Outreach's June 2024 quarterly release recap

We have a hard time sitting still at Outreach. The past few months have been incredibly busy, with the most recent quarterly release back in May 2024 bringing an absolute torrent of new features to our customers’ environments. If you missed the announcement about Smart Account Plans, a game-changer for account-based selling teams, and Outreach users are already leveraging the new feature to strategically manage accounts in Outreach.  

This quarter also introduced the return of our What’s New, What’s Next: Outreach Quarterly Innovation Webinar, which detailed in broader scope a rundown of the improvements we’ve made to the sales execution experience inside our platform. 

We’re turning our attention to a huge component of our May release, introducing a number of new additions to the Outreach Platform that levels up the ability for sales managers and leaders to effectively coach and improve their team’s performance leveraging our tool. 

Coach & improve

In sales organizations, managers are expected to have a deep understanding of best practices, the ability to coach each member of their team effectively, proficient performance management skills, and the insight to know when to step in and offer support if a deal is going off track. 

It’s a lot (to say the least), and one of the most difficult aspects of being a sales leader. 

However, very few organizations provide managers and RevOps teams with the necessary tools to fulfill these expectations. Coaching efforts and attempts to improve team performance often rely on intuition rather than data-driven strategies, leading to inconsistency and marginal revenue impact. Even the most skilled managers need access to data and guided insights to understand which sales practices are effective, whether their coaching is making a difference in improving seller performance, and to gain visibility into their team's deals at scale. 

Our May 2024 release introduced a new set of new features designed to assist sales managers and RevOps teams in providing clear guidance, feedback, and coaching to enhance their teams' workflows. These features cover various aspects of the sales process, including prospecting activities, messaging strategies, and meeting management. With Outreach, revenue teams can now gain a deeper understanding of what works and what doesn't, enabling them to implement effective selling workflows at scale and analyze seller impact in a more comprehensive way.

Managing the prospecting workflow with certainty

To help your teams build pipeline and hit quota, it's essential to provide them with proactive guidance that goes beyond merely analyzing past activities. By equipping them with the specific actions needed to generate the desired pipeline, you empower them to make strategic decisions that drive success. This proactive approach extends to messaging strategies as well, where precise guidance can be offered to ensure resonance with prospects. Features like the Pipeline Generation Report, Smart Email Assist, and Sequence Engagement Score within Outreach are invaluable assets in this endeavor.

The Pipeline Generation Report highlights the activities that yield the most significant impact on sales pipeline generation, allowing managers and RevOps professionals to steer selling teams towards the most effective practices. The Sequence Engagement Score provides ongoing evaluation of messaging effectiveness, enabling continuous refinement of prospecting strategies. With these tools at their disposal, managers can confidently guide their teams to success.

Leveling-up coaching for individuals and teams

Effective coaching is the key to success for sales teams, requiring precise, tailored feedback to individual reps. By leveraging tools like the recently introduced Kaia Coaching Cards and Custom Topics, managers can offer deep insights into each rep's interactions with buyers, pinpointing areas for improvement and celebrating successes. This personalized approach fosters growth and  establishes a culture of accountability within the team and leadership. Tracking the implementation and impact of coaching efforts through features like the Coach Card Report ensures that progress is measured and adjustments can be made as needed.

Managing revenue teams also requires an understanding of how deals are progressing, so that any potential obstacles are avoided. With Outreach's Smart Deal Assist, managers can quickly identify pitfalls and gaps in deal progression, enabling timely interventions that drive deals towards closure. By leveraging these features, managers can help their teams to thrive in the ever-evolving landscape of sales, fostering continuous improvement and driving sustainable success.

Understanding the impact of activities on revenue generation

We know that our customers must constantly evaluate their strategies and streamline their workflows to maximize revenue generation. To achieve this, they need access to insights that can help them identify the most effective actions and eliminate any practices that aren't contributing to revenue. Outreach directly connects the team's actions with opportunity creation and revenue generation. This creates a clear link between activity and its impact on revenue, enabling managers to make data-informed decisions. Armed with specific and measurable insights, managers can develop coaching strategies, grounded in data, to raise the performance of sellers across the entire team.

The Sales Execution Report, which now offers the link to how various sales activities contribute to revenue generation, enables managers to continuously optimize their team's efforts. With such reporting tools at their disposal, sales managers and RevOps teams can navigate their workflows with precision, ensuring that every action aligns with revenue-generating objectives.

Read the full press release, or even test out our free Pipeline Generation Calculator. 

Improving team morale, taking your team to the next level, providing constructive feedback, attaining quota, and more – these coaching additions to the Outreach platform are key assets to build rigorous and successful sales teams.