Sophie Buonassisi’s Post

You Won't Get Meetings This Way! As a Founder, CEO, or GTM Leader, sending a few hundred emails a month isn’t enough. Those are rookie numbers. I personally send at least a few hundred emails a day, often more. Why do we do this? Because we need to. Busy prospects are bombarded with offers every day. In 2024, their inboxes are full of competing messages. They’ve become immune to typical pitches. ✉️Step Up Your Game: To stand out, you must increase your outreach volume. But it's not just about hitting numbers; it’s about strategy. 1. Use A/B Testing: ✅Experiment with your outreach strategies. ✅Try demand generation vs. direct selling. ✅Test trigger-based outreach vs. non-trigger. ✅Mix in pain points with creative angles. A/B testing helps optimize your approach. 2. Avoid the One-Trigger Trap: ✅Finding a single trigger and emailing 200 people might yield some results. ✅But it won’t build a consistent pipeline. For sustainable leads, diversify your outreach. 3. Pump Up Those Numbers: ✅To create a strong pipeline, increase your outreach numbers. ✅Focus on both quality and quantity. Consistent engagement leads to more meetings and better conversions. Imagine This: ✅You’re a GTM Leader or Founder/CEO who just booked a holiday in the Bahamas. ✅You can relax, knowing you have quality leads in your pipeline. PS: 🔔 Ready to elevate your outreach? If you want to transform your lead generation efforts, let’s connect! Comment 'Leads' below, and I’ll reach out to discuss how we can supercharge your strategy. Your success is just a conversation away!

🎯 The Art of Nurturing a Special Lead 🎯 There’s a lead that holds a special place in my heart—one that’s been a big part of my life growing up. While I can’t spill all the juicy details, I wanted to share the journey of how I came across this lead and the steps I’ve taken to nurture it using some of my favorite tools. 🌟 Discovery Phase: It all started a few months ago at a tradeshow right here in Orlando. Weeks before the show, I turned to LinkedIn Sales Navigator to scope out who was actively engaging and planning to attend. This tool became my go-to for identifying key players and keeping tabs on the action. 🔍 Research & Outreach: With Apollo.io, I pulled relevant contact data for the individual connected to this lead—someone I knew could make things happen. Between Apollo and LinkedIn Navigator, I managed to secure a meeting during the tradeshow, leading to introductions with the Marketing Director and Director of Tech Ops. 📅 Engagement: Our initial meeting was very productive, and I made sure to drop all pertinent details into HubSpot, where I could keep everything organized and on track. But as life goes sometimes, the lead went cold for a bit due to unforeseen circumstances. 🌱 Nurturing the Relationship: This is where HubSpot’s nurturing capabilities really shined. Through consistent, personalized engagement, I reconnected with their new point of contact, and now the opportunity is alive and well! Moral of the story? Using the right tools, being personable, and never giving up can lead to amazing opportunities. In this case, it’s all about the right mix of tech and human touch—HubSpot, Apollo, LinkedIn Sales Navigator, and a whole lot of persistence. Here’s to the power of the right tools, a little tenacity, and being a good human! 💪🚀 #salesenablement #leadgeneration #b2bsoftware #behuman

🚀 First 90 Days at McClatchy: A Journey of Growth and Impact 🚀 The past three months at McClatchy have been nothing short of exciting and rewarding. Here's a snapshot of the journey so far: 🌟 Team Collaboration: I’ve had the privilege of building strong relationships across teams, working closely with individual members to ensure we’re aligned in our goals and efforts. 📊 Product Mastery: Understanding where our business thrives has been key – from the continued success of our Print Ads to identifying areas of growth. 📈 Automation & Efficiency: Working 1:1 with team members, I’ve trained on HubSpot, built running lead lists in Apollo, and established automation systems to streamline processes. This has helped us focus on what matters most: driving lead generation and converting opportunities. 🔄 Winback Campaigns: I’ve run strategic Winback campaigns, re-engaging clients and reigniting interest in our services. 🎯 Lead Scoring & Intent Data: By introducing HubSpot Lead Scoring and Bombora Intent data, our reps now know where to focus their time, allowing for more effective and targeted prospecting. 💡 Expert Series: I launched an 8-week Lead Generation Expert Series, highlighting the importance of consistent, data-driven strategies to drive success. 👥 Sales Enablement: One of the most rewarding aspects has been enabling our sales reps with training on the CRM, empowering them to use the tools at their disposal to maximize productivity. I also want to give a huge shout out to Heather McGinnis, Janet Santostefano, and the rest of the McClatchy team for making my first 90 days amazing!  Your guidance, support, and collaboration have been instrumental in helping me hit the ground running, and I couldn’t be more grateful to be part of such a talented and dedicated group. The journey has just begun, and I'm excited about the road ahead. Onward! 🚀 #McClatchy #LeadGeneration #SalesEnablement #HubSpot #Automation #SalesLeadership #Growth #B2BMarketing #CRM #Teamwork

🪙When I started Sales Crusader, I didn’t just want to help clients reach people—I wanted to help them reach the right people in a way that actually works for their business. And that meant going beyond just listing features or hyping automation. Here’s what I learned: 1️⃣ Results First: Rather than overloading clients with product specs or every single feature, I’m all about what matters to them—securing top connection rates, scaling without flags, and maximizing LinkedIn’s potential safely and strategically. 2️⃣ Safe Mode Always: LinkedIn is now an asset every bit as valuable as a website or CRM. That’s why we prioritize compliance in our platform; no shortcuts, no risky moves. Our clients need LinkedIn working for them, not against them. 3️⃣ Partnering on Campaigns: Clients often want to scale quickly and efficiently, but managing the details takes time. That’s where we step in—from building laser-focused campaigns to automating your social journey, targeted follows, and meaningful engagement. It’s more than a tool—it’s a full-service growth approach. The goal is always simple: give our clients a clear, human-centered approach to LinkedIn outreach that’s designed to drive results without the headache of risks or red flags. Ready to make your LinkedIn a sales-generating asset? Let’s connect. -Stay Amplified. RM #LinkedInOutreach #B2BSales #SalesAutomation #CustomerResults

FAIR WARNING: If you aren't thinking about content and lead generation at EVERY stage of your #event - pre, during, and post - your budget is in ⚠ danger ⚠. That's because the narrative around events is often framed as a cost vs. leads discussion that can be hard to defend on sales alone. We know events are valuable, but that narrative can wear thin when we are pressed to draw a 1-to-1 line from events to #sales. Add content to the mix and the narrative changes - suddenly events tick many of the boxes on your plate: education, data enrichment, relationship building, funnel nurturing, bulking up your content library... and yes, leads. TOMORROW, Tuesday, September 24 at noon (ET), Lindsay McGuire, Associate Director of Content and Campaigns at Goldcast, Nicole MacLean, Chief Revenue Officer at Compose.ly, and I are going to dig into ways to leverage content and campaigns to create ROI-positive events. And that includes: ▶ Pre-event promotion: think multi-channel and personalized. ▶ Data capture: how to gather meaningful data and put it to work; before, during, and after the event. ▶ Post-event follow-up: lead nurturing is more than sending a “thanks for attending” email or passing attendee information to Sales. How you handle the leads needs to be dynamic and multi-faceted. PLUS, we will open the mic for a LIVE Q&A session so Lindsay and Nicole can answer your specific questions. Everyone who registers will get access to the replay link, so register today, even if you can’t join the live session. Registration link in the comments - see you there!

Launchpad, your partner in success! Feeling frustrated by missed opportunities and inconsistent lead follow-up? Say goodbye to those struggles and hello to a future where your brand shines brightly! At Launchpad, we're here to revolutionize the way you nurture leads. Our dynamic team of five experts is dedicated to crafting top-tier lead generation and appointment-setting campaigns using telemarketing, email sorcery, and LinkedIn prowess. With our innovative hybrid approach, we ensure that every lead is given the VIP treatment and every opportunity is seized to its fullest potential. Imagine a world where your brand is the talk of the town, soaring to new heights and dominating the market. Launchpad is here to turn your dreams of a strong brand presence into a reality, using strategic and personalized lead nurturing techniques that set you apart from the competition. Don't let the fear of competitors outperforming in lead generation hold you back! With Launchpad by your side, you'll be leading the pack and staying ahead of the curve in your industry. 🚀 Let Launchpad be your partner in success - together, we'll elevate your brand, supercharge your leads, and leave the competition in the dust! 🚀 email us: [email protected] #LaunchpadSuccess #LeadGenMastery #BrandDominance #FearlessInnovation

An interesting update from HubSpot today... They are kind of relaunching the new 'prospecting workspace' to be the 'Sales workspace' instead. I think this really makes sense as the prospecting workspace has always felt a little undercooked and limited since it's launch. It also felt like having a workspace just for SDRs and not for the AMs, BDRs etc... was a bit strange. So with the name change they have also launched a some new features including something called 'Selling Queues' which allows sales people to build and organise their sales actions in a more meaningful way. It also gives reps guided actions to close deals and build pipeline. I think giving sales reps a more consolidated space to manage their workload in is a positive as I know on the Enterprise level it can be hectic using views, filters and the deal board. I think the new scoring features on the deal and company level will also play into this new workspace. Anyway, the Beta is available to request now in the product updates section.

I recently had the opportunity to share my thoughts with Todd Busler on the evolving role of BDR orgs across SaaS. Here are my top 5 takeaways: 1. Creating a north star metric: Closed Won revenue is the ultimate goal and ensuring that BDR pipeline created progresses at a high rate across early funnel is our top priority. This means incentivizing high quality meetings with decision-makers & influencers and incentivizing stage progression. 2. Creating a culture of ONE TEAM with something to prove: We talk about "Pressure is a Privilege" - we want the challenge and we sign up for big goals. There is nothing better than having high expectations and significant responsibilities to pipeline and revenue. We are together as an in-office group, we operate with a championship team mindset and a high level of accountability, and we prioritize positive self-talk and manifestation of our goals. 3. Removing silos across reps: What is working for one person needs to be immediately trained across the team. What is working one week may not work the next. We stay on top of timely triggers & outbound plays by having accountability to our overall team goals. Every member of the team wants every other member to have success. 4. Revamp the playbook to move Upmarket: Every first message must be highly personalized - and not surface level. This means digging through company financials and recent news and (the hard part) relating how we can help in the company's specific situation and why it should matter to the individual. Our warmest place to start is with past conversations and signals from Champify for customer job changes. This includes getting wide in an account, using multiple channels, and nurturing engaged prospects through sending relevant content. 5. Getting good at experimentation: Build a culture that makes it easy to iterate and run new plays. Our most tenured BDRs like Mary Callaghan, Thomas Marchese and newly promoted BDR Manager Sarah Anne Meier have embraced this since we first got going. With Champify this meant creating clear rules of engagement & prioritizing executive movement from customers to prospect accounts as a top motion when actioning an account list. Todd, Mary Caballero and the Champify team have been great in assisting with our success and I was proud to contribute to their case study linked below!

It's also about timing! 🎯 I receive emails/LI messages from various tech companies pitching their products and services. I try to respond to the ones that are relevant. Some of them are great, well written (You can check out my earlier post where I mentioned how a simple message can be highly effective). A well-timed outreach can be incredibly valuable. The key? High-quality, personalized campaigns. And by personalized, I mean going beyond just a first name and company name. Let's say you check a company's website for upcoming events or product launches, if mentioned. In such events or activities, the C-suite/Decision makers/Champions are laser-focused on securing meetings with prospects, networking, showcasing demos, working behind the scenes, or learning more about the needs and requirements. And, if you plan a drip campaign during these times, there's a high possibility the emails or messages may get overlooked. Another way to find out is when a company is growing significantly, it's a sign that they might scale their initiatives further. If you have a solution that can help achieve their goals, the prospects move faster through the funnel. Earlier, one of the company's emails I received came at the time when we were discussing our needs and requirements, just as we were about to search for the right partner to achieve our goals. Well, such information helps time your campaigns. What other information do you think can add significant value to such initiatives?

Marketing friends - Your prospects just made a shortlist of vendors… and your company is NOT on it. Why? Because your lead generation efforts may have been anywhere from decent to great, but your demand generation strategy was way off. And no...Lead gen is NOT the same as Demand gen. Your story missed the mark. The message was more about you than them. Your content fell flat. It was too salesy and not valuable enough. Instead of focusing on educating, you overloaded them with case studies, demos, and claims of market leadership. You waited for vendors and platforms to create demand rather than identifying and capturing it. Your revenue goals are always looming, but your demand gen efforts are inconsistent – more like a flickering light than a steady engine. Your competitor was there... every step of the way, playing the long game. You were not. Yes, this a tough pill to swallow. Having run every kind of lead gen & demand gen program and worked with teams from SMBs to enterprises for over 15 years, I’ve seen a few key differences between marketing teams that win and those that struggle: time, patience, and consistency. Consistency being the most important. Funny enough... the same can be said about sales. Lead generation is about quickly grabbing leads, usually by collecting contact info for follow-ups. It's more transactional. Demand generation is more of a long game—building awareness, educating people, and getting them interested, without pushing for leads right away. Roughly 95% of your prospects are going to be exploring solutions like yours in the next year. They're either going to put you or your competitors on their shortlist. What you do today will greatly determine where you will stand. #leadgeneration #demandgeneration #abmmarketing