Who is Scoutbee?

Scoutbee uses AI to connect buyers with suppliers at scale, aiming to significantly expand its supplier database.

• Core Business: They provide a "networking-as-a-service" platform that connects ready-to-purchase buyers with a diverse range of suppliers across multiple industries.
• Notable Clients: Their network of buyers and investors includes major global brands like Walmart, Unilever, Schneider Electric, and Bacardi.

• Primary Strategy: Their growth model relies on speed and scale, driven primarily by outbound email marketing to onboard new suppliers.

The Context

Primed for expansion, Scoutbee’s focus was on achieving high-impact metrics rather than just pure volume.

• Key Objective: The company wanted to implement rigorous A/B testing to increase supplier sign-up conversion rates to at least 1.5%. This involved optimizing campaigns, improving list quality, and leveraging new tools for lead generation.
• Infrastructure Goal: They needed to significantly expand their email management infrastructure to support large-scale, project-based outreach campaigns while maintaining a strict focus on their Ideal Customer Profiles (ICPs).

Business Development Blockers

• Ineffective Supplier Onboarding via Outbound
  ‍The team struggled to use email outbound to effectively sign up suppliers at scale. The number of meetings booked was below expectations, and overall lead engagement was low.
• Lack of Scalable Processes and Infrastructure
  ‍While some outbound activities were in place, the company lacked a proven, repeatable process to achieve the necessary conversion rates. The existing email infrastructure was not built to handle the desired scale.

Initial Goals

Before the project began, the objectives were clear:

• Launch targeted, personalized volume campaigns to drive supplier sign-ups at scale.
• Conduct extensive A/B testing to identify the most effective messaging and copy.
• Build a robust supporting email infrastructure capable of scaling outreach efforts.
• Create a reporting system in HubSpot to track all campaign information, segmented by customer project.
• Align the SDR team to ensure rapid and consistent management of all lead replies.

How did we proceed?

1. TAM Analysis

To create a specific plan of action, we started with a deep analysis of Scoutbee's business, including its ICP features, market position, previous successful initiatives, and internal organization.

2. Highly-Targeted Database Creation

Starting with a short list of domains provided weekly by Scoutbee's discovery team, we identified thousands of lookalike companies and relevant contacts that matched their ICP guidelines. To achieve this scale from a narrow starting point, we used a powerful tech stack, including:

• Clay, Ocean.io, Apollo, and Sales Navigator
• OpenAI
• Scrapers (Zenrows, SerperDev, The Companies API)
• Email verification tools (Findymail, Lead Magic, Prospeo, etc.)

3. The Atlas Infrastructure - Email Infrastructure

We created, set up, and warmed up a massive email infrastructure consisting of 147 inboxes across 49 domains. This was designed to ensure optimal deliverability, avoid spam filters, and accommodate high-volume demand.

4. The Aries Funnel - Testing Phase

We conducted an intensive 22-day testing period (July 11th - August 1st, 2024).

• Initial Results: The campaigns yielded 88 conversions from over 11,600 emails sent.
• Key Learnings: Through rigorous testing of value propositions and ICP targeting, we discovered high-impact conversion keywords, with some campaigns reaching a positive reply rate as high as 6%.

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5. Scaling the Machine

We connected all the dots: from Instantly, the replies were sent to a Slack channel, where the team of SDRs received an immediate notification.

FroWe connected all the dots in a seamless workflow. Replies from Instantly were sent to a dedicated Slack channel, immediately notifying the SDR team. Following detailed SOPs, SDRs managed all lead information in a well-organized Google Sheet for efficient conversion and follow-up.

Additional Success Factors

Streamlined SDR Workflow

‍We managed the outbound process with the efficiency of an inbound system:

• Each SDR received instant notifications for positive replies in a specific Slack channel.
• Each lead was added to and updated in HubSpot in real time.
• A supplementary Google Sheet provided SDRs with detailed lead information, including work email, reply text, phone numbers, and LinkedIn profile URLs.

Real-Time Project Reporting

‍All campaign data was sent to Airtable, providing a clear, real-time dashboard of analytics per project. We tracked these key metrics weekly:

• Sign-ups per project
• Total emails sent
• Emails sent per project
• Total sign-ups

In Summary over the first 2 months we have:

• Saved hours and hours of manual SDR work, now finally free to nurture leads and close deals
• Implemented an Advanced, Fully-Engineered System from scratch
• Supported the sales team generate 901 Qualified Leads and 296 Sign-Ups, with a +521% Conversion Rate increase‍

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The Results Achieved – In 2 Months

+901 Qualified Leads

+521% Conversion Rate

+296 Sign-Ups (Conversions)