target accounts and who used to work with one of their in-house Engineers for at least a year
3️⃣ The Seller contacted the prospect, referencing their work history with the Engineer.
subject line: Did you work with James Brown at Medallia?
"Hi Richard - Saw you used to work with James Brown at Medallia. He's been building our product the last two years to improve developer productivity. Would you like me to share a white paper James helped write about upgrading observability?"
🚀 Result: 2X higher reply rates
BTW - We can automate these steps using our product, Dunbar. Ping me if you want us to do a free analysis and find ways to break into the hottest accounts through an existing relationship.
*Yes, these are generalizations, but using them to make a point