guide Outbound process for beginners

[rohitgoyal]

Hi All,

A lot of people struggle with outbound or complain about having no sales via inbound or marketplace. Well domaining is not a get rich scheme and it takes lots of time , hard-work , capital and luck to succeed in the same.

Though everyone would love to have xxxxx sales however you cant have such big ticket sales without pouring thousands of dollars and wait for long time for the right end users to approach you. This post is for the beginner who wish to have regular xxx or low xxxx sales and keep their domaining journey going on.

3 words Geo/keyword domains has very low chances of getting sold via landing page or marketplace even if you hold them for years. Such domains can be sold via outbound easily however you have to follow the practice properly.

There are number of steps and factors in the same. I will try to list few of them here for your understanding.

Let me first share the basic..

1. Outbound is a volume game. It may happen that you wont receive any response for your first 20 domains and than your 21st domain may get sold.

2. Price is big factor . $200-$499 is a sweet spot for normal geo domains.

3. Searches and cpc matters in case of Geo/keyword domains and its easier to sell domains with good metrics.

4. Follow up matters a lot as it hardly happens that you would sell domain in your first mail itself.

5. Certain niche sells faster than other niches. Location and country matters a lot as well.

6. One need to have lots of patience and a proper schedule to succeed in outbound.

Now back to the outbound process:-

1. Find leads:- There are basically 5 ways to find lead for your domain.

a) Google.com :- You can find the list of existing companies which are presently ranking for your keyword.You can use semrush.com to get first 100 result of google.com if you wish to avoid manual work.

b) Google map/yellow-pages:- You would find names and details of the companies which are registered for that keyword in that region. For geo domains , google map works better than google.com. There are automated tools which can fetch the google map results .

c) ZFbot.com/Domainiq.com :- Both these tools provide you list of the domain which are related to your domain or have same keyword like yours.

d) Socal media:- LinkedIn etc can be great source for finding potential end user for your domain.

e) Advertisers:- It makes sense to contact the advertisers who are advertising for the keyword of your domain. You can find the list of the same from semrush.com.

2. Finding email id:- There are 3 ways to find email id for the leads you have collected from above sources.

a) Whois.com/whoxy.com :- After gdpr whois is no more openly available however you still find email ids in 20-30% cases as compared to earlier days as few registrars still shows whois detail. Whoxy.com is a portal from where you can fetch whois details in bulk.

b) Hunter.io/adapt.io :- Such paid tools are great way to find email id of potential leads. However be aware that even though they are paid tools but still email id accuracy would be 60-70% only.

c) Website:- Lastly you may directly visit the website and collect email id from there.

3. Sending mails:- This is a tricky step as it is very difficult to send mails these days. Free email id provider like gmail , yahoo etc have strict spam policy and most of your mail would land in the spam folder. Now you have 2 options:-

a) Free email providers:- You can create multiple email ids with free email providers like gmail , yahoo, outlook etc.

b) Logicboxes panel based registrar:- There are some registrar which uses logic-box panel and they provide 2 free email id along with every domain. You would have to set up email id there and use their server to send mail. It works like charm as i have tried Bigrock.com and nettigritty.com.

c) Own server:- You can set up your own smtp server and purchase multiple ip for sending mails. It is a complicated and expensive way so wont be suggested in the initial days.

4. Pricing & follow up:-

a) Pricing:- Pricing plays a very big role especially in case of geo domains and 3 words emd domains. If you price them in $200-500 range than you can easily sell them. If it was a hand registered domain or purchased from go-daddy closeout than its a great roi.

b) Followup :- Now follow up can further be divided into 2 parts:-

1. Initial mail:- Suppose you collected 50 leads of end users for a particular domain and you sent mail to them. You may have received 1-2 response and no response from other leads. You can send a follow up mail after 2-3 weeks as its highly possible that many of them may have missed your initial mail or were out of office. Though never send more than 2 follow ups or else you would be spamming in general. Further be very careful not to send mail again to the same person who has already responded "No".

2. Price inquiry:- You have sent 50 mails and have received 3-4 price inquiry. You have sent them the details regarding the domain as well as your asking price. You should follow up every week or 2 regarding their interest. Under normal circumstances it takes 4-5 follow ups to finally sell a domain. It would hardly happen than you send them price and they immediately closed the deal.

5. Closing the deal:- You again have 3 options in this.

a) Paypal:- You can send a paypal invoice to the client and they can make the payment via them. I personally transfer the domain first and than ask for payment. It has never happened with me that client didn't make payment though their were delays in couple of cases. When you first transfer the domain and than ask for payment than it create trust factor in the eyes of end-users and deal closes faster. This works best in case of xxx deals as your risk factor is low.

b) Escrow :- You can create escrow account and ask the client to complete the transaction via that. Be aware that creating account at escrow is a tedious process and many times deal gets cancelled as end users do not want to take so much of headache. Escrow is recommended in case of xxxx and xxxxx deals and not at all recommended for xxx deals.

c) Marketplace:- If your domain is registered with Godaddy than you can ask the client to directly purchase from there or via landing pages like undeveloped.com. It works very well as these marketplace have high trust factor among the general public.


Some personal suggestions based on my experience of outbound.

1. Registrar:- If your domain is with Godaddy than it is easier to sell them . Godaddy is world's largest registrar and due to their massive advertising campaign everyone is aware about them. Most of the end user have account with godaddy or they dont mind opening account at Godaddy. If your domain is with any other registrar tha always do outbound after 60 days transfer lock is over.

2. Response time:- xxx purchases are normally spontaneous decision and end users immediately pay the same. If you receive a offer or end user agrees to your price than try to close the deal instantly. If you delay than their is high possibility that end user may change their mind or look for alternative options.

3. Related domains:- If you have a singular version than always purchase plural version as well if available. Further in case of Geo domain if you are marketing .com domain than always acquire cctld version of the same to be on safe side.

4. Calling :- If you receive a price inquiry than always try to call up the client as the possibility of leads getting closed increases manifold in case of calls rather than on mail.

5. Promo offer:- If you are into hand registered game than keep a keen eye on promo offers offered by various registrar. If you can grab promo offers for .com at $3-4 range than its always a winning game.

6. Expireddomains.net:- Thousands of domains expire on daily basis and you can find lots of decent domains in daily drop list which can easily be sold in xxx range via outbound.

Last but not the least , there is a very thin line between marketing and spamming and majority of newbies dont understand the difference. Outbound is great to have regular sales and to keep the cash register rolling but most of the time we end up doing spamming. Even though i am into outbound but i am strictly against spamming.

 

[Miro Baranasic]

Thanks

 

[New2Domaining]

Awesome post! The September sales you posted are impressive and inspiring, thanks for sharing them! I have a few questions if you don’t mind…

What type of email address do you use to send outbound to end users, something free like gmail or an email with your own domain?

If you use your own domain for email, does the domain / website make it clear that you are in the business of buying and selling domains or does it indicate that you are in a different type of business? Is your domain developed?

What info is contained in your email signature; does the signature contain your photo or any social media links?

I know it varies for each domain but can you say how many emails you send on average for each domain to sell it? You said you use Google to find leads, can you share any tips / strategies for selecting prospective end users from Google?

Do you simply search the domain’s keywords in Google and consider all the results on page 1 prospects and go down the page top to bottom searching for contact info for each relevant result and then go to the next page?

Do you search for each prospect by hand and then craft each email individually or do utilize any software to assist you?

Thanks again for sharing.

 

[rohitgoyal]

Awesome post! The September sales you posted are impressive and inspiring, thanks for sharing them! I have a few questions if you don’t mind…

What type of email address do you use to send outbound to end users, something free like gmail or an email with your own domain?

If you use your own domain for email, does the domain / website make it clear that you are in the business of buying and selling domains or does it indicate that you are in a different type of business? Is your domain developed?

What info is contained in your email signature; does the signature contain your photo or any social media links?

I know it varies for each domain but can you say how many emails you send on average for each domain to sell it? You said you use Google to find leads, can you share any tips / strategies for selecting prospective end users from Google?

Do you simply search the domain’s keywords in Google and consider all the results on page 1 prospects and go down the page top to bottom searching for contact info for each relevant result and then go to the next page?

Do you search for each prospect by hand and then craft each email individually or do utilize any software to assist you?

Thanks again for sharing.

1. i create customer email ids and send mail via them manually as it results in better delivery.

2. No domains are not developed. Well we use different text from time to time. Sometimes we act as broker and sometimes as owner.

3. Yes signature include linkedin link and contact number.

4. We send 50-100 emails for each domain depending upon various factors. Well normally use top 25-50 result of google.com. Further it depends upon domain name and niche.. Some domain requires i depth research while others dont.

5. All mails are sent manually. I have a team for the same.

 

[davidc1]

Hi Rohit, that's a lot of work, do you target and contact customers before domains drop ?

Regarding pricing strategy for inbound, could you suggest something ? https://www.namepros.com/threads/inbound-pricing-strategy.1102413/

 

[rohitgoyal]

Hi Rohit, that's a lot of work, do you target and contact customers before domains drop ?

Regarding pricing strategy for inbound, could you suggest something ? https://www.namepros.com/threads/inbound-pricing-strategy.1102413/

Yes outbound requires lot of hard work and dedication.

No we contact end users only after we purchase the domain.

Well everyone has their own model and philosophy of pricing their domains... I normally price domains between $299-799 range.

 

[convertcontent]

Thanks for this generous post. A few questions for you.



1. If you analyze your past customers, how large are they in terms of revenue or employees or any way to get an idea of their size? Are they mostly solopreneurs or freelancers or really small businesses?

2. Do you find more success with smaller or larger companies?

3. What is the reason they are purchasing the domain from you? Are they mainly people who want to protect their brand online? Or do they have a new business initiative they need a separate website for? Or are they business owners that just collect domains for potential future businesses? Or do they want to use them for specific marketing campaigns?

4. What is the most common job title of your customers? Are they CEO's, or VP of IT, or CIO or Director of IT or VP of Marketing or Marketing Manager or Sales Associates or just "owner"?

5. Do you make an effort to focus specially on a job title? And do you instruct your team to avoid certain job titles because they are a waste of time?

6. Do people ever say to you "I don't want any of the domains you're showing me, but I am in the market for a good domain and have a budget for the right name. Can you show me some more domains that fit my criteria? And if people do say this to you, do you work on finding them a domain from another broker? or somehow closing a deal with them? Or is it to inefficient to chase these types of deal?

7. With regards to managing your team - Using the reason of “ Work hard so can keep your job” isn't as effective as “Work hard so you can move up in the company and pay rate” Do you create some type of career path for your team to motivate them so they have a higher sense of ownership in their job? Or have you not crossed this bridge quite yet?

8. You are a true pioneer with a lot of heart and you must have positive energy coming out of your ears. What do you find is the most challenging aspect of this type of business? Is it finding the right type of staff? Or disrespectful customers? Or the lack of repeat business? Lack of powerful software tools so it's too manually intensive? Email deliverability challenges? Or knowing the next step you should take with the business or when to hire more staff?

You have a wise view/approach with regards to not being overly concerned about employees quitting while still being cautious enough to keep control of certain processes. You can't build a business without hiring and training employees, it's a risk all business owners take. But in my experience, I've found that it's a waste of energy to be too worried or paranoid about employees leaving, because worrying about something you can't control is useless. The majority of people simply do not want to take on the burden of being the owner. I still find it odd, but the best sales people I have worked with prefer to maintain a balance of work and enjoying their evenings and weekends to recharge and have no desire to be the owner, yet they are still top performers and highly ambitious without losing their freedom.

I'm still a domain newbie and new to this forum, but so far this is the most actionable and inspirational post I've come across. Good on you. With your determination and attitude, I'd bet money on your success anytime.

Also..I tried to avoid questions that might be a little too revealing, so I hope none of these questions are too nosy. If they are, just skip.

 

[KillerName]

Do you use email address from your business domain for outbound ?

 

[rohitgoyal]

Do you use email address from your business domain for outbound ?

I have created 100 custom email I'd just for sending mails... All these id's are forwarded to my main I'd so I receive all the response

 

[rohitgoyal]

Thanks for this generous post. A few questions for you.



1. If you analyze your past customers, how large are they in terms of revenue or employees or any way to get an idea of their size? Are they mostly solopreneurs or freelancers or really small businesses?

2. Do you find more success with smaller or larger companies?

3. What is the reason they are purchasing the domain from you? Are they mainly people who want to protect their brand online? Or do they have a new business initiative they need a separate website for? Or are they business owners that just collect domains for potential future businesses? Or do they want to use them for specific marketing campaigns?

4. What is the most common job title of your customers? Are they CEO's, or VP of IT, or CIO or Director of IT or VP of Marketing or Marketing Manager or Sales Associates or just "owner"?

5. Do you make an effort to focus specially on a job title? And do you instruct your team to avoid certain job titles because they are a waste of time?

6. Do people ever say to you "I don't want any of the domains you're showing me, but I am in the market for a good domain and have a budget for the right name. Can you show me some more domains that fit my criteria? And if people do say this to you, do you work on finding them a domain from another broker? or somehow closing a deal with them? Or is it to inefficient to chase these types of deal?

7. With regards to managing your team - Using the reason of “ Work hard so can keep your job” isn't as effective as “Work hard so you can move up in the company and pay rate” Do you create some type of career path for your team to motivate them so they have a higher sense of ownership in their job? Or have you not crossed this bridge quite yet?

8. You are a true pioneer with a lot of heart and you must have positive energy coming out of your ears. What do you find is the most challenging aspect of this type of business? Is it finding the right type of staff? Or disrespectful customers? Or the lack of repeat business? Lack of powerful software tools so it's too manually intensive? Email deliverability challenges? Or knowing the next step you should take with the business or when to hire more staff?

You have a wise view/approach with regards to not being overly concerned about employees quitting while still being cautious enough to keep control of certain processes. You can't build a business without hiring and training employees, it's a risk all business owners take. But in my experience, I've found that it's a waste of energy to be too worried or paranoid about employees leaving, because worrying about something you can't control is useless. The majority of people simply do not want to take on the burden of being the owner. I still find it odd, but the best sales people I have worked with prefer to maintain a balance of work and enjoying their evenings and weekends to recharge and have no desire to be the owner, yet they are still top performers and highly ambitious without losing their freedom.

I'm still a domain newbie and new to this forum, but so far this is the most actionable and inspirational post I've come across. Good on you. With your determination and attitude, I'd bet money on your success anytime.

Also..I tried to avoid questions that might be a little too revealing, so I hope none of these questions are too nosy. If they are, just skip.

Hi ,

Some of your questions are already answered in the thread . I would answer remaining questions..

1. In case geo domains target is always small business or individuals.
2. That completely depend upon domain name. If you are targeting geo/keyword domains with selling price of xxx or low xxxx than you would always receive response from small company.
3. Well different usage for different domains and different end-users have different mindset. Its not possible to answer such generic question as lots of factors are involved.
4. Again depend upon domain name. If its a Geo domain and small business is a target than it would be owner. But generally its the CEO or the Digital marketing head whom you should target.
5. Again depends upon domain name and leads.
6. Yes i do receive such response and i have closed few deals from my own inventory. In couple of cases end user themselves asked us to market or find potential buyer for their domain. Couple of such cases are in pipeline.
7. I haven't crossed that bridge yet at-least for domaining. Though i have handled more than 100 employees but that was in different field.
8. All the points you mentioned are applicable .
9. Well you can put system in place but everything is not in your hand. If an employee wants to cheat or to leave than their is nothing much you can do about that. However keeping proper office environment , creating protocols and system in office is surely in your hand.

Note:- I dont think i have ever avoided any question and rather I have always shared much more than i should so there is nothing to skip for me...

 

[UmerK]

Just thought would she some light on 60 day lock being a deal killer, I have had several deals which have been or still are dead due to the lock and confusion surrounding transfer procedure.

However, recently I started using Undeveloped and their pages, I have not been doing much outbound for a month or two but have already sold 2 domains through outbound that were still in transfer lock.

For anyone who is trying to do outbound for the names still within lock, I would recommend to try them for few names, interestingly end users instead of replying to my email decided to go to the page and make an offer or click buy now.

@rohitgoyal The email you are basically domains that are hosted with bigrock? So you use their servers and everything? You mentioned 100 custom emails, are these on different domains? If yes, are these on specific domains you are trying to sell or more of portfolio websites? Another registrar that works great for free personalized emails is Alpnames!

 

[kamcreation]

Thanks for this generous post @rohitgoyal

1)Are you using any tools to monitor email tracking

2)Do you do any follows ups if so after what time? Do you do any follows up in case the mail was opened but no reply?

3)How do you price the name ? Do you offer the same price to different users and how flexible are you in accepting the offers

4)Are you using any landing pages with these names?


I tried not to ask anything which is a bit too nosy for this public thread please feel free to skip it you feel that way. Thanks once again for sharing such valuable insights

 

[rohitgoyal]

Just thought would she some light on 60 day lock being a deal killer, I have had several deals which have been or still are dead due to the lock and confusion surrounding transfer procedure.

However, recently I started using Undeveloped and their pages, I have not been doing much outbound for a month or two but have already sold 2 domains through outbound that were still in transfer lock.

For anyone who is trying to do outbound for the names still within lock, I would recommend to try them for few names, interestingly end users instead of replying to my email decided to go to the page and make an offer or click buy now.

@rohitgoyal The email you are basically domains that are hosted with bigrock? So you use their servers and everything? You mentioned 100 custom emails, are these on different domains? If yes, are these on specific domains you are trying to sell or more of portfolio websites? Another registrar that works great for free personalized emails is Alpnames!

Hi umer,

I completely agree with your suggestion regarding undeveloped.com. It is always beneficial to have a landing page like undeveloped.com , further their support and response is amazing. Many time undeveloped team even help in negotiation or closing pending deals.
Even it happened with me yesterday. I had a domain coloradoseoagency.com and was in discussion with 2 end users for $499. Deal was pending since 2 months , I put the domainsame at undeveloped for $350 and bang one of them purchased from there.

Yes all domains are with bigrock and use their server and nameserver to send mail. I have separately purchased 100 domains there just to send mail.

 

[rohitgoyal]

Thanks for this generous post @rohitgoyal

1)Are you using any tools to monitor email tracking

2)Do you do any follows ups if so after what time? Do you do any follows up in case the mail was opened but no reply?

3)How do you price the name ? Do you offer the same price to different users and how flexible are you in accepting the offers

4)Are you using any landing pages with these names?


I tried not to ask anything which is a bit too nosy for this public thread please feel free to skip it you feel that way. Thanks once again for sharing such valuable insights

1. Yes I am using email tracking tool. There are plenty of free email tools in the market and you can use any of them.

2. When I send mails but haven't received response than I follow up with them once or twice after a month. The domains on which I received price enquiry , I follow up on them every 7-10 days till the time deal closes.

3. My normal pricing are $349 ,$499, $749 and $999... pricing depends upon domain name and niche. Yes I do provide different price tois different end users depending upon number of enquiries received or profile of end users.

4. Yes I am.using undeveloped.com for.landing page.

 

[Miro Baranasic]

Hi,

When you follow up every 7-10 days what do you write in each email? Let say in first email you give them the price, in second you reduce the price, what next?
What would you write on this email after I give them the price:

"Thanks for getting back to me on this Miro.
The current asking price for the domain is much higher than I expected. If our interest changes in the future, I'll be sure to let you know. Take care."

The price is $250 for 3 words EMD domain name :O

 

[rohitgoyal]

Hi,

When you follow up every 7-10 days what do you write in each email? Let say in first email you give them the price, in second you reduce the price, what next?
What would you write on this email after I give them the price:

"Thanks for getting back to me on this Miro.
The current asking price for the domain is much higher than I expected. If our interest changes in the future, I'll be sure to let you know. Take care."

The price is $250 for 3 words EMD domain name :O

There are 2 kind of follow. First follow up is for the domains where i havent recieved any response so i send the original mail itself. Second case is where price enquiry was made so i use below mentioned simple format.

Hi Alex,



We just wanted to follow up regarding your interest for the domain name “ OrlandoWebDevelopers.com ”for $499 only


Kindly let us know if you need any further clarification or information to complete the transaction.


Have a great day ahead.

 

[rohitgoyal]

Hi,

When you follow up every 7-10 days what do you write in each email? Let say in first email you give them the price, in second you reduce the price, what next?
What would you write on this email after I give them the price:

"Thanks for getting back to me on this Miro.
The current asking price for the domain is much higher than I expected. If our interest changes in the future, I'll be sure to let you know. Take care."

The price is $250 for 3 words EMD domain name :O

In case client says that asking price is high or they deny the offer after recieving my quote than i use below mentioned format.

"Hi Ryan,

If you have changed your mind due to price than the same is negotiable. You can share any reasonable offer you have in mind and we would be happy to match your expectation.

Kindly advice."

 

[rohitgoyal]

Hi All,

On a lighter note if anyone does get benefited from this post and actually make a sale than i deserve a chilled beer from each one of them and i have good appetite

 

[Miro Baranasic]

And if they do not respond to second follow up email?
You deserve at least one beer package

 

[rohitgoyal]

And if they do not respond to second follow up email?
You deserve at least one beer package

Well it hardly happens that deal closes in 1-2 mail... You have to keep following up with the client. Try and try till you or client die... As per my experience when client do not respond after 1-2 mails than calling is the only option. Normally deal closure rate via calls is very very high...

What's stopping you from sending me a beer package...

 

[Zicdom]

How can contact an end user whom their email has already full? Whenever i sent message to them, it keep saying that receiver's mail has full.

Secondly, i have three domains, whenever i sent mails out to end users, I always notice some of them do view the domain but i won't get any response from them, Am using undeveloped landing page while am using google analytics to know the location , i also based on GEO domain.

I have used two months in domaining and no sales yet.

 

[Zicdom]

Well it hardly happens that deal closes in 1-2 mail... You have to keep following up with the client. Try and try till you or client die... As per my experience when client do not respond after 1-2 mails than calling is the only option. Normally deal closure rate via calls is very very high...

What's stopping you from sending me a beer package...

what is the time range for following again when they haven't respond?

 

[ollybod]

Thanks@rohitgoyal for sharing. I have learnt a lot from your wealth of experience.

Have been trying outbound for a long time with no result. The end users won't even respond to my mail ,quite frustrating.
And am very sure those domains should be of good value to them.
A couple of the domains are:
Blockstonerealtor.com
Dublindrains.com
Vrstockphoto.com
Tampamoldinspector.com
Thebabyhamper.com
Please what do you write as a subject of your mail.

 

[rohitgoyal]

How can contact an end user whom their email has already full? Whenever i sent message to them, it keep saying that receiver's mail has full.

Secondly, i have three domains, whenever i sent mails out to end users, I always notice some of them do view the domain but i won't get any response from them, Am using undeveloped landing page while am using google analytics to know the location , i also based on GEO domain.

I have used two months in domaining and no sales yet.

1. That normally happens when the end user have installed spam filter and no outside mails get delivered.
2. There is no fixed answer to that question. It's completely up to the end user whether they wish toto respond or not

 

[rohitgoyal]

what is the time range for following again when they haven't respond?

Normally follow-up should be done after 7-10 days

 

[rohitgoyal]

Thanks@rohitgoyal for sharing. I have learnt a lot from your wealth of experience.

Have been trying outbound for a long time with no result. The end users won't even respond to my mail ,quite frustrating.
And am very sure those domains should be of good value to them.
A couple of the domains are:
Blockstonerealtor.com
Dublindrains.com
Vrstockphoto.com
Tampamoldinspector.com
Thebabyhamper.com
Please what do you write as a subject of your mail.

First I personally didn't like most of your domain. Second domaining is such field where no one can be assured of sales and when that would happen , be it inbound or outbound...
I have sold domains which I least expected and the domains which I was assured of selling didn't sell.
I didn't receive response for first 30 domains and no sales for first 50 domains. Luckily 51st digit sold and since than I am having sales on weekly basis...

Presently I have 250 domains where price inquiry were made by end users but deal.not yet closed.