Sales Engagement: What Is It? A Guide For Sales Leaders

You’ve reviewed the pipeline, and despite what seemed like qualified leads, bottlenecks remain, and the sales process isn’t optimized. Looking at spreadsheets after a bad month might suggest hiring more reps or increasing activity by 10%, but that’s not the real solution.

Instead, focus on understanding the "why":

• Why isn’t your outbound engaging?
• Where do relationships fall off?
• Which sequences aren’t engaging prospects?
• How could your reps spend their time better?

That’s the essence of sales engagement.

This work can be time-consuming and repetitive. Whether it’s spending hours crafting the perfect email for each prospect or managing admin tasks across various tools, these activities often create more work instead of reducing it.

After reading this article, you’ll learn how sales engagement can help your team:

• Book more valuable meetings.
• Have more engaged, two-way conversations.
• Spend less time on tasks that can be automated.

Sales engagement is a vital strategy that helps sellers become more productive by focusing their time on revenue-generating tasks. 

It involves using a combination of tools, workflows, sequences, templates, reminders, and tasks to automate processes that would otherwise need to be done manually, such as writing emails or setting reminders.

But sales engagement is more than just prospecting or sequencing. It extends well beyond the initial reply or meeting and ensures that sales reps remain within their preferred systems, like Gmail, Outlook, or Salesforce.

Mixmax Sidebar within Gmail

Effective sales engagement creates a streamlined, two-way communication channel in the sales cycle, making customers and prospects feel heard rather than talked at. This approach provides essential feedback that helps prospects progress on their journey.

Sales reps are being asked to do more than ever before, and the idea of managing everything manually is outdated and inefficient. Modern sales teams need sales engagement tools to maximize efficiency and productivity. 

Here's why sales engagement is crucial and the key benefits it offers:

• Enhanced productivity. Automation of workflows and repetitive tasks such as CRM updates allows sales reps to focus on high-value activities.
• Improved open, reply, and meeting booked rates. Sales engagement platforms help increase engagement with prospects and customers, translating into higher open, reply, and meetings booked rates.
• Personalized engagement. Even automated emails can feel personal with the right tools and proper segmentation, leading to more meaningful conversations with prospects.
• Scaling outreach. Effectively scale outreach efforts without resorting to the ineffective "spray and pray" tactic. Craft sequences that can be customized with personalized messaging for each recipient.
• Multichannel engagement. Engage with prospects through email, phone, SMS, and social media, reaching them in their preferred communication channels.
• Data-driven insights. Access valuable data on what works best in your sales engagement efforts, including email opens, replies, link clicks, downloads, and content views.
• Centralized workflows. While SDRs may be comfortable using various tools, AEs often prefer to work within their primary communication platform, such as Gmail. Sales engagement tools should integrate seamlessly with these platforms to avoid unnecessary context switching.
• Task automation. Automate time-consuming tasks like:
  • Automatically inserting calendar links using keyboard shortcuts.
  • Logging touchpoint data into the CRM, ensuring data accuracy without manual entry.
• Avoiding manual processes. Relying on outdated manual processes can lead to missed meetings and inconsistent notes. Embracing sales engagement tools can streamline workflows and prevent these issues.

Sales engagement can vary widely depending on the sales rep’s role and the type of leads they handle, whether they're prospecting on their own, receiving qualified leads, or managing inbound leads. 

The length and complexity of the sales cycle can also differ, ranging from short cycles with a single contact to long enterprise sales cycles involving multiple stakeholders.

However, there are common strategies to enhance your sales engagement process. Here’s an example to illustrate:

Sales engagement process example

Many companies still rely on basic tools like Google Calendar, email, and spreadsheets. Here's how a sales workflow could look with a sales engagement platform:

1. Qualify leads automatically:

• An inbound lead comes in, and an automatic sequence sends out a survey with qualifying questions.

2. Engage prospects:

• The lead responds to the survey. You quickly drop your availability into the email using a shortcut command, ensuring you control when the demo is booked.

3. Set auto-reminders:

• Within Gmail, you set a reminder to follow up with the prospect.

4. Automate follow-ups:

• When the demo is booked, a pre-set rule sends the necessary sales collateral to the prospect 15 minutes later.

5. Tracking engagement:

• If the prospect downloads the collateral, you receive a Slack notification, so you come to the meeting prepared.

6. Log interactions:

• Every interaction, including the prospect’s responses, is automatically logged into Salesforce.

With all these tasks automated, the AE can focus on researching the prospect and preparing for the call. This streamlined process ensures that sales reps can engage more effectively and efficiently with their prospects, ultimately leading to better outcomes.

These two concepts are often confused, so let's clarify how they differ and how they connect.

Sales enablement:

• Focuses on the internal, operational side of sales.
• Provides sales teams with the right information, content, and tools to engage prospects effectively.
• Key components include content management, training and coaching, and document automation.

Sales engagement:

• Works at the deal level, directly involving interactions with prospects.
• Enhances productivity by automating workflows and personalizing outreach.
• Utilizes tools and strategies to keep sales reps focused on selling and maintaining relationships.

Both sales engagement and sales enablement aim to keep the pipeline full and improve sales rep productivity. They work best when combined, even though they function slightly differently.

Sales engagement examples

Sales engagement makes reps more efficient and effective by:

• Automating workflows: Setting rules to determine the next action.
• Using templates and sequences: Personalizing outreach at scale and staying on top of follow-ups.
• Sharing availability: Using in-email calendar links to make scheduling easy.
• Interactive elements: Utilizing polls, surveys, and CTA buttons for easy prospect responses.
• Automating tasks: Automating repetitive tasks like dialing numbers, logging sales activity, and creating CRM records.
• Real-time notifications: Setting up Slack or email alerts for when prospects engage with emails, surveys, content downloads, or contracts.

Sales managers might worry that using sales engagement tools will lead to over-automation and a lack of genuine interaction. However, with the right customizations and efficient personalization, tools like Mixmax can help sales reps stay focused, save time, and maintain meaningful engagement. Here’s how:

Become more data-driven

• Access to valuable data: Sales engagement tools provide insights into what works and what gets prospects more engaged.
• Performance analysis: Analyze top-performing sequences, templates, content, and emails to understand and optimize your sales flow.
• Regular optimization: Reps can eliminate bottlenecks weekly or monthly, not just quarterly, accelerating revenue growth.

Engage with interactive content

• Beyond basic prospecting: Sales engagement involves more than just emails and calls; it includes interactive, well-timed content (like polls, surveys, CTA buttons, one-click scheduling) that engages prospects.
• Disrupt the pattern: Sending emails right when prospects are thinking about you (with AI) and including embedded content that invites interaction makes your outreach stand out.
• Content testing: Use data to test and refine what type of content drives the most engagement.

Integrate sales activities with your tech stack

• Seamless integration: Ensure that sales engagement tools integrate with your current tech stack to improve workflow efficiency. Here are some examples of how Mixmax integrates with industry-leading tools:
  • Salesforce: Native integration ensures consistent and accurate data without extra manual entry.
  • Gmail & Outlook: Perform all tasks directly from Gmail or Outlook while syncing touchpoints to Salesforce automatically.
  • HubSpot: Integrate with HubSpot to streamline your CRM data and access contact information via your inbox.
  • Dropbox: Seamlessly convert files into attachments.
  • Giphy: Use GIFs to engage non-responsive prospects in a fun way.
  • Vidyard: Send personalized videos in a single click, right from Gmail.

Book more meetings

• Control over scheduling: One-click scheduling allows reps to provide prospects with convenient meeting options directly within the email message, eliminating the back and forth.
• Streamlined process: Prospects can book meetings without leaving their email, making the process smooth and keeping the rep in control of the relationship.

Sales development reps (SDRs) are often the front line of the sales process, responsible for prospecting and qualifying leads. Sales engagement tools can significantly enhance their efficiency and effectiveness. Here’s how:

Streamline prospecting efforts

• Automated workflows: Sales engagement tools can automate repetitive tasks like updating the CRM, sending follow-up emails, and scheduling calls, allowing SDRs to focus on higher-value activities.
• Efficient lead management: Easily manage and prioritize leads with automated tracking and reminders, ensuring no opportunities slip through the cracks.
• Data-driven prospecting: Use insights from engagement data to identify and focus on the most promising leads (this can be achieved with Mixmax’s engagement scoring feature).

Personalize outreach

• Tailored messaging: Use templates and sequences that can be customized for each prospect, ensuring every message feels personal and relevant.
• Multichannel engagement: Reach prospects through their preferred communication channels, whether it’s email, phone, SMS, or social media.
• Dynamic content: Include interactive elements like polls, surveys, and CTAs to make your outreach more engaging and responsive.

Enhance productivity

• Seamless integrations: Integrate with tools like Salesforce, HubSpot, Gmail, Outlook, and LinkedIn to streamline workflows and reduce manual data entry.
• Real-time notifications: Receive alerts (via email or Slack) when prospects engage with your emails/content, allowing for timely follow-ups.
• Task automation: Automate routine tasks such as logging activities in your CRM, enabling SDRs to spend more time on direct prospect interactions.

Improve performance tracking

• Analytics and reporting: Access detailed reports on engagement metrics to understand what’s working and what needs improvement.
• Optimize strategies: Regularly review performance data to refine outreach strategies and improve conversion rates.
• Goal tracking: Set and monitor performance goals to ensure SDRs are on track to meet their targets.

Customer success teams play a crucial role in ensuring customers achieve their desired outcomes and remain satisfied with your product or service. Sales engagement tools can significantly enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of customer success efforts. Here’s how:

Enhance communication with clients

• Automated follow-ups: Schedule and automate follow-up emails and reminders, ensuring consistent and timely communication with customers.
• Personalized interactions: Use templates and sequences that can be customized for each client, providing a personalized touch in every interaction.
• Multichannel communication: Engage with clients through their preferred channels, including email, phone, SMS, and social media.

Improve client onboarding and training

• Structured onboarding sequences: Automate onboarding processes with predefined sequences that guide clients through the initial stages of using your product or service.
• Educational content: Deliver timely and relevant training materials, tutorials, and resources to clients, helping them maximize the value of your offering.
• Interactive elements: Include surveys, polls, and feedback forms to gauge client satisfaction and identify areas for improvement.

Monitor and enhance client engagement

• Engagement tracking: Track client interactions and engagement levels to identify at-risk accounts and proactively address potential issues.
• Usage insights: Analyze data on how clients are using your product or service to provide targeted recommendations and support.
• Regular check-ins: Automate reminders for regular check-ins, ensuring that client needs are consistently met and issues are resolved promptly.

Streamline workflows and increase productivity

• Seamless integrations: Integrate with CRM and other tools to centralize client information and reduce manual data entry.
• Task automation: Automate routine tasks such as logging activities and updating client records, allowing customer success teams to focus on more strategic activities.
• Real-time notifications: Receive alerts for important client actions, such as completing onboarding steps or submitting feedback, enabling timely follow-ups.
• Increase responses for renewals and QBRs: Use rules, pre-built templates, polls, and surveys when building out renewal sequences to streamline this crucial interaction and ensure it’s effective.

To achieve more engaged sales conversations and boost productivity among sellers, consider these techniques:

Save time with keyboard shortcuts

Use slash commands. Quickly add your calendar availability, insert a tested sequence, or even drop in a GIF with simple slash commands.

Include a personalized video

Stand out with video. Personalized videos cut through the noise and are proven to triple response rates. Use it to follow up after listening to your prospect’s needs, showing how your solution addresses their specific challenges.

Meeting follow-ups. Send a personalized video to remind prospects about the meeting’s purpose and add a personal touch.

Did you know? Mixmax lets you embed personalized videos directly in Gmail with a single click using the Vidyard integration. ⬇️

Set rules for notifications

Real-time alerts. Set rules to get Slack notifications when key stakeholders watch your video or download an asset. Follow up immediately while you’re top of mind.

Polls and surveys

Engage with polls. Embedding polls and surveys in emails encourages customer interaction and gathers valuable feedback. Embedded polls can increase response rates by 20-25%.

Time your follow-ups strategically

Smart reminders. Instead of arbitrary calendar reminders, get notified when a prospect has opened your email multiple times. Follow up at the right moment when you’re top of mind.

Use AI to schedule your emails at the exact right time

AI Smart Send. Use machine learning to schedule your email when the recipient is most likely active in their inbox. This increases open and reply rates, and it can be used both in your inbox or within a sequence.

Here are some popular sales engagement platforms:

Mixmax

• Overview: Competitively priced, plug-and-play solution for AEs, SDRs, and CSMs in fast-growing companies. It allows for collaboration and personalization at scale, directly from the Gmail or Outlook inboxes.
• Features: Multichannel sequences, customizable templates, generative AI, AI email scheduling, in-email polls, surveys, CTAs, and calendar links, automatic rules and triggers, and more.
• Integrations: Salesforce, HubSpot, Gmail, Outlook, LinkedIn Sales Nav, Slack, Zoom, Dialpad, Vidyard, DocuSign, and more.

Salesloft

• Overview: Designed primarily for SDR teams, offering insights and intelligence to enhance prospecting.
• Features: Streamline and personalize outreach, book meetings, share content, and track performance.
• Pricing: Upon request

Apollo.io

• Overview: Primarily a data provider offering sales intelligence to help identify and engage with potential leads.
• Features: Comprehensive database for lead generation, combined with basic engagement tools to streamline outreach and track interactions.
• Integrations: Integrates with various CRMs and other sales tools to enhance data accuracy and workflow efficiency.

What is the best sales engagement platform?

It depends on your needs and your current tech stack. If you need something that integrates seamlessly with Gmail and Salesforce, Mixmax is for you.

Does sales engagement make it easier to close a deal?

Sales engagement allows you to be more consistent in your sales process and will allow you to spend time on things that can't be automated, like building relationships. So, if you think you'd close more deals if you didn't have to spend so much time doing repetitive tasks, and having more data about your prospects and what's working in your sales process, then yes.

What is there beyond sequencing?

It’s important to note that sales engagement doesn't stop at prospecting and email sequences. A real SEP will organize reps’ daily workflows, so they don’t need to switch between multiple tabs to complete a task. It will also give them the tools they need to enhance customer experience at each stage of the buyer’s journey while still being super personal.