Many B2B startups (and even larger organizations) are unable to be successful with their outbound sales strategy because they take a lazy, “batch-and-blast” approach. In a recent Mucker Growth Series session, we invited Fivos Aresti and Dan Rosenthal from the ColdIQ team to share how they’ve helped companies transform their sales approach from a generic, one-size-fits-all strategy to a precision-engineered, automated growth machine.
Chapters:
00:00 Introduction
00:24 Meet Fivos and Dan from ColdIQ
01:04 ColdIQ’s Outbound Playbook Overview
03:17 9 Tips to Land in Primary Inbox
07:40 List Building Strategies for Outbound
09:37 Data Enrichment and Lead Scoring
12:22 AI Personalized Copywriting
14:38 Q&A: Reply Rates and Meeting Bookings
19:20 Tailoring Outreach to Your Persona
23:57 ColdIQ’s Outbound Campaign Results
25:29 Exploring Email Infrastructure Options
26:21 List Building Strategies
28:38 Maximizing Data Quality
29:39 Personalization Techniques
32:13 Handling Personal Emails in Outreach
36:37 Cold Calling and Multi-Channel Approaches
43:47 Advanced Email Personalization
50:16 Final Thoughts and Q&A
9 Tips to Land in The Inbox
After sending over 1 million emails through working with 200+ B2B companies and fast growing startups, the team at ColdIQ have identified several best practices for a successful outbound campaign, starting with tips to help your emails get delivered into the inbox.
- Disable Tracking Links
These digital breadcrumbs can trigger flags and identify your communication as “mass email” to sophisticated email service providers. Eliminate them to improve deliverability. - Domain Protection Strategy
- Purchase separate domains for outbound campaigns
- Use two mailboxes per domain
- Mix providers: 50% Google, 50% Outlook
- Mailbox Warm-Up Protocol
You need to warmup new email domains in order to improve your sender reputation. Spend two weeks gradually increasing send volume, building provider trust and reputation. - Technical Email Authentication
Implement critical records:- SPF (Sender Policy Framework)
- DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail)
- DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication)
- Conservative Send Volumes
Limit yourself to 50 emails per day per domain. This isn’t a restriction—it’s a strategic advantage. - Spintax: The Variation Technique
Create subtle email variations to make it look like a human (not a bot) is sending these emails.
Example:{Hi|Hey|Greetings} {Fivos|Friend|Colleague}, - Rigorous Email Verification
- Remove invalid addresses
- Clean outdated contact information
- Maintain pristine list hygiene
- Manage Domain Usage Strategically
A typical setup with 10 domains and 20 mailboxes can:- Send ~11,000 monthly emails
- Reach 3,500-3,800 leads per three-email sequence
- Meaningful Personalization
Focus on 8-10 words of genuine, contextually relevant content that demonstrates real research.
List Building with Precise Targeting
There are several ways to build your prospect lists, including:
- Firmographics: Company size, industry, location
- Technographics: Current technology stack
- Buying Intent Signals:
- Hiring patterns
- Website traffic
- Strategic job title mapping
Data Enrichment for an Intelligence Layer
Tools like Clay and Databar (disclosure: Databar is a Mucker portfolio company) are transforming data management from a manual nightmare to an automated science. These tools help with data enrichment by:
- Automating manual research processes
- Using AI to standardize and clean data
- Creating sophisticated lead scoring models
- Prioritizing leads via lead scoring using custom qualification criteria
AI-Powered Personalized Copywriting
Personalization isn’t about generating entire emails with AI—it’s about strategic, human-centered snippets. A few best practices for copywriting include:
- Maximum 8-10 words of genuine personalization
- Contextual relevance that demonstrates research depth
- Avoiding robotic, generic messaging
Realistic Performance Expectations
Understanding the right metrics helps set proper expectations for our outbound motion. Some KPIs include:
- Reply Rates:
- Industry Standard: 1-2%
- Best-in-Class: 6-8%
- Meeting Show Rates:
- Cold Outbound: 60-70%
- Inbound Requests: 90%+
Tailoring Outreach: The Persona-Centric Approach
The key to successful outreach is to understand your ideal customer profile (ICP) at a granular level. Consider:
- Mapping your entire Total Addressable Market (TAM)
- Segmenting your list into tier-one, tier-two, tier-three accounts
- Creating unique messaging for each segment
- Using data to guide your prioritization
Sending To Personal Emails?
Knowing whether to use a prospect’s personal email address requires careful consideration. Think about:
- Google’s recent policies make personal Gmail accounts risky
- Some industries (e-commerce, real estate) may still find success with personal email address
- Use tools like Clay or Databar to find and verify work email addresses
- Always prioritize professional communication channels
Multi-Channel Approach
Not all channels work equally for every market. You should be utilizing:
- LinkedIn messaging
- Phone / cold calling
- Email sequences
- Social selling ads
The basic rule is to use the appropriate channels based on your solid understanding of your specific target market’s communication preferences.
ColdIQ’s Technology Stack
While there are many AI Sales Tools available on the market today, the team at ColdIQ uses the following:
- LinkedIn Sales Navigator (list building)
- Clay (data enrichment)
- Instantly/SmartLead (email sequencing)
- Apollo/ZoomInfo (data provider)
In a recent campaign that ColdIQ implemented internally, they were able to generate 35 opportunities through automated campaigns within four weeks.
Final Thoughts
The most successful startups are developing professionals who can:
- Navigate complex technological ecosystems
- Leverage AI without losing human connection
- Create systematic, repeatable sales processes
- Continuously experiment and optimize
Building an automated sales outreach engine isn’t about sending more emails—it’s about sending smarter, more targeted communications. It’s a delicate balance of technology, strategy, and human insight.
The startups that master this approach will be able to accelerate their growth trajectory.
