Content templates

Outreach Best Practices

Customize this training to give your sales team the help they need directly in Outreach.io to maximize sales rep productivity and pipeline.

Table of Contents

01. Finding your prospects in Outreach

How do I find the prospects I want to engage?

Start by filtering by the stage… Yours will likely have similar names as the ones below.

Typically you'll be looking for 3 different types of prospects…

  1. New Leads/Contacts that you've never engaged
  2. People who responded in some way
  3. People who didn't respond to you at all

You can further filter your list by any field in the prospects profile by clicking "Add filter"

TIME SAVING TIP: Save your filtered view by a specific name for later use. That filter can even become your default view the next time you click into the prospects page!

02. Adding prospects to a sequence in Outreach

How do I get prospects into a sequence?

1. Check the box next to the names of the prospects you want to engage.

2. Type in a keyword of the sequence you want to use for the selected prospects.

3. To customize the content in the sequence for these prospects click the "Edit Steps" button to modify each step separately.

NOTE: These changes will affect all selected prospects but will not modify the sequence for future prospects you may add.

PS: You might not have the setting turned on to allow you to "Edit Steps." Speak to your Outreach Admin to see if they can turn it on for you.

4. Click "Add to Sequence" to begin the engagement or click the clock icon to the right of it to schedule when you want the email or tasks to be initiated.

03. Executing a task in Outreach

How do I complete the manual part of the sequence?

1. You can begin executing tasks immediately after you add the prospects to the sequence but only if the first step is manual.

2. If your first step is not a task, go to the 360 View page to see your current and past due tasks.

3. Once you click on the task it will take you to a screen with the prospects profile and the task to accomplish on the right.

Hey You!

What kind of task are you trying to complete?

04. Executing an email task in Outreach

How do I complete an email task?

1. Navigate to the 360 View page to see your current and past due tasks.

2. Filter tasks by email and click on the first one to begin.

NOTE: You can organize these by priority or engagement with previous communication.

3. Once clicked, it will take you to a screen with the prospects profile and the task to accomplish on the right.

DON'T WORRY: The email tasks cannot be sent if a variable has not been populated. You'll be warned and can decide what to do if you do try to send without changing the information requested

TIME SAVING TIP: If a comment variable is in your template, you can utilize snippets to create custom tailored content that fit a range of your specific scenarios. Common snippets categories include:

  • Value Propositions
  • Pain Points
  • Case Studies
  • Ungated/Gated Content
  • Objection Handling Techniques

4. When ready click "Send & Complete." Outreach will move you to the next prospect with a task to complete. If you'd like, you can schedule this email to be sent in the future, skip the step or snooze it for a later date.

05. Executing a call task in Outreach

How do I complete a call task?

1. Navigate to the 360 View page to see your current and past due tasks.

2. Filter tasks by call and click on the first one to begin.

NOTE: You can organize these by priority or engagement with previous communication.

3. Once clicked, it will take you to a screen with the prospects profile and the task to accomplish on the right.

4. Click the phone icon to place the call in Outreach. (Is your phone set up?)

HOT TIP: Research your prospect before making a call by utilizing the Outreach Layout or the links below their name. Personalizing your communication is the most effective way to begin a conversation.

  • 80% of consumers are more likely to make a purchase when brands offer personalized experiences. (Epsilon)

5. Once the call is in progress you can take notes on the side bar and update the call purpose.

6. When the call ends, set your disposition. Depending on the disposition you choose, the prospects will either be stopped in the sequence or moved to the next step.

7. When your call is over, click "Log Call & Complete." Outreach will move you to the next prospect with a task to complete. If you'd like, you can skip the step or snooze it for a later date.

06. Manage sequenced prospects in Outreach

How do I manage the prospect I've already sequenced?

The sequence holds all of the prospect information for anyone that's active or previously completed the sequence.

1. Click on Prospects to see everyone in the sequence. It will only show prospects you sequenced by default but you can modify the filter to show you everyone.

2. Filter your prospects by what you are trying to accomplish.

3. Check the boxes next to prospects you want to modify, engage or pause. Once selected, a toolbar of options will show up at the top of the screen.

TIME SAVING TIP: To see all prospects in a sequence check out Sequence States under settings. It will allow you to manipulate multiple prospects from different sequence at the same time.

07. Managing Scheduled Emails in Outreach

Where do I find and change emails that are scheduled to send?

1. Click on the "Emails" tab in the 360 view page. Here you will find all of your scheduled emails for the week.

2. Clicking the bar graph will take you to the "Outbox" page. You can also manipulate scheduled emails from here by clicking on 1 email to modify the content or by checking the box on 1 or multiple emails to modify the delivery date in bulk.

3. Navigate to the Outbox to see all emails no matter what state they are in. Filter this list by "Scheduled" to locate messages that will be send in the future automatically.

QUICK TIP: If you are going out of the office for a few weeks. Reschedule your cold outbound emails to be sent 2 business days before you return. This will allow you to have your prospecting ramp up before arriving back into the office.

08. Managing existing tasks in Outreach

How do I see what tasks I need to accomplish for a specific sequence?

1. Find the sequence where you need to manage tasks.

2. Click on the "Tasks" option in the drop down

3. You can execute the tasks by clicking on the first one in the list, or you can modify them by checking the box next to the names of select prospects (or select all).

4. Once selected, you'll find the toolbar of options to take action, modify, export, etc.

But what If I want to see all of my tasks regardless of the sequence?

5. You can also navigate to the "Tasks" page to find every task that has been completed and scheduled for a holistic view.

SELF CARE TIP: If you need to take time off from work but have urgent tasks to accomplish, reassign them to one of your colleagues by filtering your list to "urgent" tasks, select all and clicking the "assign to" button.