A Review of Reply.io Inbound/Outbound Sales Acceleration

I have a love-hate relationship with automation and, when it comes to email automation, the love part pretty much disappears. This is not related to the activity itself or to the app that performs it (I’m all about maximizing time and ROI) but, to the way that it seems to be frequently misused and mismanaged.

I’ve used this analogy before so, to me, it’s almost cliche. Giving someone an automated email follow-up/outbound marketing program without having them completely understand the best and worst practices for its usage is akin to giving someone a loaded gun without telling them which end the bullet comes out of. Used incorrectly, this could hurt.

Recently, I was asked by Reply.io to contribute to an article on sales follow-up tips. You can read the full article here. There were six other experts interviewed for their tips, all much smarter than me, and you should really review it! At the end of this article, I will share some of my article excerpts as they pertain to my suggestions for best practices.

Who uses it?

Reply.io can be used in a variety of applications including: inbound and outbound sales, account based (target) sales, business (partner) development, human resources and recruiting, and PR and link-building. Think of any marketing or sales activity that requires both outreach and follow-up. When follow-up can be automated, it is less likely to be missed and, from a selling standpoint, follow-up often seems to be the Achilles heel.

How it works

The application interface is very clean and easy to use. Help and on-boarding tips are available at every stage of the process. The concept is actually quite simple. A campaign consists of rules for sending emails and follow-up emails based on recipient actions and responses to prior communications.

These emails consist on user-defined templates that can be personalized. Your recipients are first imported into the system as a .csv file (with field mapping and email verification) or they can be added manually or, and this is nice, via a Gmail plugin. From these lists, recipients are then selected for campaigns. You can easily create multiple campaigns for different target markets, products, or purposes.

Once a campaign is activated, it is autopilot time. Reply.io tracks opens and clicks, opt outs, and replies. Follow-up emails are sent (or not) depending on these responses. These follow-up communications are called steps and you can define, and edit, however many steps you need/want in any given campaign and place them on a defined schedule. You can also generate reports for each campaign.

How they email is important!

Emails are not sent via a bulk mailer. Bulk mailers are dead giveaways that an automated system is sending you that email. For example, I use Unroll.me to unsubscribe or roll-up newsletters and the like and bulk mailers are what that application looks for. Reply.io is sending individual emails to each person from your standard email account. In my case, that would be Google.

Therefore, they will also show up in my sent folder on Google. This might also create a challenge. You will be limited to 400 emails per day (a Google limitation). However, you can have up to 5 email addresses (each with their own 400 per day limit) and 3 or those are free with your account. Would 1,200 emails daily be sufficient? Unless you are a mass marketer, I would think that 400 emails per day would be sufficient.

Integrations

Reply.io offers several native integrations as well as quite a few that would be powered by Zapier. Native integrations include a number of recognized CRM platforms. I happen to use and represent Nimble and that CRM is presently not listed (you could probably use Zapier). However, due to the ways that Nimble and Reply.io are constructed, all is not lost. In fact, the way that they might work together presents some tantalizing opportunities.

Nimble offers some very advanced search capabilities which includes many fields that are critical in determining whether or not this contact would appropriate for a specific campaign. In fairness to Nimble, they do offer a similar bulk-messaging capability however, at this time, follow-up messages cannot be automated.

First I perform my search via Nimble and then save and export that contact file as a .csv. This file is then imported into Reply.io for a specific campaign. I can also bulk-tag these records in Nimble, at the same time that I conduct the search, with the campaign name.

It gets better. You can BCC emails in Reply.io in order to register them in other CRMs (those that are not currently supported) but, that is a pain in the proverbial butt. Nimble automatically does a two-way email sync and, therefore, because Reply.io sends emails out via your normal service, all of those emails are going to be automatically added to contact records in Nimble. # Awesome!

My suggestions on best practices

(Reply.io article excerpts). Following up on attempts to cold outreach can be a tricky topic but, what is even more critical is the initial outreach itself. Whether or not any efforts to follow up will be ultimately successful will be based on that first communication attempt.

I receive messages like this every day and most are discarded without being read. Unfortunately, to some folks, the words automation, sales enablement, and AI are translated to “Work that I don’t have to do”. Here are a few tips …

Understand that the customer is being bombarded by email messages. No matter how you cut it, cold emails are interruption marketing so your subject line, as well as your message body, must stand out. It must compel the buyer to open and to read your message.
Phishing and malware messages are everywhere. Therefore, make sure to let the person know that you are a real company and also let them know what any link is going to take them to. I don’t can’t speak for you but, I am extremely hesitant to click on unknown links.
Your message must be personalized and accurate. Template messaging is fine as long as it doesn’t scream that it is a template. I get emails all the time that are addressed “Dear Craig M.”, “Hi https://adaptive-business.com”, and “Greetings”. Delete.
Is your offer pertinent to that person? Somehow I got on a list for medical billing services. I might be a DDS but, not a dentist, a Door to Door Salesman. These types of examples go on and on and they are the rule rather than the exception. Throw as much crap as you can on the wall and then see what sticks.
As a rule, keep your message succinct. When I open an email that looks like the manuscript from “War and Peace” … it ain’t gonna’ get read.
Have an effective call-to-action! Be clear about why you are reaching out and what you would like them to do and … why they will want to do it!

I would suggest that a properly researched, accurate, and pertinent list will not only get your message read, it will either get a desired response or set the stage for an effective follow-up. Failure to do your homework will result in neither which will waste your efforts multiple times. It also damages your personal and company reputations.

If follow-up is required …

If they are opening and clicking, strike while the iron is hot! There is interest there and your message should suggest the next step … a meeting or a phone call to answer and questions that they may have. That being said, when my phone rings the minute that I open a message or click on a link … creepy.
Any follow-up message that says anything similar to … “I’m following up to see if you read my message” is every bit as lame as the salesperson who calls the customer to see if “they have made a decision”. Instead, offer new information, a valid and valuable reason to check back.
At some point, you are going to have to abandon your efforts, at least for now. Make sure that you have this customer in your CRM along with good notes and a record of your activities. Put them on a reminder setting to check back with them in the future. Don’t badger them weekly but, why throw them away?

In conclusion, I think that Reply.io could be an awesome tool and one which could effectively be used by individual salespeople. That being said, if you choose to use it you must choose to do so correctly. There are going to be consequences either way. I prefer to deal with positive consequences but, achieving those will require more work on your part. Please remember that this is not a race to the finish. Quality will trump quantity.

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Craig M. Jamieson

Managing Member at Adaptive Business Services

Craig M. Jamieson is a lifelong B2B salesperson, manager, owner, and a networking enthusiast. Adaptive Business Services provides solutions related to the sales professional. We are a Nimble CRM Solution Partner. Craig also conducts training and workshops primarily in social selling and communication skills. Craig is also the author of "The Small Business' Guide to Social CRM", now available on Amazon!