When it comes to creating high-converting campaigns, the key isn’t just about gathering leads, it’s about ensuring those leads are the right fit from the start. This is critical in founder-led Sales. If a prospect finds your message totally irrelevant, it’s a poor reflection on you and your product.

Let’s walk through a theoretical campaign to show exactly how we take basic data, first name, last name, title, and company name, and turn it into a high-quality, targeted lead that’s ready to enter a high-performing funnel.

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Step 1: Is This a Good Fit?

To determine whether these leads are a good fit, we rely on high-intent signals or triggers. These signals can come from multiple sources like LinkedIn engagement or tools like Reo.dev, which help us identify leads showing high product engagement. For example, if a lead has commented on posts related to our client’s industry or engaged in a specific community, we know our campaign's messaging will be relevant to their interests. This allows us to narrow down whether this person likely belongs in our Ideal Customer Profile (ICP).

Sometimes we only have basic lead data: first name, last name, title, and company name (or less!). As our starting point, we need to add more data and check for signal to assess whether this lead aligns with our ICP before we do anything else.

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Step 2: Enriching the Data with Clay, Apollo, other

Once we’ve identified that the lead has potential, it’s time to enrich the data. We use Clay, Apollo, Sales Nav, or a few other tools for this, as it allows us to dive deep and accurately fill in the missing pieces of a lead’s profile. While some tools offer enrichment through quick Google searches or other basic data scraping methods, we don’t rely on those for accuracy. Instead, we take a careful and structured approach to ensure that the enriched data we collect is valid, targeted, and precise. 

When we enrich the data in Clay, we add critical details like job titles, company information, headcount, location, and social media profiles (like LinkedIn). This allows us to gain a clearer understanding of who the lead is and if they fit our ICP.

By enriching leads with the right data, we can avoid making assumptions based on incomplete or inaccurate information. Clay helps us enrich not just by pulling from basic data points, but by refining the information to create a profile that’s much more valuable for outreach.

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Step 3: Ensuring Quality - DNC and De-Duplication

Once we’ve enriched the data, the next key step is ensuring the list is clean. This is where we take ownership of DNC (Do Not Contact) and de-duplication. We don’t simply rely on built-in safeguards from tools. Instead, we do the upfront work to filter out any leads that are already on a do-not-contact list or are duplicates.

DNC checks ensure we’re not wasting time or resources reaching out to individuals we shouldn’t be contacting, and de-duping ensures we aren’t sending multiple messages to the same person. These are crucial steps to maintain the integrity of the campaign, and we take full responsibility for them to ensure that we’re only working with the cleanest, most accurate data.

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Step 4: Assessing Fit and Deciding Who to Keep

After enriching and cleaning the data, we now have a much fuller picture of the lead. The next step is to assess whether this lead fits within our ICP, and if they do, whether we should move forward with them in the campaign. This is where we take a step back to evaluate each enriched lead carefully.

• Who do we need to remove? If a lead doesn't match our ICP criteria, whether it’s based on company size, industry, or role, they’re removed from the list.
  
  
• Who do we need to keep? These are the leads that check all the boxes: they match our ideal persona, are in the right company, and show intent.
  
  
• Who do we need to consider? Sometimes, a lead might be on the fence, perhaps they’re a strong lead but don’t exactly fit the core ICP. In these cases, we assess whether it’s worth nurturing or if we need to reconsider them based on the client’s broader goals.
  
  

This stage is crucial for ensuring that the leads we move forward with are the ones most likely to convert. It’s about quality over quantity and refining the list to only include the best prospects.

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Step 5: Get Data in Front of Key Stakeholders

After identifying which leads are a good fit, we need to get that data in front of key stakeholders, like founders or senior sales leaders. We want to ensure that everyone involved in the campaign is aligned and can easily approve or provide feedback on the enriched lead list.

The data is presented in a simple, clear format, with the enriched lead profiles and details about why each lead is considered a good fit. We know that stakeholders are often busy, so we aim to streamline this review process, ensuring it’s quick and efficient. Once we have feedback or approval from key decision-makers, we’re ready to move forward with the campaign.

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Step 6: Launch and Monitor

Once all the data is enriched, validated, and approved, we launch the campaign. At this point, we know we’re working with the best leads. Every response we get is from a highly targeted prospect who fits our ICP.

From there, we track performance, measure conversions, and optimize the funnel for continuous improvement. By following this detailed process, we ensure that every response we get is from a highly qualified lead, meaning we’re able to nurture and convert those leads effectively.

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Final Thought: Successful outbound starts and ends with data

By carefully vetting, enriching, and validating leads upfront and by taking full ownership of DNC and de-duplication we ensure that every response we receive is a true opportunity, not a random engagement. This is the confidence we have in our enrichment funnel and it’s why our campaigns consistently generate results. From high-intent signals to deep enrichment in Clay, we’ve built a repeatable process that gives us control over the quality of every lead that enters our pipeline.

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