Breaking Free from a Painful Discovery Process and Seeing the Product Quickly
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Love them or hate them, you cannot escape sales discovery calls. Chances are, you've probably sat through a gazillion of them, trying to make it out alive just so you can finally catch glimpses of the product you want to purchase.
This leads us to today's buying bottleneck -
Inability to see the product without going through a painful discovery process
Hang tight, because here are 3 ways to overcome this roadblock and ensure a smooth buying experience:
Playing the Devil's Advocate
Amarpreet Kalkat (Founder, Humantic AI) recommends that if you know exactly what you need, then it makes sense to ask for a demo right away. Let the seller know that you don't have to be educated about the problem or qualified as a lead because you're ready to immediately purchase the solution.
On the other hand, when you might not be solution aware, then it doesn't make sense for you to see the product because you'll not be able to really grasp and imagine what it can do for you.
It's like being handed a hammer and instructed to 'go find the nails that you want to hit with it’. In such cases, let the seller guide you through a process and then show you the product.
Self-Serve is the Way to Go
According to Shruti Kapoor (Head of International Business, Clari), the purpose of discovery calls is to:
- Make sure the product is right for you and vice versa
- Help sellers understand how to run the sales process
“As a buyer, to assess whether the product is the right fit for you or not, look for self-serve signup, demo video, or a virtual walkthrough so you can eliminate any friction in the process later on".
Look for Quicker Value Realization
Sanjeev NC (Co-Founder, Supermeme.ai) recommends that while shortlisting vendors for a tech solution, look for companies that have designed experiences where the buyers can quickly realize the value they can get from the product. This can come in different ways such as:
- A free all-access trial of the software with optional guided tours that communicate the product's value. Informed buyers like you usually know where to go so will need minimal help
- A well-produced short (< 90 seconds) video with a focus on how it helps you and can make your life better
- Interactive product demos on the website are a good middle ground where it's not as broad as a free trial but not as passive as a video
With that, it’s a wrap for today’s edition of Buying Bottlenecks!
Which of these solutions are you going to be using in your next software purchase? Join the conversation on LinkedIn using #BuyingBottlenecks and let us know!
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Related Articles
Best AI SDR Tools To Add To Your Tech Stack in 2024
If your SDRs are still spending hours crafting emails and manually researching prospects - it’s probably costing you time (and deals).
Instead, with AI tools, you can automate the heavy lifting and have your sales reps focus on what actually matters: shortening sales cycles and closing deals.
Whether you're looking to delegate repetitive tasks or automate your workflows, there's an AI tool designed for that.
So we did our research by tapping into user reviews and asking our own sales reps to curate this list of top AI SDR tool recommendations.
Let’s dive in!
AI SDR tools: What You Need to Know About Them
Before we even dive in, we need to understand what these tools are and how they actually function.
An AI SDR is a tool that automates part of or your entire sales outreach process, saving significant time and effort on your sales reps' end.
But here’s the thing about AI SDRs. They’re only as good as the context they have.
This is what Brian Yam from Paragon emphasizes as well, noting that “Not a lot of context available to the AI SDR. It has no context on the prospects beyond what the data enrichment providers have - usually just a company description and some basic LinkedIn profile data at best”.
This is why, to make the most of your AI SDR tool, contextual data sources are paramount. Here are some recommendations:
- Data from your CRM, such as HubSpot
- Interactive demo engagement
- Knowledge base and other sales training data
- Market intelligence, such as technographic data
- Communication platforms such as Intercom and Gong
By integrating with these tools, AI SDRs can tap into the same knowledge base as human reps, but with recall and access to every detail.
For instance, here’s a demo that a prospect might view:
Through real-time data integration, AI SDRs are constantly learning and adapting – imagine an SDR that instantly incorporates the prospect's demo interactions (such as repeated views or specific sequences they are interested in) into their outreach.
This way, you train your AI SDRs to craft hyper-personalized messages while staying perfectly aligned with the context.
Now that we’ve set the stage for what AI SDRs need to truly reap benefits, here’s our recommended list.
Top 7 AI SDR Tools to Speed Up Your Sales Workflow
1. AI SDR: To Scale Personalized Outbound Strategy
AI SDR uses artificial intelligence to automate and enhance outbound sales efforts with personalized messages and follow-ups, allowing SDRs to work smarter and more effectively.
Key Features:
- Advanced Personalization: Creates highly targeted messages by analyzing prospect behavior, firmographic data, and engagement patterns
- Predictive Lead Scoring: Identifies prime opportunities using algorithms and behavioral analysis
- Intelligent Sequence Management: Create multi-channel follow-up sequences so smart prospects might think you never sleep
- Automated Meeting Coordination: Streamlines scheduling through AI-powered availability matching
- Performance Analytics Dashboard: Provides actionable insights to show you exactly what’s working and what isn’t
Pricing:
AI SDR’s pricing starts from $9000/year for unlimited leads and seats.
🔧Storylane Integration Tip:
- Connect AI SDR's personalization capabilities with Storylane's interactive demos to deliver customized demo experiences based on prospect insights
- Use Storylane’s account reveal feature to automatically present relevant product solutions based on prospect characteristics and engagement patterns.
2. Topo.io: To Master Audience-Based Outreach
Uses audience-based AI training to create targeted outreach campaigns, helping SDRs engage prospects with audience-specific messaging strategies and tactics.
Key Features:
- Real Audience Learning: AI model trained on authentic prospect interactions
- Smart Segmentation Engine: Creates dynamic prospect groups based on behavior patterns
- Engagement Analytics: Tracks and analyzes prospect interactions across channels
- Content Optimization: Refines messaging based on proven engagement patterns
- Multi-Channel Orchestration: Coordinates consistent outreach across platforms
Pricing:
Starts at $9000/year for the AI SDR agent
🔧Storylane Integration Tip:
- Use Topo.io's audience insights to customize Storylane demo experiences for specific prospect segments.
- Use Topo.io's audience segmentation to direct prospects to relevant demo experiences
- Customize feature highlighting based on industry engagement patterns
3. 11x: For Data Driven & Prospect Signal Based Outreach
A data-intensive platform that analyzes thousands of data points to guide SDR decisions and actions, enabling teams to prioritize the right prospects with the right approach. The platform also offers AI agents that can be used to automate the outreach process.
Key Features:
- Deep Data Analysis: Processes thousands of prospect data points for enhanced targeting
- AI agents: Jordan is an AI phone rep that qualifies prospects, updates your CRM, schedules meetings, and sends emails, while Alice is a digital SDR for multi-channel engagement and automated functioning
- Intent Recognition: The agents identify buying signals across digital touchpoints
- Behavioral Pattern Mapping: Creates detailed prospect engagement profiles
- Personalized Sequence Design: Creates custom outreach paths based on prospect behavior
- Real-Time Optimization: Adjusts strategies based on engagement patterns
Pricing:
11xai’s pricing only includes the Alice AI agent for now, with the option to contact sales for a quote.
🔧Storylane Integration Tip:
- Use 11x's intent signals to trigger perfectly timed demo experiences based on prospect behavior.
- Use the platform's behavioral data to customize demo content and user flows.
- Create automated demo-sharing sequences triggered by specific intent signals.
- Incorporate demo engagement data back into 11x's analysis engine for improved targeting.
4. Artisan AI: To Automate SDR Workflows
Artisan focuses on workflow enhancement and automation to streamline repetitive sales development tasks while maintaining personalization.
Key Features:
- AI agents: The platform offers AI agents such as Ava, an AI BDR, Elijah for customer success, etc.
- AI BDR agent: Ava automates majority of the BDR workflow and takes over researching and finding leads to hyper-personalized cold email outreach
- Smart Task Prioritization: Create campaigns with target ICPs and use AI to optimize daily SDR activities
- Intelligent Process Automation: Creates sophisticated workflows for routine SDR tasks
- Automated Follow-up Management: Creates and manages intelligent follow-up sequences
- Integration Ecosystem: Seamlessly connects with major sales and marketing platforms
Pricing:
Artisan's pricing is based on agents, tasks that can be automated and the volume of leads. Contact sales for a quote.
🔧Storylane Integration Tip:
- Use Artisan AI's workflow automation with Storylane to create outreach sequences with interactive demos
- Implement smart triggers that share specific product features or demos based on prospect engagement
- Create automated follow-up sequences based on demo interaction data
5. Jason AI by Reply: To Automate Sales Conversations
Jason AI is an AI SDR agent by Reply.io that enhances SDR workflow by automating sales outreach, booking meetings, and helping teams communicate more effectively with prospects across all channels.
Key Features:
- AI agent: Jason AI builds your target ICP based on suggestions, searches public databases, and automates your outreach sequences
- Real-Time Conversation Analysis: Provides instant insights during prospect interactions
- Automated meeting scheduling: The agent books meetings for you based on your availability in real-time and your contacts’ preference, preventing double bookings
- Cross-channel outreach: Jason AI handles multiple outreach platforms LinkedIn messages, calls, SMS, and WhatsApp- in one place
- AI response handling: Use the agent and copilot or autopilot modes to send responses and keep clients interested and moving through the sales process
Pricing:
Jason AI’s pricing starts at $3018/year for 1000 active contacts/month
🔧Storylane Integration Tip:
- Use Jason AI's conversation insights to guide prospects through personalized Storylane demo experiences
- Use demo-based account reveal data to enrich the agent's outreach sequences
6. Luna AI: To Optimize Engagement Timing
Luna.ai is primarily an AI SDR focused on cold email engagement, but what makes it worth considering is the ability to predict optimal engagement timing and prospect responses, enabling reachouts and follow-ups when prospects are most likely to engage.
Key Features:
- Predictive Lead Scoring: Uses AI to identify high-potential opportunities
- Engagement Time Optimization: Trained on best practices to determine best times for prospect interaction
- Lead database: Luna comes with a lead database with 275 M+ accounts, with the option to import leads from your CRM
- Email infrastructure: Multiple email-sending accounts, dedicated IP addresses, perfect email health (DKIM, SPF, DMARC), and ongoing email warmup- all with Luna's SDR agent
- Multi-Channel Analysis: Tracks engagement across communication channels
- Response Prediction: Forecasts likelihood of prospect engagement
Pricing:
Luna Ai’s pricing has a lower entry barrier with a free plan for 100 leads and paid plans starting at $1440/year for 300 leads.
🔧Storylane Integration Tip:
- Use Luna AI's predictive analytics to time demo sharing for maximum impact
- Use engagement predictions to customize demo content and delivery methods
- Create automated workflows that align demo sharing with predicted high-engagement periods
7. Salesforge: ToAccelerate AI-Powered Email Outreach
Salesforge uses AI to automate and scale multi-lingual programmatic emails, making outbound prospecting more efficient while preserving personalization at scale.
Key Features:
- AI-driven Outreach: Salesforge automates lead generation, email personalization, and outreach sequences, using AI to craft messages tailored to each prospect.
- Automated Lead Research: The AI agent automates lead research by analyzing public data, creating hyper-personalized outreach based on prospect information.
- Reach your prospects: Stay out of spam by using our warm-up email infrastructure, using machine learning and GPT-4 to build unique, multilingual email content
- Auto-Sending and Scheduling: Automatically schedules and sends outreach messages at optimal times to increase engagement.
- Unified Platform: Whether you’re forwarding emails or booking a meeting right there and then, use a unified platform to manage all mailboxes
Pricing:
Salesforge’s pricing starts at $960/year for 10,000 active email contacts.
🔧Storylane Integration Tip:
- Use Salesforge’s AI-driven email outreach in conjunction with Storylane to embed interactive demos within personalized email sequences
- Trigger follow-up campaigns based on prospect interactions with Storylane demos, improving engagement and response rates
Why use Storylane along with an AI SDR tool?
Think of Storylane and AI SDR tools as your dream sales duo - where interactive demos meet AI-powered, intelligent automation and outreach.
Here's how they work together:
- Trigger automated follow-ups based on how prospects engage with demos
- Personalize both demos and messages using real engagement data
- Scale your reach with custom demos organized in DemoHubs
- Time your outreach perfectly using demo interaction signals
- Qualify leads smarter by tracking how they explore demos
- Speed up sales cycles with instant demo sharing and follow-up
By combining AI SDR tools with interactive demos, you'll boost both efficiency and personalization in your outreach.
Ready to see it in action? Book a demo or start your free trial today!
9 Must-Have SDR Tools To Boost Sales Performance
Having the right tool is non-negotiable in a Sales Development Representative's (SDRs) arsenal.
From prospecting to pipeline management, having the proper tech stack can positively impact an SDR's efficiency and success.
So we did our research, asked our own SDRs, and looked at user reviews to finalize nine essential tools that every SDR should consider adding to their arsenal.
Let’s dive in!
Top 9 SDR Tools to Include in Your Tech Stack For 2024
1. Storylane: For Interactive demos and Account Reveals
Storylane is an interactive demo platform helping SDRs create engaging, interactive demos. It also has features such as account reveal and DemoHubs for buyer education to reach and engage the right prospects.
Key features:
- Personalized Demo Builder: Easily create tailored, interactive demos for each prospect in under 10 minutes, without coding skills
- DemoHub: Curate a list of personalized demos and create DemoHubs to share it with prospects
- Account reveal: Deanonymize demo viewers to the account level
- Engagement Analytics: Track viewer interactions by DemoHubs or individual demos, time spent on each section, and overall engagement metrics
- Interactive Elements: Add clickable hotspots, guided tours, and custom CTAs to make demos more engaging
- Collaboration Tools: Allow team members to work together on demos and share feedback in real-time
- Security: Enterprise-ready with ISO 27001 and SOC2 compliance on all shared assets
Pricing:
Free plan available. Paid plans start at $500/year.
What users say:
Users highlight how Storylane helps them create interactive product demos quickly and the features it tags along. Reviews also appreciate its versatility for sales, training, and change management. While some note a slight learning curve, they also emphasize the platform's easy-to-learn UI and responsive support.
2. AI SDR: To Improve SDR Outbound Strategy
AI SDR uses artificial intelligence to automate and enhance outbound sales efforts with personalized messages and follow-ups, allowing SDRs to work smarter and more effectively.
Key features:
- AI-Powered Personalization: Generate tailored outreach messages based on prospect data and behaviour patterns
- Predictive Lead Scoring: Identify high-potential leads using AI algorithms to prioritize outreach efforts.
- Automated Follow-up Sequences: Create and manage multi-channel follow-up campaigns with AI-optimized timing.
- Smart Meeting Scheduler: AI assistant that handles meeting scheduling based on both parties' availability
- Performance Analytics: Get detailed insights into outreach effectiveness and AI-generated improvement suggestions
Pricing:
AI SDR’s pricing starts from $9000/year for unlimited leads and seats.
What users say:
While AI SDR can help increase response rates and save hours on manual tasks, some users also report a steep learning curve and lack of integrations with CRM tools such as Salesforce
3. Clay: For Data Enrichment
Clay is a powerful data enrichment tool that helps SDRs gather detailed information about their prospects and accounts, helping streamline the research and outreach process.
Key features:
- Multi-Source Data Enrichment: Collect and consolidate data from various sources
- Test product-market fit: SDRs can use Clay to check whether prospects are a good fit, and pull the best emails per company
- Custom Outreach: Creates tailored messages based on prospect data
- Real-time Data Updates: Clay scrapes the web to keep prospect and account information fresh with change notifications
- Advanced Filtering and Segmentation: Easily create targeted lists based on enriched data points for more effective outreach
- CRM Integration: Seamlessly sync enriched data with your existing CRM system for a unified view of prospects
Pricing:
Clay’s pricing has a free plan available with paid plans starting at $1608/year
What users say:
While users commend the automation that Clay offers throughout the workflow, along with the AI assistant capabilities, users also report occasional inaccuracy of data, along with chances of the UI being complex for new users.
4. Gong: For Conversation Intelligence
Gong records and analyzes sales conversations to provide actionable insights and coaching opportunities for SDRs.
Key Features:
- Call Recording & Transcription: Automatically capture and transcribe all sales conversations, making it easy to review and analyze key moments
- AI-Powered Analysis: Helps SDRs identify patterns in successful calls and highlight areas for improvement
- Deal activity: Get a visual map of all interactions with prospects, including emails, web conferences, and calls
- Competitive Intelligence: Track mention of competitors and analyze how to handle competitive discussions effectively
- Best Practice Library: Build a searchable repository of successful sales conversations for new SDR onboarding
- Coaching Dashboard: Provide managers with detailed insights into SDR performance and coaching opportunities based on actual conversations
Pricing:
Gong’s pricing starts from $1600/year for 49 seats. Pricing depends on the number of users.
What users say:
While Gong is a customer favourite for being easy and intuitive, some users mention a learning curve and scope to improve on features such as action items and call summaries.
5. Revenuehero: To Accelerate The Sales Process
Revenuehero is a sales acceleration platform designed to streamline and optimize the entire sales process for SDRs and account executives.
Key features:
- Intelligent Lead Routing: Automatically assign leads to the most appropriate SDR based on expertise, capacity, and performance
- Meeting Scheduling Automation: Eliminate back-and-forth emails with an AI-powered scheduling assistant integrated with your calendar
- Qualification Chatbots: Deploy conversational AI on your website to qualify leads 24/7 and book meetings directly into SDRs' calendars
- Pipeline Velocity Analytics: Track and analyze deal progression with insights on bottlenecks and opportunities for acceleration
- Integration Hub: Connect seamlessly with your CRM, email, and other tools in your tech stack for a unified workflow
Pricing:
Revenuehero offers tiered pricing starting at $25/user/month, with custom enterprise plans available.
What users say:
While users praise the customer service and the easy-to-use interface, there is an attached learning curve with less documentation around it, leaving users dialling in support over self-serve.
6. Seismic: To Empower Your Sales Enablement
Seismic is a sales enablement platform that equips SDRs with the right content and tools to engage prospects effectively.
Key features:
- Content Management: Centralize and organize all sales collateral, making it easy for SDRs to find and share the right content at the right time.
- Personalized Content Automation: Automatically generate tailored presentations and proposals based on prospect data and preferences.
- Content Analytics: Track how prospects engage with shared content, providing insights for follow-up strategies.
- Guided Selling: Provide SDRs with step-by-step guidance on which content to use at each stage of the sales process.
- Mobile Accessibility: Access all sales enablement resources on-the-go through a user-friendly mobile app
Pricing:
Free plans available with paid plans starting at $384/year
What users say:
Users mention how Seismic helps sales teams find and use the right content as well as engage prospects with deal rooms and related features. But there is also scope of improvement within the reporting functionality and the UX.
7. HubSpot: To Streamline Pipeline Management and CRM
HubSpot offers a robust CRM platform with powerful pipeline management tools, which can be tailored to support SDR workflows and productivity.
Key features:
- Visual Pipeline Management: Easily track and manage deals through customizable pipeline stages with drag-and-drop functionality
- Automated Data Entry: Reduce manual data input with email and calendar integration, automatically logging activities and communications
- Task Automation: Set up automated task creation and reminders based on deal stage or prospect actions
- Reporting Dashboard: Access real-time reports and analytics on pipeline health, individual SDR performance, and forecasting
- Email Tracking and Notifications: Get instant notifications when prospects open emails or click on links, enabling timely follow-ups.
Pricing:
Has a free plan with paid plans ranging from $45/month for starter plans to $3,200+/month for enterprise solutions.
What users say:
Users highlight HubSpot's sales software for its CRM capabilities, email tracking, and automation features. However, some mention concerns about pricing for small businesses and a potentially steep learning curve.
8. LinkedIn Sales Navigator: For Prospecting & Lead Generation
LinkedIn Sales Navigator is a prospecting tool that helps SDRs find, understand, and engage with potential customers on LinkedIn.
Key features:
- Advanced Lead and Company Search: Use targeted filters to identify ideal prospects based on role, industry, company size, and more.
- Lead Recommendations: Receive AI-powered suggestions for new prospects that match your ideal customer profile.
- Real-time Sales Updates: Get notified about important changes and events at target accounts, such as job changes or company growth.
- InMail Messages: Reach out directly to prospects, even if you're not connected, with a higher response rate than traditional cold outreach
- Analytics: Get insights such as outreach performance, open and engagement rates to optimize efforts
Pricing:
LinkedIn Sales Navigator offers tiered pricing, starting at $79.99/month per user when billed annually.
What users say:
SDRs use LinkedIn Sales Navigator for its lead generation capabilities, advanced search filters, and real-time insights while praising features such as integrations and the ability to directly connect with prospects via InMail. However, the pricing can be steep, especially for smaller businesses, and tag along with a clunky interface at times.
9. Assetmule: To Share Interactive Sales Assets
Assetmule is a platform that helps SDRs create personalized, secure templates to share sales assets, content and collaborate with prospects throughout the sales cycle.
Key features:
- Customized Microsites: Create branded, prospect-specific assets and templates to showcase relevant content and proposals.
- Content Engagement Tracking: Monitor how prospects interact with shared materials, including time spent on each asset.
- Secure Document Sharing: Share sensitive information with granular permission controls and watermarking capabilities.
- Collaborative Tools: Enable real-time communication and co-editing features within the digital sales room.
- Integration with Sales Tools: Connect with your CRM and other sales tools for seamless workflow and data synchronization.
Pricing:
Assetmule offers a free plan with paid plans starting from $600/year.
What users say:
Users praise AssetMule for its ability to create personalized, interactive sales assets with traceable templates and engagement tracking. On the other hand, some users note a slight learning curve when learning about templates and assets.
How to Choose the Best SDR Tools
Here’s our checklist on how to select the right tools for your SDR based on specific needs and processes:
1. Integration capabilities: Ensure the tools can seamlessly integrate with your existing tech stack, especially your CRM
2. Scalability: Go for tools that can grow with your team - no one likes outgrowing their favorite gadgets
3. Ease of use: Opt for interfaces that don't require a PhD to navigate. The easier, the better
4. ROI potential: Evaluate the potential impact on key metrics like response rates, meeting bookings, and pipeline generation
5. Customer support and training: Consider vendors who offer top-notch backup and resources. You'll thank yourself later
Why Storylane is a Must-Have SDR Tool
In 2024, where buyers have multiple touchpoints before even reaching out to a sales rep, interactive demos can help shorten that gap.
It's because these demos essentially let the user try out the product at their own pace while sales reps get insights on what features of the product they’re interested in.
The result? An increase in product-qualified leads, improving pipeline quality, and making sales reps' lives easier.
Wondering how interactive demos can help your sales team? Try it out for free or book a demo today!
How To Use Pattern Interrupt To Boost Your Sales and Marketing
Pattern interrupts are all about grabbing attention in a world where everyone's on autopilot.
It's not about being loud but being smart enough to have your audience stop scrolling and start noticing
To nail pattern interrupts and make room for genuine engagement, the key is to balance the unexpected with the relevant.
Let's dive into six pattern interrupt techniques that'll make your marketing and sales outreach impossible to ignore.
What is a Pattern Interrupt?
Pattern interrupt in sales and marketing is a technique used to break through consumers' mental autopilot and grab their attention. It involves atypical initiatives to disrupt customer expectations, capture relevant attention, and make them more receptive to your message.
The ultimate goal of a pattern interrupt is to replace an unwanted, overplayed pattern in exchange for a fresh approach that encourages desired customer behavior.
Pattern interrupt in sales
Imagine you're a sales rep on your 50th cold call of the day. You've heard "No, thank you" more times than you can count, and you're starting to feel like a broken record. This is where pattern interrupt comes in to shake things up.
Pattern interrupt in sales is all about breaking the expected script. It's about catching your prospect off guard in a positive way, jolting them out of their automatic negative response and into a state of genuine engagement.
What are the benefits of using pattern interrupts?
Still on the fence about shaking things up? Here's why pattern interrupts are worth your time:
- Instant Attention Grab: With attention spans decreasing to 8 seconds (lesser than a goldfish!), pattern interrupts are your golden ticket. They snap your audience out of autopilot faster than you can say, "Hey, look at this!".
- Memorable Marketing: With pattern interrupts, you stick in people's minds by breaking the routine they're familiar with. And in marketing, being remembered is half the battle won.
- Higher Engagement Rates: Surprise breeds curiosity. When you catch people off guard (in a good way), they're more likely to lean in, click through, or hit that 'reply' button.
For instance, here’s how Devin Reed recommends using pattern interrupts to improve email engagement rates:
5 (Tried & Tested) Pattern Interrupt Techniques to Use in Sales
1. Kickstart the conversation
You know that awkward moment when you call someone and they answer with "Hello?" and you say "Hello?" back?
Yeah, that's how boring cold calls sound like. Instead, the second they pick up, dive right in with something like, "Hey [Name], it's [Your Name] from [Company]. I know you weren't expecting my call, but I've got something that might just make your day. Got 37 seconds for me?"
Wondering why this version works compared to a simple "hello"? You've acknowledged you're interrupting them, showed respect for their time, and piqued their curiosity all in one go.
Plus, using specific details such as location, numbers, or specific details can also have them turning heads just enough to keep listening.
2. Use Interactive Demos
In a prospect's mind, sales calls = conversations that go on (& on) about features and benefits.
Instead, what if you could loop them into the product prior to the call? say something like, "You know what? How about I show you exactly how this works right now?" Then, hit them with an interactive demo right there on the call.
For instance, here's how it works:
If you're reaching out via email, don't just send another wall of text. Include a link to an interactive demo with a teaser like, "I could tell you how this works, but it's way more fun if you try it yourself. Click here to take it for a spin."
And why does it work? By letting them play around with your product, you're not just telling them how great it is – you're letting them discover it for themselves. Plus, you're breaking the pattern of typical sales calls or emails with a dash of interactivity.
3. Show personal value
Before you even pick up the phone, do some digging. It's always a recommended practice to do your research before you reach out to a prospect.
For instance, a rough, personalized calculation of how much value your solution could bring to the prospect's specific business is a great example. Here's an example: "Based on the size of your sales team and your current close rate, we estimate that our solution could increase your annual revenue by approximately $1.2 million. I'd love to walk you through how we arrived at this number."
It's also effective because it combines the power of personalization with concrete, quantifiable benefits.
There are also statistics to back it up. Research shows that customers are 40% more likely to buy from salespeople who tailor their approach to the customer's specific situation.
This method works as a pattern interrupt simply because it's personalized, quantifiable, and hard to ignore. You immediately demonstrate relevance and potential ROI, capturing interest and setting the stage for a more in-depth discussion.
4. Address the objections
It's pretty common for a prospect's defenses to go up, especially during cold calls. They start to think of all the reasons for dismissing the call or the solution.
To address that, you'd have to face the objection, preferably before it arrives. You can start off by saying something good about their current situation or even your competitor. "I hear [Competitor X] has been doing a great job for you in [specific area]. That's awesome. We're not here to mess with that. But there's this other issue that's probably costing you a fortune, and that's what I want to chat about."
The goal of this pattern interrupt is to show that you're not just another brand trying to bash a competitor or steal their business. You've acknowledged their current success and positioned yourself as an ally, not a replacement. This way it can be disarming and open the door for real conversations.
Also read: How to overcome objections in sales
5. Find common ground
Do your homework and find something you and your prospect both care about – but make it unexpected.
Maybe you went through their LinkedIn and saw a post on a tradeshow that you both attended or an issue with a product that they're voicing out via a post.
Start with something like, "I noticed we both attended [tradeshow]" or "I've got to ask – what's your take on [shared topic]?"
This way, you've just gone from "another sales rep" to "person with a shared taste" in their eyes. Plus, by choosing something unexpected, you're showing that you've really done your homework, not just glanced at their LinkedIn profile.
Pattern interrupt Examples
1. Cold calls
Cold calls are often met with immediate resistance because people expect a sales pitch. A pattern interrupt in this context involves breaking away from the typical script.
Like this example:
By starting the conversation with something unexpected—like a thought-provoking question or a statement that's not about your product—you can catch the prospect off guard in a positive way, making them more receptive to your message.
2. Cold emails
Most people's inboxes (like yours and mine, if you work in marketing) are flooded with generic, templated emails.
A pattern interrupt in email marketing means crafting subject lines and opening sentences that stand out from the usual "I hope this email finds you well" approach.
By leading with an interesting statistic, a personal observation about the recipient's business, or even a deliberate "mistake," you can pique curiosity and increase the chances of your email being read.
And when the average email open rate is 37%, with the reply rate at 6%, avoiding the pattern of being ignored takes a dash of creativity and timing.
For some inspiration, here’s an example of what’s in the 37% club:
And here’s what’s not:
The bottom line? Avoid generic, low-effort pitches, especially when the goal is to nudge the recipient towards you and build long-term partnerships and collaborations.
Also read: 10 Best B2B Cold Email Templates
3. In-person meets or events
At crowded events (think in-person events or tradeshows), attendees are bombarded with similar-looking booths and standard promotional materials.
A pattern interrupt here could involve creating an unexpected visual or interactive experience that makes people stop in their tracks. Create an experience memorable enough, and it might just break the monotony of the event.
In fact, here's how we did it recently at an in-person event hosted by Exit Five:
While we didn’t have a sponsor booth, we stood out by having a truck drive by at the event with a QR Code that attendees could scan to find out which “demo” they were. Standing out, but in style!
4. Advertisements
Advertisements are everywhere, and pattern interrupts are a need- to truly stand out. Creating visuals or messages that defy expectations or using humor in an otherwise serious industry are some examples.
For instance, take this advertisement:
This advert by Surreal is direct and packed with creativity. The goal? Regardless of the platform, your ad should make viewers pause and engage with it instead of just scrolling past.
Wrapping up: Pattern Interrupts in Sales and Marketing
The best pattern interrupts don't just stop the scroll—they start conversations that your audience actually wants to have. After all, the goal isn’t to just be different, but also to be relevant.
And there you have it—your toolkit for pattern interrupt tactics that work as clever tricks for your sales and marketing teams. Go ahead, add your dash of creativity to them, and make those impressions count!
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