In today’s newsletter, I’ll share how I use LinkedIn and WhatsApp to book more meetings, and to book them quicker. LinkedIn and WhatsApp are quickly becoming my favorite duo, as I have found a way to combine these two channels to turn replies into meetings.

Here’s how, step-by-step:

Step 1: Start conversations on LinkedIn

LinkedIn is the best channel to find triggers and prospects. They leave their digital footprint everywhere.

Post likes. Profile views. Event attendance. You can use all these interactions as triggers to start conversations.

For example, when a prospect likes a post about multi-channel outreach, you can use it as an excuse to start a conversation.

Something like: “Mary, saw you also liked Morgan’s post about his Captain Boomerang Play. Ever thought of using this play on WhatsApp?”

If you need inspiration, here’s a list of 26 cold outreach message templates.

Step 2: Move conversations on WhatsApp

Most people won’t reply to your outreach. And it’s absolutely fine.

But some will.

LinkedIn is a busy place. Your prospects keep getting pitch slapped. Your conversations on LinkedIn often end up nowhere.

This is where moving the conversation on WhatsApp makes sense.

Use a variation of this message: “Mary, thanks for your reply. Opposed to sharing your WhatsApp so I can show you how I use this channel to book more meetings? I found voice notes to be easier to consume.”

Step 3: Drop a voice note

Some people won’t be fine to share their WhatsApp with you. Again, it’s fine.

But some will.

When they share their WhatsApp number, don’t send them a lengthy text message. Instead, use the voice note feature in WhatsApp. You will find it at the bottom right of your screen. It’s a small microphone icon.

You’ll get a lot more replies with voice notes over text messages. When you use this feature, you humanize your communication.

It also increases the chances of your message getting heard, and getting replies. Most prospects are super busy, and answering by typing a text message is a major blocker for most people.

And this is how I use LinkedIn and WhatsApp in combination to book meetings. LinkedIn is the prospecting channel, and WhatsApp the conversation channel. If you want to try it, drop me a voice note on WhatsApp.

Hope this helps.

Cheers,

Thibaut

In today’s newsletter, I’ll share why I think automation killed conversations. If you’re using automation to book outbound meetings, and you’re barely getting replies, this will help.

Automation is a great way to save time, and scale your outreach, but salespeople often use it in a way that hurts their performance. They create a sequence, add a bunch of templates, hit start, and get no replies.

Here’s what I think about that.

The observation

The first automation tool I used was Yesware.

It was in 2015.

At the time, you could create a sequence, enroll prospects, and your entire prospecting was on autopilot. It was a great time.

But salespeople abused these automation tools. Under the pressure of shareholders interested in multiplying their investments’ valuations, sales teams started sending thousands of outbound messages everyday.

Prospects got tired of being bombarded with crappy cold outreach messages. They got overwhelmed. They stopped paying attention.

Then came additional spam filters from email service providers, daily limits, and now email is barely usable for outbound prospecting.

What to do instead

If the situation I described above is familiar, you’re not alone. Here’s what you can do about it:

Step 1: Automate what you can

Take a step back and put yourself in the shoes of your prospects. Imagine being on the receiving end of a cookie-cutter outbound sequence. What’s your first reflex?

I personally scan all the emails, LinkedIn messages, and texts I receive and I can say within a second if it’s automated or not. 100% of people who send me automated messages end up blocked and in my spam filter, just like Lynette:

In today’s newsletter, I’ll share how I close deals over WhatsApp. I’ve been using it to start conversations with old prospects, negotiate deals, and send offers.

Here are my stats after 3 weeks of using it:

• 14 conversations started
• 10 meetings booked (71.4% meeting rate)
• 6 opportunities created (60% opportunity rate)
• 3 deals closed for a total of $4,925 (50% win rate)

I’m pretty excited about it. It’s a great tool to build rapport, and get direct access to my customers. I send them text messages, voice notes, videos, and documents.

Here’s my exact process:

Step 1: Move the conversation on WhatsApp

Most of my conversations on WhatsApp happen with people who I already know. Old customers, lost opportunities, people in current opportunities, and so on. Instead of communicating with them by emails, I ask if they agree to share their WhatsApp number with me.

Some don’t and it’s fine. Most of them do.

When they do, I drop them a quick voice note to incentivize them to use WhatsApp as a communication channel.

Step 2: Run discovery calls

I have recently stopped running calls on Zoom, Meets, or Teams. Prospects are too distracted. They stay focused for 3 minutes, and then, they get dissipated.

Instead, we agree on a date and time to chat, and I call my prospects on WhatsApp. People are less distracted, they stop switching tabs, and they pay attention to the conversation. Most of them take the call on their phones, so they tend to stand up and walk.

It’s more dynamic.

If we need to do a screen sharing, we use Meets or any other tool, but we stick to WhatsApp to keep each other in the loop.

Step 3: Create an async communication channel

This is where WhatsApp becomes so powerful. Instead of sending long emails, hoping I won’t get ghosted, I drop a voice note or a text message. The format forces me to send short, direct, informal messages.

It’s a great way to bring energy to my deals and keep them moving. If I don’t get a reply, I call the prospect. They can still ignore me, but I have an arsenal of tools I can use to keep the conversation moving.

Step 4: Close the deal

Finally, I use WhatsApp to close the deal. Nowadays, I work on a more transactional type of sales, which means I use payment links instead of contracts. I use Wise, Stripe, or Paypal so I can get paid quickly.

It’s a an excellent way to accelerate deals. For example, I was speaking with a customer yesterday, and I sent a €1,000 Paypal link and got the money on my account in less than 10 minutes.

I understand this may not work for bigger deals, but using WhatsApp is a good pattern interrupt, and something you can’t afford to ignore. My wife closed a €42,000 deal on the last day of Q3, and it all came down to using WhatsApp to get a reply when emails didn’t work.

These are 4 steps I follow to close deals using WhatsApp. If you’re like me (addicted to the feeling of closing deals), then WhatsApp is a great way to reduce your sales cycle length. You’ll get answers faster. You’ll qualify and disqualify quicker.

Hope this helps.

Cheers,

Thibaut Souyris

In today’s newsletter, I’ll share 5 concrete use cases for using WhatsApp in sales. Since I moved to Mexico, I’ve noticed that people are using WhatsApp for everything. From buying cars to signing up for insurance, it’s everywhere.

In the meantime, prospecting tactics that worked great a few months ago are not working anymore. It’s harder than ever to get noticed, which is a great opportunity to add WhatsApp to your sales tech stack.

Here are 5 concrete use cases you can use, right now:

Reengaging with old prospects

I wrote a detailed guide on how I booked meetings with old prospects using WhatsApp. Instead of using emails to communicate, I now ask prospects to share their WhatsApp number. This allows us to have a more informal and direct communication, and many appreciate that.

My secret sauce is to use WhatsApp voice notes. It allows me to go straight to the point, without having to open my computer. I don’t need to send a long email, or record a video (go check Sendspark if you want to use video for prospecting, btw).

Since I implemented WhatsApp to reconnect with prospects, I’ve seen a crazy uptick in my reply rate, and I can even have asynchronous conversations with them.

Taking discovery calls

I have discovered this use case as I was taking a WhatsApp call with the Founder of an SDR marketplace. I was walking in the mall of Irapuato (the city where my wife is from), and I noticed how direct and efficient the conversation was.

Instead of sitting down in a Zoom meeting, trying to get the mic to work, and excusing myself for having my kid running in the background, I was super focused on the conversation, while taking a walk.

This is an incredible finding for running a discovery call. Most SaaS discovery calls end up in screen sharing and platform demos, which is the perfect conversation killer.

Now without screen sharing or camera, most people focus on the conversation, and they tend to pay more attention. No more tab switching, no more keyboard clacking.

Moving deals further

By far my favorite use case. When I finish my discovery calls, I ask my prospects if they are OK to share their WhatsApp number with me. Most are.

This allows me to quickly move deals further. I drop a voice note saying something like:

“Mary, last time we spoke, you said you needed to get the offer I shared with you in front of your CEO. What can I do to help you get it done by the end of the day?”

My wife used a variation of this with a decision-maker and she closed a €42K deal on the last day of Q3.

Sharing proposal

WhatsApp is so powerful because you can use it to share all types of documents. From PDFs, to videos, to images, it’s the ultimate communication tool. Sharing an offer on WhatsApp is a great way to get immediate feedback on an offer.

As I was writing this newsletter, I received an offer from a barber shop in Irapuato.

In today’s newsletter, I’ll share how I included WhatsApp in my prospecting routine, and how you can do it too.

Prospecting has changed in 2024. It’s getting harder than ever to book meetings with prospects. Their mailboxes are flooded with crappy AI-generated icebreakers and emails. They can’t erase shitty prospecting messages fast enough.

Trying to start conversations with total strangers only is a recipe for disaster. Even if your email game is solid, you’re a cold call machine, or a LinkedIn wizard, you won’t start enough conversation to build enough pipeline with cold outreach.

That’a why I recommend adding WhatsApp to start conversations with people you already know.

Here’s how, step-by-step:

Step 1: List building

As usual, you need to build a lead list. But instead of building a list of strangers, go back to your CRM and pull a list of prospects and customers who already know you.

List your current customers, old customers, closed lost, prospects who replied to your cold outreach, and everyone you’ve been in touch with at some point.

Now, find their phone numbers, add them to your contact list, and see if they are on WhatsApp (most people are).

This is where I need to do a small precision.

If you want to use WhatsApp to communicate with your prospect, the best way is to ask them while you’re having active conversations with them. You can ask something like:

“Pierre, I found that using WhatsApp is an easy way to answer questions you may have without having to book a meeting, or send a long email. Opposed to sharing your WhatsApp number?”

Some will refuse, but a lot will be fine sharing their numbers.

Step 2: WhatsApp call

You have a list of prospects, with WhatsApp numbers. Give them a call using WhatsApp. You’ll face two situations; they’ll reply, or ignore you.

If they reply, you can use a variation of this script:

“Pierre, how are you doing? Wanted to reach out on WhatsApp since most people don’t answer to unknown numbers. Last time we talked, you mentioned [key initiative]. Is it still relevant?”

If you need more call script ideas, you can check my Prospecting Template Swipe File.

If they don’t reply, go to step 3.

Step 3: WhatsApp voicenote

This is where the magic happens. I personally filter who I speak to on the phone. If someone calls me, but I’m busy, or if I want to avoid a conversation, I’ll ignore a call.

That’s what most people do.

Instead of writing a lengthy message, you can drop a WhatsApp voice note. Humans are curious by nature and a voice note is hard to ignore. You want to know what’s behind.

You can use the same script as in step 2, and ask your prospect to call you back or drop a message back (this options often works better).

I tried this tactic last week, and I booked 1 meeting, and generated 1 opportunity. I did a detailed video if you want to learn more.

Hope this helps.

Cheers,

Thibaut Souyris

In today’s newsletter, I’ll share my take on what you can do if you’re feeling like you’re going to get fired, or placed in a PIP soon. But first, I’ll tell you why I’m mentioning this topic in today’s newsletter.

Last week, I shared a poll on LinkedIn and I asked the following question:

In today’s newsletter, I’ll share my take on the fact that more than half of remote salespeople want to change jobs soon. I recently ran a poll on LinkedIn, and with more than 300 participants, 53% of them said they wanted to change jobs soon.

I’m not surprised.

Remote sales jobs are hard, and they require a set of skills that are mostly acquired through experience. I’ll share 3 reasons why more than half of remote salespeople want to change jobs, and a few ideas if you’re in this situation.

Let’s dive in:

Reason #1: Remote is lonely

Remote isn’t for everyone. Even if you want to work remote and have the freedom to organize your day as you want, you may not have the skills to be successful with this job organization.

When selling remote, you’re disconnected from the life of your team, and Slack messages or virtual team events won’t replace this human connection that we all need.

For some people, it’s great news. Personally, I couldn’t work in an office and be forced to hang out with people I didn’t choose to hang out with. But for a lot of people, this social interaction is the only one they have (that’s what happened to me when I moved from Montréal to Berlin back in 2015).

This leads many people working remote to think about switching jobs soon. They may be looking for a more flexible organization, with a mix of office work and remote work.

Reason #2: Return to office mandates

Some people are absolutely not interested in coming back to an office. They fought hard to acquire the skills they needed to be successful working from anywhere, and they have no intention to change the way they live.

There’s only one problem. They work for someone else. And this someone else has every right to impose idiotic policies and rules. Many companies have a vested interest in getting employees back into an office. They have long-term rents, they can micro-manage employees better, and get more control on how they spend their time working for them.

This forces many remote salespeople to look for a new job quickly, even if they’d like to stay in their current job.

Reason #3: Changing market conditions

This one touches everyone, not only remote salespeople. The SaaS world has taken a massive beating in 2023 and 2024. Over 400,000 employees have been laid off since the beginning of 2023. The trend is slowing down, but the power has shifted in the advantage of employers.

Why would they keep offering lavish offsites, mental health days, and remote work, when they can force everyone back into the office to work harder and help the company survive?

Tougher market conditions and technological advancement mean good remote employment opportunities are harder to come by.

What to do about it?

Now, you may think there’s not much you can do about this. You should consider yourself lucky to have a remote job and pray for it to stay that way.

Newsflash: you’re 100% sure to lose your job at some point.

Long gone are the days when you could find a good company, stay employed for your whole career, and leave with a comfortable retirement plan. That’s especially true in sales.

Here’s what I recommend you do instead; start building a portfolio career.

A portfolio career is a substitution to traditional employment. Instead of working full-time for a company, you take on one or more contracts so you can decide when, where, and how to work.

Be careful here–I’m not advising you to leave your full-time job and ditch the financial stability it brings you. Instead, focus on closing a first side gig. If you can close one, you can close another, and another one, until you decide you’re done working for someone else.

Hope this helps.

Cheers,

Thibaut Souyris

In today’s newsletter, I’ll share why I think job security is an illusion in sales, and what you can do about it. I’ve been selling since I’m 15 years old (I prospected small aircraft owners to wash their airplanes), and I’ve sold everything, from professional services to influencer deals.

Instability and change have been constant in my journey, but it never prevented me from sleeping at night. There’s always an opportunity to make another dollar.

Here’s why I think job security is an illusion:

You’re only as good as your last quarter

If you’ve been in sales for a while, you know how it feels. When you reach your targets, you get all the spotlight, you’re part of the family, and everyone comes to you for advice and war stories.

But as soon as you miss the mark, you’re just a number. And if you keep missing the mark, you’re put on a Performance Improvement Plan, right before departing the company in the next round of layoffs.

That’s the reality of working in sales. The upsides are immense, but the downsides are deep.

Your manager will get replaced every 12 to 18 months

You’re not the only one to feel the pressure. Imagine being responsible for your own quota + the one of 3 to 5 other colleagues. If one of them misses the mark, you’ll have a few weeks to help, otherwise you need to fire them.

That’s what your manager has to deal with. If you thought your job was stressful, try managing a sales team.

As a result, your manager will last 12 to 18 months before being:

• fired
• put on a pip
• burn out and quit

I’m intentionally being dramatic, but changing managers is a constant in sales, which means you’re potentially 18 months away from working with psychopath (power-hungry people often share this trait).

Technology is making everything obsolete

In case you didn’t notice, we’re living in the world of tech and AI. New tools emerge every week and some of them wipe out entire business units in months. Look at the translation industry.

Luckily, sales isn’t too impacted by these changes (for now). AI SDRs are disappearing as quickly as they appeared, and salespeople are realizing that AI won’t replace them just yet.

But I can guarantee you that tech will keep disrupting entire industries, and destroy jobs that everyone thought were safe (it will create a lot of other jobs too).

What you can do about it

In my opinion, good salespeople know how to find a wave, surf it as long as they can, and find a new one when the old one is dying (I’ve never surfed, but I thought this analogy made sense).

When you accept this reality, you can start working on building a system to keep finding new waves, ride them, and repeat. Instead of working for a single employer, and praying for things to work, you can develop a portfolio career, where you find shorter-term contracts so you can test out the wave before fully committing.

This may seem scary to most people, but building a portfolio career is a process, not a radical decision you take.

If you’re interested in starting this journey, I have created a Portfolio Career Launch Plan. It’s a 15-seconds survey, where you answer a few questions about your current situation and your skills, and I send you a personalized plan, with contract ideas and suggestions. You’ll also be signed up to my Portfolio Career Waitlist, where I document my journey building a system to help you work when, where, and how you want.

Hope this helps.

Cheers,

Thibaut Souyris

In today’s newsletter, I’ll share 5 types of side gigs you can land, right now, without having to become a content creator, or post anything on LinkedIn. Working in sales means you have skills that are highly sought-after.

Most businesses owners look for these skills by opening a full-time, employed position, but you can also market them as a contractor (I prefer the term “Portfolio Professional”) for more freedom, money, and time.

Here are 5 examples:

Fractional Individual Contributor (SDR/AE)

A fractional Individual Contributor is an SDR or AE (or any IC position) that works on a part-time, fixed terms contract. Instead of joining a company as a full-time hire, without a set end date, you work as a contractor, with fixed terms.

For example, you could work 1 day a week as a fractional SDR, where you focus on booking meetings for your customer. You’re paid a fixed, hourly price, plus a set bonus for each meeting you book.

Fractional Team Lead

A fractional Team Lead side gig is a great option if you have a bit of management experience. You can run weekly 1:1s and share reports with your customer, coach salespeople, and work on prospecting or closing deals if necessary.

For early-stage startups, this kind of role is in high-demand. As you have experience prospecting, closing, and managing, you can do a bit of everything as an interim team lead.

Fractional Head

Fractional Head is a good option if you have some serious experience as a front-line manager. You’re able to market your management skills and the flexibility you offer for a high-price.

For example, I closed a €10.000 contract to be a fractional Head of Sales Development for 36 hours of work on my second year working for myself. €277 per hour isn’t too bad in my book.

Fractional VP

This is the sweet spot if you’re an experienced VP or C-level. Most business owners are winging it, and sales is particularly hard to crack when you don’t have a ton of experience selling yourself.

If you’ve been building sales processes, hiring salespeople, or held strategic positions in your career, becoming a Fractional VP is a great way to get paid big money to help business owners get more clarity in their sales organizations.

Consultant

Fractional positions are great, but they can quickly turn into full-time positions, if your customers are satisfied of your results. And that’s exactly what’s going to prevent you from working when, where, and how you want.

That’s why I recommend selling consulting contracts. Instead of getting involved in the day-to-day of your customers (and risk getting sucked in), you can work on a project-based basis, with clear outcomes and boundaries.

There are countless ways to structure fractional and portfolio professional contracts. You can sell a pre-determined amount of hours or days you’re going to work every week, set a performance-based compensation (commission and bonus), or sell a fixed project, where your customers pay for outcomes (not hours).

If you want to find out what type of contract you could land, right now, I have created a Portfolio Career Launch Plan. It’s a 15-seconds survey with questions about your current job and situation. At the end of the survey, I’ll send you a personalized plan to help you land your first side gig.

Hope this helps.

Cheers,

Thibaut Souyris

In today’s newsletter, I’ll share 3 simple steps you can follow to book meetings with people in your network. Keeping your network engaged is a great way to generate opportunities, especially when working in the middle of the summer (it’s mid-august as I write this newsletter).

When you go to your network to start conversations, you’ll get a lot more replies, land potential introductions, and you’ll find more opportunities as a result.

Here’s how, step-by-step:

Step 1: Build a list of prospect

Start by building a list of people you would like to be introduced to. For example, if you’re trying to build a portfolio career and work for yourself, you can create a list of potential businesses you’d like to work with, and the founders of these businesses.

When I was preparing to leave the last job I ever had, I made a list of 15 – 20 companies I would be interested in working with. I would look for 2, 3 people inside of the organization, and I ended up with a list of 40 prospects.

Step 2: Build a list of people you can intro you

Once you have completed your list of introductions, you can create a list of referrals for these introductions. Go on LinkedIn, and consult each prospect’s profile individually. You should be able to see if you have shared connections.

List who could introduce you to these people. For example, I landed my first two consulting contracts thanks to an intro from my friend Pierre-Yves. He introed me to the COO of a Foodtech company, as well as the CEO of a Fintech company.

In some cases, people who can intro you may not have direct access to a prospect from your list, but they may know about other interesting people. For instance, after speaking with another friend, he didn’t know anyone from my prospect list, but he introduced me to two founders from his VC fund’s portfolio.

Step 3: Build your introduction sequence

By now, you should have a list of friends and acquaintances to contact, as well as a list of potential introductions to ask them for. Your next step should be to create a structured sequence to help you stay organized when asking for introductions. This sequence typically includes:

• A set of steps (touchpoints) to send
• A channel and media for each step
• A cadence (number of days to wait between each touchpoint)
• A message for each touchpoint

Here’s an introduction sequence example: