Industrial automation: nine months of outbound, two years of capacity
An industrial automation provider did not need more meetings. It needed a small number of the right ones, at organisations large enough that a single project would fill months of delivery. Over nine months Lets Elevate built the campaign around that: a narrow list, an email sequence that opened a conversation before it ever asked for one, and qualification criteria written for commercial value rather than volume. The client reports that the pipeline and project wins that followed filled its delivery capacity for the next two years.
The client
An industrial automation provider. Named here by sector at the client's request.
The problem
The addressable market was small and well known to everyone selling into it. The buyers - engineering and operations directors, plant and production leadership - are approached constantly, respond to almost none of it, and buy on capital cycles that no campaign can accelerate. A conventional appointment-volume campaign in that market either produces nothing or produces meetings nobody wants to attend.
What we did
Built the list narrow, on purpose. The profile covered what the organisation made, the scale of its operation, the processes in question and the roles that would own the decision. Nothing outside it was contacted.
Opened with an introduction, not an ask. The first email was a soft opening - who we were writing on behalf of, and why this reader specifically. No meeting request.
Escalated intent across the sequence. Each message was more specific than the last about the problem, the fit and the reason to talk, building to a plain request for a qualified conversation. On a nine-month campaign into long buying cycles, that escalation is what earned replies from people who delete cold approaches without reading them.
Qualified for value, not volume. The criteria were written around the scale of the opportunity and the seriousness of the requirement. An appointment that did not meet them was not booked, and the appointment count was never the measure of the campaign.
What it produced
The campaign opened commercial opportunities with organisations including Jaguar Land Rover, Arla Foods and Tesco, alongside a number of other mid-to-large-market businesses.
These are organisations where our outbound work opened a qualified appointment or commercial opportunity for our client. They are our client's prospects, not our clients.
The client reports that the resulting pipeline and project wins filled its delivery capacity for the two years that followed.
Why it worked
Because the campaign was measured on the right thing from the first day. In a market of a few hundred possible buyers, a campaign judged on meetings booked will lower its standard by month three. One judged on the value of what it opens will keep the standard and produce less, later, and worth more. Agreeing which of those two a campaign is, in writing and before outreach, is the whole of the Quality Commitment.
If your market is a few hundred companies and a single win changes your year, the campaign you need is not the one that promises the most meetings.
- Attract
- Engage
- Convert
- Retain
- Grow
- B2B telemarketing
- B2B appointment setting
- B2B email marketing
- Outsourced SDR and business development
Book a call
Tell us what a good opportunity looks like for you
One conversation. We will tell you honestly whether outbound is the right next step, and what it would take.