Planning is the key to selling. But most sales managers and reps rely too much on gut feeling and too little on planning. Studies show that 65% of B2B marketers don't have lead nurturing campaigns, wasting valuable time and money.
Most salespeople follow up once or twice with prospects before moving on. Sometimes they'll email twice per day, other times they'll forget for weeks. This inconsistency can ruin your campaign and lose potential customers.
What is a sales cadence?
A sales cadence is the rhythm of your sales process. It's a sequence of connections you'll make with potential customers to reach your sales goals like conversions, downloads, meetings, or demos.
Your sales cadence is your action plan with specific dates, scripts, and channels your sales reps need to talk with prospects. It starts when a potential customer first contacts your brand and continues through planned interactions until they buy or exit the process.
Why you need a sales cadence
A good sales cadence gives you structure with no guessing. All interactions with potential customers are consistent and more likely to work. Your reps can contact more potential customers in the same time, leading to more deals and increased sales. You can follow each prospect with better numbers to check your strategy and improve results. A clear sales cadence is easy to understand, so new sales agents will quickly get results and your business can grow easier.
What does a good cadence look like?
A good sales cadence should fit your goals and audience. Start from those two points before making any plan.
For big purchases (2-2.5 months)
When selling expensive equipment, enterprise software, or high-ticket items:
Day 1: Email
Day 2: Email + call/voicemail
Day 7: Email
Day 8: Email + call/voicemail
Repeat every seven days until day 50
For urgent/smaller purchases (10 days)
When selling courses, discounts, or time-sensitive software:
Day 1: Two emails
Day 2: One email
Day 3: First phone call + voicemail
Day 4: Social media mention + email
Day 5: Social media post + email + call
How to reach out effectively
First contact - Start with a personal email. Personal messages increase sales up to 6x. Show the prospect you understand their business and needs.
Second contact (1-2 days later) - Show specific examples of how your product helped others. Include real stories and results.
Third contact (5-7 days) - Offer something valuable that gets a yes/no reply, like a Zoom call to discuss their goals.
Fourth contact (2-7 days later) - Call and leave a voicemail if they don't answer. Use social media messages for younger audiences.
Fifth contact - Include a big discount, free resource, or special opportunity.
Sixth contact - Share another success story or point out a specific problem they're facing and how your product solves it.
Seventh contact - Final message repeating all benefits, stories, and offers.
Pro tip: Research shows giving too much data can decrease sales by 18%. Giving specific recommendations increases sales by 86%.
Mistakes to avoid
No clear goal - The biggest mistake is not having a clear goal for your whole strategy.
Not focusing on prospect needs - Focus on why your product helps your audience.
Wrong timing - Don't call prospects before 10 am when they're in meetings. This is the best time to send emails.
Too many messages - Don't reach out more than three times per day. It feels too pushy.
Not accepting "no" - If someone refuses, don't push back. Accept their decision and leave an opening for future contact.
Mixed up steps - Sales reps contacting the same prospect with the same message or skipping steps cause serious damage.
Numbers to track
Track these numbers:
Email open and click rate - High rates mean your content made people take action.
Email open-to-reply ratio - Shows if your leads connect with your message.
Message-to-meeting ratio - Shows you're targeting the right audience.
Bounce rate - High bounce rate means you need better leads.
With Wonit's analytics and CRM connection, you can track automatically with real-time alerts and detailed stats. See exactly when prospects check your proposals and which sections they viewed.
How to build a winning sales cadence
A winning sales cadence needs the right planning and execution. Here are the steps to build one that converts:
1. Group your leads
Understand your audience to figure out what they like, which channels they use, and their needs. Think about:
Inbound vs. outbound prospects
Businesses vs. single customers
Job title, level, and business size
Budget
Preferred timing and schedules
2. Pick the right channel
Millennials and Gen Z prefer texts and social media (81% get nervous before phone calls), while older people prefer phone calls and face-to-face meetings. Also think about what channels your team is good at.
3. Improve your contact attempts
80% of leads need at least five follow-ups. A good sales cadence has at least six to seven contacts.
Set a clear end goal for the whole strategy
Create realistic goals for each step
Focus on one goal per contact
Space your messages properly
Use different channels to avoid being annoying
4. Improve your content
Make messages catchy, short, and focused on the customer. Focus on your product's benefits. Include real content like reviews and pictures to create interest, show how products work, and remove fear.
5. Track and change
Track your campaign automatically. If a specific message, link, or time isn't working, change it. Wonit's tracking shows who viewed what sections and for how long, giving you real-time info to change your approach.
6. Check results
Don't skip checking your campaign. If you didn't reach your goal, see what went wrong. If you did reach it, make sure your success was because of the sales cadence and not other factors.
Conclusion
A sales cadence is important to reach your goals without wasting time. Start with clear goals and plan everything while staying flexible. With Wonit, you can create personal proposals in minutes using AI, pull client details directly from your CRM, and track results with detailed analytics. When prospects visit your proposal, they get a 24/7 AI chatbot that answers questions and helps close deals even when you're offline. Join waitlist today to get early access and turn your sales cadence into a winning machine.