Optimizing Your Outbound Tech Stack for Early-Stage SaaS Startups ??

Selecting the right go-to-market (GTM) tech stack for early-stage SaaS startups is critical to drive initial growth. This guide provides a practical, detailed roadmap for building an outbound-led GTM tech stack tailored to startup founders. Let’s dive in! ??

This article was created in collaboration with Alexander Estner , whose step-by-step guides and recommendations have been instrumental in its development. I highly recommend his newsletter, MRR Unlocked , for all founders and revenue leaders of early-stage startups aiming to grow their business from 0 to 1M and beyond. Check out his digital product, "90+ Actionable, Proven SaaS Growth Tactics: Grow Faster from 0€ to 3€ Million ARR" , for more valuable insights.

Why Outbound-Led GTM is Essential

Outbound-led strategies are crucial for early-stage SaaS startups due to:

1. Proven Success: Outbound sales have a rich history of success and established methodologies. ??
2. Quick Implementation: Outbound strategies can be swiftly deployed, providing rapid feedback essential for achieving problem-market fit. ??♂?

In the early stages, you may lack a clear ideal customer profile (ICP), target persona, segmentation, or value proposition. Outbound sales enable you to gather immediate feedback and iterate quickly, refining these elements.

Navigating the Complexity of Your Tech Stack ??

With countless tools available, building the right tech stack can be daunting. This guide simplifies the process by outlining key principles and essential tools for your outbound GTM strategy.

Key Principles for Your Tech Stack

1. Control the Process: Ensure you thoroughly understand your sales process.
2. Simplicity: Avoid overengineering; keep your tech stack focused.
3. Ease of Implementation: Choose tools that are straightforward to set up.
4. Cost Efficiency: Prioritize essential tools and avoid unnecessary expenditures.
5. User-Friendly: Select tools that are easy to use and integrate.
6. Measurable: Opt for tools that provide clear metrics and insights.

Essential GTM Tools for Early-Stage Startups ???

You’ll need tools across various categories to manage interactions and leads effectively. Here’s a breakdown of mandatory and nice-to-have tools:

Mandatory Tools

• Contact Data Tools:

Examples: Apollo.io , LinkedIn Sales Navigator, Evaboot.com , Clay.com

• Outreach Engagement Tools:

Get in touch with your ICP contacts and share your messaging

- Mail Outreach: Woodpecker.co , Smartlead.ai

- Linkedin Outreach: Heyreach.io , Expandi.io

- Multichannel Outreach: Lemlist.com , LaGrowthMachine.com

• CRM Systems:

Examples: Pipedrive.com , Breakcold.com , Hubspot.com , Attio.com , Folk.app , Close.com

Nice-to-Have Tools

• Enrichment Tools:

Enrich your contacts with relevant information (phone number, email, etc.)

Examples: Bettercontact.rocks , Prospeo.io , fullenrich.com , Lemlist enrichment , Clay.com

• Scraping Tools:

Scrape (contact) data (e.g. LinkedIn commenters).

Examples: Clay.com , phantombuster.com , Instant Data Scraper , bardeen.ai

• VoIP Tools:

Add cold calls to your GTM motion.

Examples: Aircall.io , Phoneburner.com , Glencoco.com

• Notetaker Tools:

Record your sales meetings and take notes. Add insights to your CRM.

Examples: Sybill.ai , Fireflies.ai , Attention.tech , tldv.io

• Web Visitor Tools:

Identify your website visitors (high-intent leads)

Examples: RB2B.com , leadfeeder.com , snitcher.com

• Trigger Tools:

Know the best time to reach out to your contacts. Identify (high intent) trigger events .

Examples: Trigify.io , Ocean.io

• Outreach Infrastructure Tools:

Don’t become blocked by Google and co., and don't end up in Spam.

Examples: Mailforge , Maildoso .

Bonus: Lookalike Audience Tools:

Examples: Ocean.io

Step-by-Step Tech Stack Implementation ??

Phase 1: Initial Setup ??

This phase focuses on setting up foundational tools for your outreach efforts.

Step 1: Define Your Initial Customer Profile

• Action: Identify your ICP and break it down into sub-profiles using demographic, geographic, and firmographic criteria.
• Example: For GTM Pioneers, the initial profile might include startups in Europe interested in GTM strategies. Sub-profiles could be founders in Germany, sales leaders in Spain, etc.
• Why: Testing different messages and target audiences helps identify what works best.
• Tip: Create detailed sub-profiles for precise targeting.

Step 2: Set Up a CRM System

• Action: Integrate a CRM system like Pipedrive , Breakcold , or Hubspot .
• Why: A CRM helps track interactions, manage leads, and build customer patterns.
• Tip: Ensure seamless integration with your outreach tools.

Step 3: Gather Initial Contacts

• Action: Use LinkedIn Sales Navigator or Apollo.io to gather potential leads.
• Why: These tools help compile a comprehensive list of contacts.
• Tip: Export as many relevant contacts as possible during the trial period using tools like Evaboot .

Step 1.3.1. Create your search :

Step 1.3.2. Safe your search:

Step 1.3.3. Build lists:

Step 1.3.4. Download contacts with Evaboot :

???If you’re new to LinkedIn Sales Navigator, check out this awesome guide on how to use LinkedIn sales navigator .

Step 4: Implement a Multichannel Outreach Tool

• Action: Choose an outreach tool like Lemlist or LaGrowthMachine .
• Why: These tools manage email and LinkedIn outreach in one place.
• Tip: Start with a small campaign (about 100 contacts) to test and refine your messaging.

1.4.1. Connect your identity

1.4.2. Create first campaigns (use the templates from LaGrowthMachine)

1.4.3. Choose the Channels and Templates you want to use (Start with LinkedIn or when you want to start directly with LinkedIn and mail use this template).

!Audio performs very well on LinkedIn

1.4.4. Upload your contact list or paste the URL of your LinkedIn Sales Navigator Search

1.4.5. Create a campaign for each Initial Customer Profile Segment

1.4.6. Setup DNS Setting (read this article)

1.4.7. Run your campaigns. Numbers you should achieve:

• 30% Acceptance Rate (on LinkedIn)
• 50% Email open rate
• <5% Email bounce rate
• 10% response rate (LinkedIn and Email)
• 3-5% interest rate/ positive responses

Step 5: Integrate a VoIP Tool

• Action: Set up a VoIP tool like Phoneburner .
• Why: VoIP tools streamline the calling process and keep records of communications.
• Tip: Use analytics to refine your calling strategy.

Step 6: Utilize a Notetaker Tool

• Action: Implement a notetaker tool like Fireflies.ai .
• Why: Automatic note-taking saves time and ensures important details are captured.
• Tip: Review and categorize notes regularly to identify common themes and insights.

Step 1.6.1. You can integrate notetaker tools, VoIP solutions ,and Multichannel Outreach Tools easily as you can see here:

Phase 2: Quality Enhancement ??

Enhance data quality and personalize outreach efforts based on initial feedback.

Step 1: Integrate Scraping Tools

• Action: Use tools like Bardeen or Instant Data Scraper to build target account lists.
• Why: These tools help personalize your outreach.
• Tip: Refine contact lists based on specific criteria.

!This example demonstrates how to create an account list using a scraper. This list can help you find the right contacts for your target accounts, as outlined in Phase 1. If you want to automate this process, consider using Clay. However, automation is more appropriate for Phase 3, when transitioning from early-stage to growth-stage. You can also use this scraping method to compile contact lists from various web pages.!

Step 2.1.1. Search for results on a page you like to generate contacts or accounts from (in my example, companies that hire in the go-to-market space)

Step 2.1.2. Open your scraper (in my example Instant Data Scraper, but you can use others like bardeen.ai or phantombuster.com as well)

Step 2.1.3. Download your list as CSV

Step 2.1.4. Now you can create more personalized messaging for these scraped target accounts and the contacts you’ve found, such as "I just saw your job listing for XYZ on Indeed…".

Step 2: Implement Trigger Tools

• Action: Use tools like Trigify to time your outreach.
• Why: Timing outreach based on triggers (e.g., job changes, funding rounds) increases response rates.
• Tip: Set up alerts for key triggers relevant to your industry

Step 3: Enrich Your Data

• Action: Use enrichment tools like Prospeo.io or Bettercontact.rocks to gain deeper insights.
• Why: Enriched data improves personalization and engagement.
• Tip: Regularly update and clean your data for accuracy.

Step 2.3.1. Start finding the contact data of your target ICPs

Step 2.3.2. Upload your contact list (like the one you’ve downloaded with evaboot )

Step 2.3.3. Start Waterfall Enrichment over all tools you want to check

Phase 3: Advanced Integration ??When you're ready to expand your outreach efforts and are still seeing good response rates from phase 2, and you have a large target market, it's time to consider account-based enrichment.

At this stage, tools like BetterContact alone won't suffice. You need to enrich data at the account level to identify suitable contacts and further enhance their data.

Clay is a comprehensive tool that can manage all these enrichment tasks in one place. If Clay seems too complex, you might consider hiring an agency.

As your enrichment and outreach infrastructure becomes more complex, you'll need to implement domain rotation, email warm-up, and other best practices to avoid being blocked by email providers like Google or Yahoo.

When scaling your cold outreach efforts, consider separating LinkedIn and email outreach. Although it's not mandatory, better results can often be achieved by using tools focused on a single outreach channel rather than one tool for all channels.

While a multichannel approach can save time, the best results at scale are typically achieved using different engagement tools for different channels. You can connect these channels in your list-building logic, such as placing a contact in a LinkedIn outreach list if they haven't responded to an email.

For LinkedIn outreach, you can continue using LaGrowthMachine or HeyReach.io . Other alternatives include Expandi.io and Dripify.

For email outreach, Smartlead.ai , Lemlist.com , and Woodpecker.co are great options.

Ensure you have the proper infrastructure with tools like Mailforge or Maildoso . Some tools, like Lemlist.com , already include integrated infrastructure features.

Step 1: Contact Data Generation

• Action: Utilize RB2B for web visitor data, Sales Navigator or Apollo.io for contact data, and Bardeen for personalization.
• Why: Combining data sources ensures comprehensive contact information.
• Tip: Cross-reference data from multiple sources for accuracy.

Step 2: Connect Tools and Data Sources

• Action: Use automation platforms like Zapier to connect your tools.
• Why: Automation streamlines workflows and data sharing.
• Tip: Set up workflows for common tasks like lead nurturing and follow-ups.

Step 3: Enhance Outreach Strategies

• Action: Implement email tools like Instantly or Smartleads and LinkedIn outreach tools like Expandi or Heyreach .
• Why: Diversifying channels increases reach and engagement.
• Tip: Use A/B testing to refine messaging and determine the most effective strategies.

Step 4: Implement Education and Enablement Tools

• Action: Integrate tools like Grw.ai for ongoing training and development.
• Why: Continuous learning keeps your team adaptable.
• Tip: Schedule regular training sessions and monitor progress through analytics.

Common Pitfalls to Avoid ??

1. Overengineering the Tech Stack: Start simple and avoid unnecessary complexity.
2. Overspending on Tools: Be mindful of costs and only invest in essential tools initially.
3. Neglecting Training: Ensure your team understands how to use the tools effectively.
4. Lack of Iteration: Continuously refine your approach based on feedback and results.

Final Thoughts ??

Building the right outbound GTM tech stack is crucial for the growth of early-stage SaaS startups. Start with a simple, cost-effective setup and expand based on initial successes. Focus on rapid iteration and feedback to refine your approach. Good luck, and happy selling! ??