From 9,000 Emails to 60x Better Results: The Fix Wasn’t What You Think
If you’re sending thousands of cold emails and barely getting replies, you’re not alone. Most outbound fails because it’s built on assumptions, not relevance. In this post, I’ll show you how we went from sending 9,000 emails for one meeting… to booking meetings every 150 emails—with the same offer, just smarter research and sharper targeting.
The Problem: Generic Outreach, Weak Results
Earlier this year, we ran a campaign targeting PE firms. At the time, we had a couple solid PE clients and figured we could replicate that success. So we scraped a list, wrote some copy, and hit send.
The result? 9,000 emails. One decent reply.
Why? We lumped private equity and venture capital together, assumed we knew their pain points, and used almost zero personalization. It looked like every other outbound campaign—and got treated that way.
The Fix: Talk to Real People, Build from Real Data
Instead of guessing, we took a step back and actually talked to the two PE clients we had. Then we booked more conversations through LinkedIn intros. The goal: figure out what they actually care about.
Here’s what changed after those calls:
Refined messaging based on real-world pain points: off-market deal flow, pre-process sellers, no banker involvement.
Sector-specific language and more accurate use of terms like “LOI,” “unbroken,” “proprietary.”
Laser-focused targeting using a smarter Clay workflow.
We stopped trying to pitch everyone—and started speaking directly to the people who actually felt the pain.
The Winning System: From Messy Lists to Precision Targeting
Here’s a quick breakdown of how we built the new campaign:
Step 1: Smarter List Building
Used LinkedIn Sales Navigator to get fresh, up-to-date titles (not just scraping Apollo or ZoomInfo).
Filtered for firms that actually mention private equity or VC on their profile—not just by industry tag.
Exported 5,000+ results, then ran them through Clay.
Step 2: Real ICP Verification
Used Clay + GPT-4 mini to check if each firm was truly in PE/VC.
Filtered out false positives using scraped website data + LinkedIn descriptions.
Step 3: Custom Personalization at Scale
Pulled target sectors from their website or thesis statements.
Found portfolio companies they’ve invested in.
Built copy that references both—showing real research and relevance.
“We went from spray-and-pray to sniper-level outreach. The result? Meetings every 150 emails.”
Step 4: Waterfall Enrichment + Sending
Enriched emails via BetterContacts.roxs (tries Apollo, then Prospo, then others).
Sent campaigns via Smartlead, routing replies and testing copy variants.
Copy That Actually Worked
The bad version tried to be clever: “We help PE/VC firms source deals…”
The good version hit direct pain points:
“We source unbroken deals where no banker is involved.”
“Sellers have already moved to LOI, no other buyers in play.”
Mentions of specific portfolio companies and target sectors.
This wasn’t guesswork—it came straight from calls with decision-makers.
Final Results: 60x Increase in Conversion
After launching the revised campaign:
Meeting rate improved from 1 per 9,000 to 1 per 150 emails
Quality of conversations went way up (more relevant, more ready)
And it’s since scaled into one of our most consistent-performing campaigns.
Want to Build a System Like This?
We’ve built high-performing outbound systems for 60+ B2B teams—from PE firms to suppliers to software companies. If you’re tired of sending emails into the void, we’ll help you fix that.
Book a meeting with my co-founder Martin here
