First time doing outbound at all. Booked 8 discovery calls in month one.

I run a boutique strategy consultancy — six consultants, focused on go-to-market work for mid-market manufacturers. Everything we’d ever sold was through referrals and a small amount of inbound from speaking events.

For about two years I’d been telling myself we needed to start outbound. I never did, partly because I had no idea what good looked like and partly because I’d watched two friends hire SDRs that didn’t work out.

Why SmarterOutbound

I went with them after looking at three other agencies and a few self-serve tools. The decision factor was honestly the published process. The four-phase Build/Launch/Qualify/Deliver model gave me a sense of what was happening week-to-week, which was the thing I most lacked.

I started with the Foundation tier ($2,500/mo) — just cold email, no LinkedIn or calling — because I didn’t know how to evaluate whether the additional channels were worth the higher tier.

Results

• Month 1: 8 discovery calls.
• Month 2: 11 discovery calls.
• Month 3: 2 signed engagements (one $50k, one $30k).

Engagement value of those two clients alone covered about 13 months of SmarterOutbound fees. The math doesn’t actually need to be more complicated than that.

What I’d change

In hindsight I should have moved to the Multi-Channel tier in month two. Our buyer is a CEO/COO at a 50-500 person manufacturer and they’re hard to reach via email alone. LinkedIn would have compressed the timeline. I left meetings on the table by being conservative on the channel mix.

I’d also have skipped my own copywriting suggestions. They pushed back politely on a few of my email drafts and were right both times.

Bottom line

This is the first vendor I’ve ever worked with that I actually wish I’d hired sooner.