Bill Stathopoulos

Founder

👋 I'm Bill, and here's my story:

1. Building SalesCaptain, an Outbound & AI GTM agency for B2B SaaS to $3M+ ARR, while being a digital nomad for 4 years.
2. Authored a book - "Cold Email Secrets"
3. Scaled a Growth Marketing Agency to $1M ARR at the age of 28. Grew the team from 7 to 25+ employees in 3 years. Closed clients like Nestle, Revolut, GE, and the Singapore Airport.
4. Helped multiple startups go from zero to $5M+ revenue in 18 months since 2015
5. Trained 2,500+ Growth Marketers in the last 5 years
6. Built the speakers lineup for Ad World, with 50k+ attendees and 100+ speakers, making it the largest advertising conference in the world
7. Interviewed Seth Godin, Scott Galloway, Arianna Huffington, Rory Sutherland, the CMO of Samsung, the CMO of Hubspot, and 30+ world-class Marketing executives.
8. Published the book “Cold Email Secrets”, the bible of modern Outbound & GTM. 
9. Named “Top Lead Generation Voice” on LinkedIn in 2024
10. Became the Clay Club Host in London, leading a team of 15+ GTM Engineers

What you'll get working with me:
🧲 Your Go-To-Market (aka GTM) Strategy
🏀 Optimize your Marketing channels; make the most of your budget
🏆 Build systems for User Acquisition, Activation, Retention, and Revenue

Peace, love & growth ✌️

Bill

Co-Founder

We build and scale Outbound Sales systems that include multi-channel prospecting, lead response, and our cutting-edge processes to help you build your business.

If I asked you right now:
Who owns pipeline end-to-end in your GTM motion?

If the answer isn’t crystal clear,
that’s a problem.

In many teams, GTM looks like this:

- Marketing runs inbound
- Sales runs outbound
- RevOps fills the gaps

Everyone cares about pipeline.
But nobody owns the full motion.

Does this work? No.

What actually works in 2026 (in practice)

After seeing hundreds of GTM motions up close, one pattern keeps winning:
Inbound, outbound, and signals treated as one system.
Not three separate plays.

Here’s how we make that work 👇

1️⃣ Outbound isn’t just top-of-funnel

Outbound should exist across the entire funnel:
Top: ICP-based awareness (relevant, not clever)
Middle: Signal-triggered follow-ups (timing > volume)
Bottom: Direct offers when buyers are already close

2️⃣ Inbound is not “wait and hope”

Inbound-led outbound means this:
Someone visits your site, attends a webinar, or signs up → you act, instead of letting the lead sit untouched.

Inbound creates interest.
Outbound creates momentum.

3️⃣ Signals don’t create pipeline, ownership does.

Signals only matter if someone is accountable for:
- who acts
- when they act
- and through which channel

No owner = dead signal.

4️⃣ Judge the system by pipeline, not activity

If your dashboards celebrate:
- emails sent
- sequences launched
- campaigns shipped
You’re measuring effort, not outcomes.

The only question that matters:
Is this system producing pipeline predictably?

Between SalesCaptain, HeyReach.io, and Zapmail.ai,
this exact system helped generate ~$25M in revenue.

This is exactly what we’re breaking down live in an upcoming GTM Roundtable, with operators from the 3 companies building these systems every day. I will be speaking with:

Ilija Stojkovski (CRO, HeyReach.io)
Kaustubh Wadhwa (Product & Growth, Zapmail.ai)
Bojana Petkovic (Ecosystem Lead, HeyReach.io)

This isn’t an inbound vs outbound debate.
It’s about how teams are using both to build one coherent revenue motion.

We're meeting live on Zoom, next Tuesday, Jan 27, at 19:00–20:00 EET.
Link to register: https://luma.com/udv8tm4q

If pipeline predictability matters to you this year,
this session will be worth your time.
(come with all your questions).

CEO, SalesCaptain | Clay London Club Lead 👑 | Top lemlist Partner 📬 | Investor | GTM Advisor for $10M+ B2B SaaS

No, your GTM engineer can’t fix your outbound.
Read this before you hire a GTME.

(This is part 1/5 GTM mistakes you shouldn’t carry with you into 2026.)

I was on a sales call this week with a founder who said:
"We hired a GTM Engineer 6 months ago… but our pipeline growth is minimal."
I asked: “What’s your team structure?”
She said: “I have a GTME.”
....

One of the most common GTM mistakes I see:
Founders hire a technical expert, 
and expect them to drive both pipeline and revenue.

It doesn’t work that way.

Here’s what actually works (and how we structure GTM at SalesCaptain):

You need these 3 roles
1️⃣ GTM Strategist: owns strategy (ICPs, messaging, cross-channel orchestration)
2️⃣ GTM Engineer: builds AI/data workflows, connects APIs, scales infra
3️⃣ Full-Stack AEs: convert pipeline, leverage infra, feed insights back

We learned this the hard way:
One person can’t own both strategy and execution.
This is too much switching between contexts, which leads to too many dropped balls.

So we tested different structures till we got it right.

→ We launched campaigns twice as fast
→ Our messaging started resonating better
→ It became easier to see what was actually driving revenue

We’ve helped clients implement the same structure, and the numbers keep proving it right.

So let me ask you this 👇 
How’s your GTM team structured?
How is it working for you?

From my conversation with Milan Savov, on Leaders of Growth podcast (I will add the link in the comments).

When it comes to GTM data, which pill are you taking? 💊

Every GTM team wants the same thing:
A growing pipeline that makes the best use out of your reps' time.

But there are two very different ways to get there.

1. 🟦 Blue Pill GTM:
Buy more lists → Get more leads.

In this path you:
- Buy a CSV from Apollo, ZoomInfo, Cognism,... take your pick.
- Filter by title
- Send 1,000 cold emails.
- Wait for someone to book.
- If replies drop… buy a bigger list.

This path feels productive (more rows, more potential.)
But practically, you get bloated CRMs, irrelevant messaging, and reps spending their time chasing leads.

2. 🟥 Red Pill GTM:
Build a signal-driven pipeline: ICP first → Signals second → Messaging last.

In this path, you:

- Define ICP beyond job titles (think tech stack, hiring motion, headcount trends).
- Layer real-time signals like funding, exec changes, tool adoption, website shifts.
- Enrich with context: How does this company make decisions? What’s likely top of mind this quarter?
- Write emails that answer: Why me? Why now?

When you do this, your first touch feels like a warm intro,
because it is the right message, to the right person, at the right moment.

I don’t know which pill you’ll choose.

What I know is the best GTM operators in 2026 are building living, breathing pipelines.
Ones that update daily, prioritize based on intent, and let you engage buyers before your competitors even realize they’re in-market.

The tools exist.
The data exists.
The process is teachable.
The only question is:

🟦 Keep buying lists?
🟥 Or build a modern GTM system that prioritizes relevance over volume?

#GTM #Outbound #SalesCaptain

GTM Engineering job postings went up 205% in 2025 vs 2024.
Why?

Because revenue teams have reached a breaking point.

They’re not short on tools, AI pilots, or headcount.
They’re short on people who own the system end to end.
That’s what GTM Engineers solve.

They build the infrastructure that makes revenue repeatable, in ways like:

* Turning messy signals into structured actions
* Making outbound workflows scalable across reps
* Connecting tools and data so AI can actually drive outcomes
* Designing systems where pipeline grows instead of resets

How do you know if your team needs a GTME? 🤔 

Here’s what it looks like when the GTM system has no clear owner:

- Each rep runs a different version of the playbook
- “Integrated” tools constantly break handoffs
- CRM updates happen manually (if at all)
- AI experiments never make it into live workflows
- Weekly pipeline reviews feel more like firefighting instead of optimization

If 2 or more of these sound familiar, you need a GTME.

And if you’re thinking,
"That sounds like the kind of impact I want to have..."

GTM Engineering is one of the few roles growing fast, even in a tough market.
This role sits at the center of AI, systems, and revenue.
And it will only become more and more foundational.

We put everything into the visual below:
The 2026 GTM Engineer Playbook
What the role is, what skills it needs, expected salary and how to prepare for it.

Save it.
Share it with someone who wants to grow into this role.
Tag them below, this could be their next move.👇

Not all GTM partnerships are built the same.
Many get announced, logos get swapped, and nothing changes in how pipeline is built.

The successful ones have one thing in common:
Both sides are building real GTM, not just pitching it.

We’ve worked with lemlist for years, since the early partner program.
What made it work was a shared worldview: 
Outbound isn’t a sales play anymore.
It’s part of the GTM infrastructure, just like your CRM or analytics stack.

Then last year I sat down with Charles Tenot, CEO of lemlist (now a $35M ARR company). 
We shared a deep alignment on where outbound is breaking, and how real operators are rebuilding it.
You can feel that when a team runs their own GTM at the same pressure and pace their customers do.

The note and small award we received recently were a byproduct of that kind of partnership, one where feedback loops, shared pain, and long-term bets matter more than metrics.

Big thanks to Julia Guenier, and the whole lemlist team for operating with that mindset.

Excited for what's coming!
Let’s keep building 🔥

Do you ever stop and ask "Why do people actually buy from us?"
That's the key to finding the best signals.
 
Instead, I get these questions a lot 👇 
"Is hiring a good signal?"
"What intent data should we buy?"
"Which tool has the best triggers?"

Wrong questions.
 
The real insight doesn't come from external signals. It comes from your own closing history.
 
So, before you add another tool, do this:

→ Pull your last 10–20 closed deals and ask one question:
What changed inside the company before they bought?
 
For example, at SalesCaptain, we analyzed our closed deals over the past 4 years.
The pattern that kept appearing: companies who changed their CRO in the last 6 months.
(Within 1–6 months of a CRO change, that's when they're ready to rebuild GTM infrastructure.)
 
What we see across mature GTM teams:

- New CRO/CMO hired → mandate to "fix pipeline"
- Ownership of revenue changes hands
- Shift from founder-led sales to systems
- Pressure to scale without hiring more reps
 
These moments create forced action.
And forced action beats generic "interest" every single time.
 
Here's something GTM teams need to remember:
Signals are hypotheses, not truths.
 
A signal only becomes valuable when you:
1️⃣ Tie it back to why people actually buy from you
2️⃣ Test it across months, not days
3️⃣ See it repeat consistently, not once
 
This is why signal-led GTM isn't about finding the signal.
It's about building a system that:

-> Tests signals continuously
-> Scores them against real revenue outcomes
-> Routes action based on impact, not noise
 
This is how pipeline becomes predictable.
 
This is from the amazing conversation I had yesterday with Ilija Stojkovski (CRO, HeyReach.io) Kaustubh Wadhwa (Product & Growth, Zapmail.ai) and Bojana Petkovic (Ecosystem Lead, HeyReach.io).
 
Here's the link to the full webinar: ﻿https://lnkd.in/dyTbkVyT

P.S. if you want the slides I shared in the webinar, DM me.

What if you treated outbound like a marketing channel?

That’s how we run it at SalesCaptain.
And for GTM teams with a finite TAM, it’s literally a cheat code.

Here’s how you can operationalize it:

✅ Quarterly touchpoints

If your ICP is 5,000 companies, your goal isn't just to "get replies", it’s to stay top-of-mind.
We run outbound like marketing campaigns: built around themes, refreshed quarterly, and optimized for relevance.

Orchestrated with: Clay, and delivered via lemlist and HeyReach.io.

What you can track:
- % of accounts touched this quarter
- Re-engagement from dormant accounts
- Reply trends by persona/topic

✅ Email signals are real-time intent

Opens, clicks, site visits... these are all triggers.
If someone engages, you need to follow up fast.
Sub-60 second replies consistently lead to 2-3X more meetings booked.

Tools: Instantly.ai, Midbound, Clay, n8n, plus Lemlist and Heyreach for outreach.

What you can track:
- Speed-to-lead (How fast you respond after a lead shows intent)
- Signal-to-meeting conversion (% of intent signals that actually turn into booked meetings)
- Channel effectiveness

✅ Outbound needs distribution of insight

We’re not here to “check in.”
Our highest-performing messages offer something useful like frameworks, benchmarks, or patterns the buyer hasn’t seen before.

Research & Personalization via: Claygent, Twain and/or Octave.

What you can track:
- Response rate to insight-led messages
- “This was helpful” kind of replies

Video below from my conversation with Stefan Conic 🙌

Outbound trying to be smart -> Stupid.
Outbound trying to be relevant -> Smart.

Part 2/5 of mistakes you can’t afford in 2026

Your outbound messages fail because you're trying to impress.
Instead of trying to help.
When in reality, winning campaigns are useful, not clever!

Here are some examples of useful messages:

- Lead magnets that are genuinely valuable 
- Insights specific to the buyer’s market, role, or stack 
- Strong offers (often free implementation or teardown) 
- FOMO through hyper-relevance “We’re already working with your top 2 competitors” 

But none of that works if your data’s trash.
You can’t fake context, nor can’t prompt your way to get trust.

When the data’s real, the message writes itself.
Short, relevant, to the point.
And that’s what wins.

Why US companies are winning the GTM execution race, 
and everyone else is playing catch-up

Over the past couple of years, while working with GTM teams across the US and Europe, I kept noticing the same pattern:

Same conferences.
Same tools.
Same markets.
But very different questions.

US teams asked:
“How do we optimize our 30+ Clay workflows?”

Most European teams asked:
“How do we get more leads?”

Clay calls this GTM Alpha; the velocity at which a company can execute go-to-market.
And GTM Alpha is quietly splitting B2B into two camps.

Here’s where people get confused:
→ US leads global AI investment with $109.1B, nearly 12× China and 24× the UK.
→ 95% of businesses globally already use or plan to adopt AI by 2025.

On paper, it seems like everyone’s on equal footing, but they’re not.

Europe often reports higher AI usage:
→ 13.5% of EU enterprises in 2024 vs. ~8.7% of US firms in 2025.

So why is the US still pulling ahead?

Because adoption is not depth!

It’s not whether companies use AI, but how deeply it’s embedded in their GTM system.

-> In the US, organizational AI adoption is ~82%, with 99% of Fortune 500 already onboard.

Most teams start the same way:
AI for writing emails and summarizing calls.

The best teams go further. 
They run GTM with AI:
– Data enrichment
– Intent-based segmentation
– Multi-channel orchestration
– Real-time routing to reps
(Same tools, different outcomes.)

So how do you catch up? ⚠️ 

Start with the foundation.
You don’t need 30 workflows. Just the right ones, in the right order.

Phase 1️⃣: Clean your data
CRM enrichment
Lead routing
Basic scoring
(Most teams skip this, and fail later.)

Phase 2️⃣: Broad ICP outreach
List building from LinkedIn, Google Maps, etc.
AI-powered personalization
Email + LinkedIn sequencing

Phase 3️⃣: Add intent signals
Job changes
Hiring spikes
Competitor followers
Event attendees

Phase 4️⃣: Activate inbound
Visitor ID
Form enrichment
LinkedIn engagement
Pricing page workflows

Phase 5️⃣: Build your ABM stack
Account tracking
Committee mapping
Tool change detection
Expansion workflows

Here's something you need to keep in mind:
-> Despite 78% of orgs using AI in some function,
70–85% of AI projects still fail.

Why?
Because teams jump to Phase 5, without fixing Phase 1.

AI-led GTM drives:
– 3× more site visits
– ~50% larger deals
– 30% faster launches and ~25% workflow gains

Some teams are still debating tools.
Others are optimizing conversion by segment, time-to-MQL, and cost per account.

Stop asking:
“How do we get more leads?”
Start asking:
“How do we orchestrate GTM?”

Thoughts? 👇

You tracked the signal.
You did what you were supposed to do.

Website visit.
Job change.
Engagement spike.
...
So you reached out.
And nothing happened.
No reply, no pipeline!
 
This is where most GTM teams get confused.
Because the problem isn’t that you missed the signal.
It’s that the signal didn’t answer the most important question:

👉 Why now?
 
Your GTM team already has the signals:
Website visits, job changes, social engagement, product usage, and hiring signals.
 
The issue isn’t lack of data.
It’s that signals don’t tell a story on their own.

- A website visit doesn’t mean interest.
- A job change doesn’t mean intent.
- Engagement doesn’t mean readiness.

On their own, these are contextless events.
And what usually happens next is predictable:

- Signals get pushed into Slack.
- Logged in the CRM.
- Tagged inside GTM tools.
But no one defines:
1. what changes because the signal happened
2. who should act
3. how the message should adapt
4. or when not to act at all
So teams react instead of orchestrate.

What the best GTM systems do differently is simple (but not easy):

1️⃣ They combine signals, they don’t chase them
One signal rarely means anything.
Multiple signals, across time, start to explain intent.

2️⃣ They score accounts, not activities
Fit × Engagement × Potential Value.
Not “someone clicked,” but “this account is worth time now.”

3️⃣ They design actions before automation
Signals are inputs, not instructions.
The action depends on where the account actually is.

4️⃣ They protect human effort
Sales and marketing only engage when the system says timing is right.

Everything else gets deprioritized automatically.
That’s when outreach stops feeling random.
and pipeline flows.

I’ll be breaking this down live with Erwan Gauthier VP of Growth at lemlist, including how the team at Lemlist are building signal-led GTM motions going into 2026.

Link to register: https://luma.com/zn8wfvy6

This session will change how you think about signals.

Your next 50 best customers will look a lot like your last 5.
 
We had a client burning $5K/month on cold outbound trying to "expand TAM."
1% reply rate, zero pipeline, team demoralized.
 
I asked them one question: 
"Who are your 10 favorite customers? The ones who get it, move fast, and actually implement?"
 
They sent me the list, we spent 2 days analyzing them.
Then we killed every other campaign they were running.
 
What we did instead:
- Pulled their best 15 customers from Salesforce
- Imported them into Clay
- Used Ocean.io to find 200 companies with the same industry, size, tech stack, and buying triggers
- Built automated outreach mentioning the customers they mirror via lemlist
- Let it run
 
The results:
- 15% reply rate (vs. 1% before)
- $400K pipeline in 90 days
- 4 deals closed in the first 90 days

Same team, same budget.
 
So what changed?
When you target lookalikes, you have an advantage:
- You already know the exact problem they have
- You already know what messaging lands
- You already have proof in their language
- You already know who makes the buying decision
- You already know how long the sales cycle is
 
The mistake most teams make is that they chase "new markets" way too early.

They see their core ICP starting to saturate (or think they do) and immediately pivot to adjacent segments, new verticals, or "enterprise" just because the board asked about it.

Meanwhile, there are 50+ companies exactly like your best customers who haven't heard from you yet.
 
The fastest pipeline growth comes from doubling down on what already works.
 
Here's the exact workflow we run:
Step 1: Export your best 10-15 customers (the ones you'd clone if you could)
Step 2: Import them into Clay
Step 3: Use Ocean.io, Apollo, or Findymail to find lookalikes based on:
Industry
Company size
Tech stack
Growth signals
Location (if relevant)
Step 4: Enrich with decision-makers using Clay's waterfall (Datagma → Apollo → Findymail)
Step 5: Build sequences in lemlist/HeyReach.io mentioning the customer they mirror:
"We recently helped [similar company] in [their industry] solve [specific problem]. Saw you're in a similar space and thought this might be relevant."
Step 6: Let it run, measure, and scale what converts
 
Average result: 3x more pipeline in 60 days, targeting companies they already know how to close.

If you haven't exhausted your core ICP, don't go chasing new markets.
 
If you know your top 10 accounts and want help applying this playbook, DM and I will be happy to help you.

We scraped Google Maps photos of 2,000 bakeries
and used AI to detect bread-making machines 🥖 
Sounds insane, right?
 
But this is exactly the kind of custom signal that’s replacing generic intent data in 2026.
 
Everyone’s buying the same intent data.
Which means everyone’s reaching out to the same prospects,
at the same time,
with the same “personalized” message.
 
Which means you are always standing in the same line with your competition.
 
Here’s what changed our entire GTM approach at SalesCaptain:

We stopped relying on off-the-shelf signals.
and started building our own.
 
Not:
– Hiring intent from ZoomInfo
– Funding announcements from Crunchbase
– Sales Navigator filters everyone else is using
 
Instead, we built signals only we had access to.

Here are some real-life examples from our client work:
 
1. Wellness and self-care software company 💇‍♀️ 

- Scraped Google Maps + websites for salons/spas
- Detected multiple locations or recent expansions
- Identified operators outgrowing spreadsheets/manual tools
- Triggered outreach during operational scaling

Result: 400+ positive replies in 5 months

2. Cybersecurity company 🥷 

– Monitored public breach reports in real time
– Identified relevant security teams
– Reached out while the problem was active

Result: $200K+ ACV meetings in a single quarter

3. Recruitment platform 💼

– Scraped job listings across multiple sources
– Identified companies actively hiring
– Matched HR decision-makers to real demand

Result: 710+ demo calls in 10 months

These aren’t signals you can buy from a vendor.
They’re competitive advantages built from:

– Custom data sources
– AI enrichment of unstructured data
– Community, ecosystem, and event signals

The pattern I see across every high-performing GTM team:
They don’t ask,
“Which intent tool should we buy?”
They ask,
“What data would give us an unfair advantage competitors can’t access?”

Then they build it!

If you want to design custom signals for your market and orchestrate them across sales, marketing, and ops, you know where to find me. 😎

Clay just unlocked super-multichannel with ads.

Not just email + LinkedIn.
The same audience can now be targeted across email, LinkedIn, and ads (LinkedIn, Meta, Google) in a unified way.

Why you should care:

1️⃣  One audience, one system, not separate targeting logic per channel
2️⃣ Prospects see you programmatically across channels, not randomly
3️⃣ You can increase spend and message frequency as signals increase
4️⃣ Website visits, product views, demo signups → more spend
5️⃣ ICP-fit accounts with weaker signals → lighter spend
6️⃣ Outreach and ads are sequenced based on warmth

Instead of managing multiple audiences across multiple platforms,
you control exposure, intensity, and timing from one place.

The warmer the prospect, the more they see you.
The colder the prospect, the less you spend.

This is huge 🔥

ADS IN CLAY. The most exciting new feature of everything Clay has been working on in my opinion is Ads.

We are seeing customers get ~much~ higher match rates than they have today against their audiences on LinkedIn, Meta and Google which is a massive win for performance marketing teams.

Ads platforms as a new export destination in Clay also enables very interesting campaigns. For example now you can:

1. Setup website intent in Clay to deanonymize web traffic
2. Search in Find People for your ICP contacts
3 Enrich them to find their hashed advertising IDs using our ads ID waterfall
4. Create audiences in Ads to run ABM campaigns
5. Convert them deeper into the funnel where you can message them via the various messaging tools in Clay

This is in open beta today for enterprise customers and we are looking for lots of feedback from performance marketers to make this best in class. 

DM me or comment for more.

Founders ask me all the time:
“Which channel should we double down on?”
 
SEO?
Google Ads?
LinkedIn Ads?
Social?
Cold Email?
 
After working with 60+ B2B teams at SalesCaptain, here’s the reality:
👉 Most channels work.
👉 Not all channels work for your stage, deal size, and urgency.
 
So instead of opinions, let’s benchmark 👇
Cost • Targeting Precision • Scalability • ROI • Time to Results
 
📬 Cold Email / Outbound
• Very low cost (tools + time)
• Extremely precise targeting
• Highly scalable
• Very high ROI when done right
• Fast results (1–2 weeks, if you have warmed up inboxes)
 
💰 Google Ads (Search)
• High CPCs
• Great for bottom-funnel intent
• Moderate scalability
• Fast if demand already exists
 
📈 SEO / Content
• High upfront investment
• Long-term scalability
• Massive ROI over time
• Slow to impact (3–6+ months)
 
🎯 LinkedIn Ads
• Surgical B2B targeting
• Expensive
• Moderate scalability
• Strong for awareness + nurture
 
🎥 Social Ads (Meta / TikTok)
• Scalable
• Interest-based targeting
• Better for DTC than niche B2B
 
🤝 Referrals / Partnerships
• Highest conversion rates
• Hard to scale
• Not predictable on their own
 
Cold Outreach wins when:
✅ You know your ICP
✅ Your offer is clear
✅ You want speed and control
✅ You’re building a repeatable engine, not betting on algorithms
 
📊 Save this. Share it with your Marketing Lead.
 
Use it to decide where your next $$$ actually goes.
 
And if you want help designing an Outbound system
that scales without burning cash,
you know where to find me.
 
#coldemail #outbound #b2bsales #gtm #demandgeneration #saasgrowth #revenuegrowth

Closed-lost isn’t a graveyard,
It’s a dataset.

Most teams lose a deal and move on.
We do the opposite:

We turn every closed-lost deal into a future meeting… using the exact reason they said “no”.

Here’s the 8-step workflow we built (we used this with a fintech client last week, and reactivated 3 deals in 8 days).

1) Pull closed-lost from HubSpot
Deal name, close date, close-lost reason, notes, decision maker.

2) Pull the actual buyer context from Gong
First + last call transcript.
Not “AI personalization”… the real objections, timelines, and blockers.

3) Enrich with real signals
Funding, acquisitions, new hires, restructuring, product launches.

4) Generate a reactivation recommendation
Why they said no
What changed
When to re-engage
What angle will land now
What to avoid

5) Turn that into a short email (4-part structure)
Intro → original blocker → why now (signal) → 15-min CTA.

The point is to send the one email that makes the buyer think:
“Yeah… this is actually relevant now.”

Imagine if you’re sitting on 200+ closed-lost deals, how much pipeline you could be generating with this workflow.
If you want a workflow like this built for your team, you know where to find me. 😉

Kilian Markert

🚀 100k+/mo without daily firefighting 🧯🔥 A-Player Team, Efficient Processes, Predictable Sales | Helping Agency & eCom Founders scale to 7 & 8 figures without being stuck in the operations.

Your agency is doing $10-50k+ per month
 
But how do you scale past $100k+ p/m without even more hours? 👇

- You’re great at what you do
- You’ve got happy clients
- You know how to deliver results

But your lead gen?
Still unpredictable.

Your team?
Still needs you for everything.

And your clients?
They're okay, but they could be better.

That's the real bottleneck.

You see, I've worked with over 130+ agency owners,
and most of them wanted 3 things:

1 - A predictable pipeline with premium clients
2 - A team that can run without them
3 - The time to work ON the business.
(Instead of being stuck IN delivery & ops 24/7)

Here’s how we help them achieve that:

1️⃣ - We help you install a predictable in-house lead gen system,
 so you can book 1-3 quality calls per day without doing manual outreach yourself.

2️⃣ - We help streamline your ops with systems and AI,
so you can serve more clients while keeping quality high.

3️⃣ - We help install our proven A-player hiring system to find, hire, and train an elite team,
without having to waste 100s of hours looking for the right people.

Getting results like this for our clients:

📌 Nicolas (Digital KIXX): 

Went from €10k p/m & 2 people,
to €130k p/m & 10 people in 12 months,
And now he's at €8.5M/year with 35 people.

 📌 Vlad (Nova Media): 

Scaled to $105k p/m,
while cutting time in ops by 90%(!)

 📌 Deividas (Triple Scale): 
 
Went from 15k to $80k p/m,
while cutting time in ops in half.

 📌 Helge (OneTwo Social): 

Scaled to €550k p/m & 50 people,
While optimizing his leadership, team & delegation.

So if you’re:

- Running a marketing agency
- Already at $10k+ p/m
- Ready to scale without being trapped in the ops

Hit the ‘Book an Appointment’ button at the top of my posts,
And we'll show you how this would look for you specifically.

If you have any questions or just want some of our best SOPs & systems, just drop me a message here on LinkedIn!

►► www.kilianmarkert.com

Consistent Performance Mentoring | Improved Energy & Time Management | Productivity Coaching

▶︎𝗠𝗬 𝗘𝗫𝗣𝗘𝗥𝗧𝗜𝗦𝗘:

I help 6/7-figure business owners optimize their days and performance so that they can grow their business and still have enough time to not neglect other life areas or risk burnout.

▶︎𝗛𝗘𝗥𝗘'𝗦 𝗪𝗛𝗔𝗧 𝗜 𝗗𝗢:

I take my clients from 

▪️feeling stressed, overworked, distracted
▪️having fluctuating energy and focus levels
▪️inconsistent schedules

 To 

▪️razor-sharp focus and peak energy levels
▪️optimized sleep, diet & exercise
▪️ending workdays 1-3h earlier, while 
▪️getting more done and having more time 

My clients achieve this within 89 days in our program, as we go through my proven C. P. S. Framework to achieve lasting performance optimizations.

▶︎𝗪𝗛𝗢 𝗚𝗘𝗧𝗦 𝗥𝗘𝗦𝗨𝗟𝗧𝗦 𝗪𝗜𝗧𝗛 𝗠𝗘:

Business owners that have achieved some success but realize that they have a lot of potential left in the tank and need to handle their personal performance in all areas to get to the next level. 

▶︎𝗪𝗛𝗬 𝗜𝗧 𝗪𝗢𝗥𝗞𝗦:

The approach is field-tested by other high-performing entrepreneurs, myself, and science itself. Instead of quick fixes, it focuses on combining smart changes in your biology and behaviors with sustainable lifestyle and habit changes.

▶︎𝗪𝗛𝗔𝗧 𝗢𝗧𝗛𝗘𝗥𝗦 𝗔𝗥𝗘 𝗦𝗔𝗬𝗜𝗡𝗚:

🗣"This was probably the best investment I ever made in my life. It helped me in so many ways that I can't count. This is the biggest ROI that I can get. ​I really recommend working with Kilian." 
- Daniel Varga | E-Commerce Business Owner


🗣"With Kilian's help, I could finally resolve productivity issues that I had been struggling with for years. Now I am having more time than ever before. I have working with Kilian to thank for this." 
- Conor Ronayne | Digital Marketing Agency Owner


My program is strictly "invite-only". We only accept the most committed in the program where we are sure to get their performance to another level.

To see if you qualify, book a call with me right now at:

www.kilianmarkert.com


I don't let my team work from home,
they get very lazy.
 
That’s the biggest myth ever.
 
I run a team of 12+ people.
They all work from home.
 
And are way more productive
than 95% of in-office teams.
 
I've seen the same
with 100+ agencies.
 
So if someone is slacking,
the problem isn't "remote work".
 
It's most likely:
 
- WHO you hired
- HOW you manage them
- HOW you track progress + time
 
Lazy people will be
lazy anywhere.
 
Whether it's office or home,
they’ll always do bare minimum.
 
So the key is NOT WHERE they work.
It's WHO you hire.
 
And most importantly,
HOW you manage them.

🚀 Scale Your Agency Past 100k+/mo & Cut Your Time in Ops in Half 🧯🔥 | Predictable Leadgen, Efficient Processes, A-Player Team

How I got 1,067 leads with AI cold emails
 
(In just 6 months)
 
Here's how It works:
 
This is NOT a mass spam
cold email system.
 
It’s personalized.
Automated.
Scalable.
 
And it runs with just
30mins/day of your time.
 
Step 1: Find the right leads,
using AI + automations.
 
We start by sourcing leads using:
 
→ Apollo
→ LinkedIn Sales Navigator
→ n8n Custom Sourcing Flows
 
This part alone used to take
hours when I did it manually.
 
Now we scrape, verify, and clean
the data with automations
before we use it.
 
Step 2: Personalize emails at scale with AI
 
Once we have the leads...
 
→ We use Clay to scan each
lead’s website or LinkedIn.
 
→ It writes a custom compliment
for every single one
 
→ Using AI + prompts we designed
to sound human and relevant
 
Step 3: Automate sending with AI
 
We use Instantly AI to:
 
→ Run campaigns + follow-ups on autopilot
→ Handle replies automatically
→ Track opens, CTRs and replies
→ And take out negative reply leads.
 
Step 4: Qualify leads before calls
 
→ When a lead books a call,
they go through a custom funnel
 
→ Fill out a form to qualify themselves
 
→ Only high-quality leads
get on our calendar
 
The rest of the leads?
 
→Our sales team calls to send them
more info and see how we can help.
 
Step 5: Delegate once it’s working
 
Once the system ran smoothly,
I handed it off to a cold email manager.
 
And now it runs without me,
While I focus on other areas.

How I got 1,067 leads with AI cold emails.

I don’t give raises to my team.

If they want more, they can leave.

That’s the dumbest take ever.

But still, a lot of managers hate giving raises.

They think it’s a waste of money.
Or that people should just "be grateful to have a job".

But that’s not how it works.

People should be paid for the value they bring,
not for how long they’ve been around.

If someone’s impact grows,
their paycheck should grow too.

Good people don’t leave because they’re lazy.
They leave because they feel stuck and not valued.

When you reward growth,
you're not just keeping "great people".

You're pushing the whole business forward.

P.S. When do you think someone should get a raise?

I DON'T care about "employee happiness".
 
I care about employee usefulness.
 
That way of thinking is stupid.
But a lot of managers really think that.
 
They believe only "output" matters.
 
But here's the thing:
 
You can't have a productive
team if people hate
working for you.
 
The truth is simple:
 
People do their best work
when they feel:
 
- Trusted
- Respected
- And taken seriously.
 
Team morale is not a "nice to have".
It's the foundation to everything else.

I haven't cooked or cleaned my house in years.
 
My partner doesn't mind.
 
Here's why...
 
For years, I've seen 100s of founders
waste 21+ hrs/wk on house chores.
 
I used to do the same.
Until I realized it was slowing me down.
 
Now?
 
Everything at home runs
without me or my partner.
 
Because we hired and trained a chef/housekeeper
with a SOP we've perfected over 6+ years.
 
And now, she handles meals, cleaning, laundry...
While we get back 21+ hours every week.
 
Inside this SOP, you’ll find:
 
👉 Hiring templates to get top candidates
👉 Test tasks and interview scripts
👉 Full SOP for ALL house chores
👉 How to set up pay + coms
👉 Onboarding checklists
 
It’s not about being lazy.
It’s about getting back your time.
And using it to grow your business.
And putting it on more important things.
 
1 - Like this post
2 - Comment “HOUSE”
3 - And connect with me
(so I can send it)

I don't hire assistants anymore.
 
They're a waste of time & money.
 
That’s the dumbest take ever...
But I still hear it from many founders.
 
I used to think I could do everything myself.
That I "didn't need help".
 
But it kept me stuck for years
because I wasted 100s of
hours on admin tasks.
 
Now, I run a 7-figure business,
and it's just because I removed myself.
 
Everything is delegated,
and it all started with my Personal Assistant.
 
So, I spent 20h condensing years of experience
with Executive & Personal Assistants...
 
Into a massive SOP + whiteboard with:
 
👉 Full Job post templates
👉 Screening scripts & test tasks
👉 Daily task management system 
👉 Offer and onboarding checklists
👉 Interview questions & scoring sheets
👉 And everything to hire & manage a PA/EA.
 
So you can:
 
✅ Delegate inbox, scheduling & distractions
✅ Free up your time from low value tasks
✅ Focus on scaling your biz instead
 
Want it?
 
Like this post
Comment “PA”
Connect with me (so I can send it)

I fire people on their first big mistake.

If they mess up once, they'll do it again.

That’s the dumbest take ever.

Because 95% of the time...
The first mistake isn’t a character flaw,
It’s a training gap.

The real problem are people who:

- Never make mistakes (because they do nothing)
- Make the same mistakes repeatedly
- Don't learn from feedback
- Or blame others

Here’s how I see it now:

1st big mistake → Training opportunity
2nd repeated big mistake → Serious talk to fix root cause
3rd repeated big mistake → Friendly let go

And every time something goes wrong,
I ask myself first:

Did I help them address the root issue?
Did I set clear expectations?
Did I give proper training?
Did the system fail?

Because here’s the truth:

99% of “people problems” are actually system problems.
Most managers just don’t want to admit it.

Agree?

This is how I started my business.
 
People used to laugh at me for it.
 
But it's all I had when I started...
 
Two suitcases,
a shaky IKEA table,
and an old MacBook.
 
No mic.
No big screens.
No comfortable chair.
 
But... it was enough to
hit my first $10K/month,
and build the foundation.
 
Today, I run a 7-figure biz
and the biggest lesson
I got from those years is this:
 
Success doesn’t come from a "cool office".
It comes from WHO you are.
And WHAT you do.
 
Specially when no one believes in you,
and nothing seems to be working.
 
So if you're in that season:
 
Don’t compare your chapter 1
to someone else’s chapter 20.
 
Keep going.
And keep working.
 
Your time will come.

I get 100s of leads/week with viral LinkedIn posts.
 
Now I'm giving you my system for free.👇
 
I studied 100+ viral B2B giveaways for 3 weeks.
 
- Breaking down their copy
- Analyzing their creatives
- Creating viral templates
 
And I collected ALL of them
inside a MASSIVE database with:
 
👉 All original visuals included:
GIFs, videos, and images
 
👉 B2B niche filters to sort by
agencies, consulting, and more
 
👉 Fill-in-the-blank templates
from posts with 5,000+ comments
 
👉 Resource type filters for PDFs,
whiteboards, spreadsheets, etc
 
👉 Engagement filters to sort posts
from <500 to 10,000+ comments
 
So you can:
 
✅ Steal the best creatives
✅ Copy the best resources
✅ And use their post templates
 
While avoiding wasting 100s of hours:
 
❌ Creating giveaway posts with 0 comments
❌ And figuring out how to go viral
 
Just:
 
1 - Open the database
2 - Pick a post
3 - Model it
4 - Get 100s of leads
 
Want it?
 
Like this post
Comment “SWIPE”
Connect with me (so I can send it)

Getting clients from LinkedIn in 2026 will be impossible for agencies and consultants.
 
(At least if you do it the old 2023-2025 way)
 
Here's why...
 
I booked 235+ sales calls
last year just from LinkedIn.
 
BUT... doing the complete
opposite to most people:
 
Before, I used to spend my days
doing manual outreach and content.
 
Everything depended on me.
My work, my time.
 
Now, I don't even touch my DMs.
I barely spend time on content.
 
But I get 10x more leads because
I created a system that does the
heavy lifting for me.
 
The secret?
 
We used AI + automations
and delegated key specific parts
so we could book 10x more calls.
(With 50% less time and work)
 
130+ agencies are using this system,
with some even closing $20K
in just ONE week.
 
So, I spent 20+ hours creating
a massive whiteboard with:
 
👉 All our automation tools
👉 Our entire sales process
👉 Our exact outreach scripts
👉 How to use AI to get more leads.
 
Everything you need from A-Z
to make 2026 your best $$$ year.
 
⚠️ This system is so effective
some of our clients couldn't even
handle the amount of leads they got...
 
So don't use this if your operations
aren't prepared to handle the work.
 
Otherwise, just:
 
Comment "SALES"
and I’ll send it to you!
 
(We must be connected first)

Stop saying “2026 will be my year.”
 
It won’t be.
 
Not unless you change this... 👇
 
Every year I see the same pattern:
 
- Smart founders
- With big goals
- Working 14h days
 
But... still stuck in the same
spot they were 12 months ago.
 
Not because they don’t work hard.
But because they work the same way.
 
More hours.
More manual work.
More “I’ll do it myself.”
 
The founders I’ve helped scale past
$100K, $300K, $500K+ a month
didn’t focus on working more.
 
They created LEVERAGE:
 
- They built better systems.
- They used AI and automations.
- And built teams of real A-players.
 
So if you really want to
make 2026 your year...
 
Don't focus on doing more.
Focus on leveraging more.
 
Otherwise nothing will change.

I started my business at 8 years old.
 
With my mum, at our local library.
 
(Just not in the way that you might think)
 
Here's why...
 
I grew up in the German countryside,
and we didn't have much money.
 
My parents were very hard workers.
But we had no extra cash for luxuries.
 
Still, my mom understood
something most people don't:
 
You don't need money to
give your kids a chance.
 
You just need the right habits.
 
So every week, she took my brother
and me to the local library...
 
She'd read with us in the evenings...
And made stories come alive.
 
I didn't know it back then...
But that library wasn't just about books.
 
It was about planting something deeper:
 
- A passion for learning.
 
And that one habit is what built
my 7-figure business decades later.
 
Not the books themselves.
But the curiosity they created.
That she created.
 
That's why I say I started my
business back then with her.
 
Because without that library,
it would have taken way longer
to hit all my goals.

This client paid agency $2k/mo for 6 months.
 
Their site wasn’t even indexed on Google...

That's what Jeff discovered after landing this new client.

Most agencies stop reaching out when they hear:

“We already have someone.”

But that’s exactly when you should keep going.

Because in many cases,
that “someone” isn’t doing things right.

But... the client doesn’t know it.

That’s why we always follow up.

Not to spam.
But to add value.

A simple Loom with free value can change everything.

It builds trust, shows expertise,
and proves you actually care about results.

Follow up with value.
That’s the whole game.

He didn’t close any clients.
 
Yet he's making 2x the money. 👇
 
Before:
 
- He got €2.5K for 2 clients
 
Now:
 
- He gets ~€4K for the same work.
 
The only thing that changed?
The commission bonus.
 
Most agencies underprice by default.
 
Flat retainers.
And limited upside.
(Even when results are strong)
 
But this 2x rev increase happened without:
 
- New hires
- New leads
- Or more hours
 
Just smarter deal structure.
 
If he delivers results,
he gets paid more.
 
That's how it should always be.

He used to book NO calls from LinkedIn.
 
Now, he books 2 calls/week on autopilot.
 
Here's how...
 
Before working with us,
Dominik was doing everything alone.
 
- No team.
- No systems.
- No delegation.
 
He couldn't scale his agency
because he had zero leverage.
 
But now:
 
✅ His DM setter booked 2 calls last week
✅ Holiday break worked seamlessly
✅ Delegated 95% of feedback work
✅ His PA hired a VA on her own
 
This is what happens when
you stop being the bottleneck...
 
And you build the right structure
to scale while cutting your time down.
 
You don't just get leads.
You get your time back.
And your agency scales without you.

My biggest weakness is not quitting.
 
Even when everything says I should.
 
Most people fail because they quit too early.
 
They try something for 2 weeks.
It gets uncomfortable.
They jump to the next shiny thing.
 
I have the opposite problem.
 
I stay too long.
I grind even harder.
And I try to push through.
 
Even when the market shifts.
Even when the strategy stops working.
Even when the numbers clearly say: pivot.
 
That’s the downside of being disciplined.
 
Consistency can turn into a disadvantage.
And persistence turns into stubbornness.
 
And I see the same with agency owners.
 
Some quit too fast,
and never give anything a real chance.
 
Others stick too long,
and waste months on dead strategies.
 
The skill is knowing the difference.
 
Persistence is staying with a proven system
long enough for it to compound.
 
Stubbornness is ignoring data
because your ego is attached to the method.
 
I’ve wasted years because of that.
 
Not because I lacked effort.
But because I lacked perspective.
 
The fix wasn’t more work.
It was my lack of awareness.
Of outside help and perspective.
 
Someone who could have said:
 
“This worked before,
but it doesn’t anymore. Change it.”
 
That’s what mentors are really for.
 
Not just telling you what to do.
But telling you when to stop.
And when to go again.
 
Know your strengths.
Know your blind spots.
 
And don’t try to fix both alone.
It will save you years of work.

Our clients closed $393k last year just from LinkedIn.
 
Here's why most agencies can't do the same:
 
1 - Your offer is too generic
 
Bad:
 
"We help online stores grow with ads."
 
Good:
 
"We help 7-figure DTC eCom brands scale to 8-figures with AI UGC ads"
 
Why?
 
- Generic offers get ignored
- Specific offers attract serious buyers
- High ticket clients pay for expertise, not vague services
 
2 - Your messaging is confusing
 
Bad:
 
"We do marketing, branding, and lead gen."
 
Good:
 
"We help 7 figure eCom brands increase LTV by 30%+ through retention marketing."
 
Why?
 
- If your message is not clear, they won't buy
 
The fix:
 
- Simplify
- Niche down
- Clarify how you get results
 
3 - You have no unique mechanism
 
Bad:
 
"We scale brands with Facebook ads."
 
Good:
 
"We use our AI optimized Conversion Amplifier to triple ROAS in 60 days."
 
Why?
 
- Everyone sells ads
- Everyone sells “growth”
- Everyone looks the same.
 
A mechanism makes you stand out,
and helps you justify higher prices.
 
The fix:
 
Position yourself like an authority.
Not a commodity.
 
- Dial in your offer
- Simplify your messaging
- Build a unique mechanism
- Send DMs that actually convert
 
Don't be just another agency.

How to close more deals from LinkedIn

You don't need school to make money.
 
I made €50 in a day at 8 years old.
 
Is that crazy money?
Of course not.
 
But here's my point...
 
Growing up in the German countryside,
we had cherry trees on our property.
 
One summer, my brother and I
spent days picking cherries.
 
We filled bucket after bucket.
 
Then some tourists from Munich
drove through our village.
 
We saw an opportunity.
And walked up to them
to pitch our cherries.
 
"High quality, freshly picked.
Better than anything in the city."
 
They bought a full bucket for €50.
(Yes, they really liked cherries. lol)
 
We split the money.
And I remember thinking:
 
"Wait... I can make money
by offering valuable things to people?"
 
That was my first real business lesson.
 
Not from school.
Not from a course.
But from actually doing it.
 
Most people wait until they're "ready" to start.
 
They wait for the perfect offer.
The perfect setup.
The perfect time.
 
But success in your business doesn't
come when you feel ready.
 
It starts when you see a problem
and decide to solve it.
 
Even if you're 8 years old
with a bucket of cherries...
 
Results don't come from school,
books or courses.
 
They come from DOING.

How would you handle this on a call? 👇
 
"I've worked with other agencies before…
I'm not sure you can get me results."
 
You know how it goes...
 
An uncomfortable silence kicks on the call.
 
You freeze.
Trying to think what to say.
But nothing good comes to your mind.
 
You try to push through.
Showing him case studies.
Dropping the names of other big clients you’ve worked with.
 
Trying to convince them that you’re different.
That you can deliver.
 
But deep down...
You’re not sure if it’s working.
 
Then it happens.
They hit you with the good old:
 
"Let me think about it..."
 
You hang up... 
Hoping they'll reach out.
 
But days and weeks go by... 
And you never hear anything again.
 
Another sale lost.
Another hit to your confidence.
  
We’ve all been there…
But here’s the truth:
 
You don’t get a second chance with these big clients.
 
If they are not 100% certain after talking to you?
 
They’re gone.
 
They don’t care if you’re nervous.
Uncomfortable.
Or if you hate sales calls.
 
They only care about results.
 
It doesn’t matter if you’re the best agency out there.
 
If you can’t close calls like that...
You’re leaving money on the table.
 
And for a lot of agency owners...
That’s the biggest bottleneck.
 
They’re great at what they do...
But they struggle to:
 
- Communicate the value of their offer.
- And handle objections on the phone.
 
That’s why I uploaded a full mastermind recording of our sales training...
 
Where I go over the same system that helped clients like Kyle...
 
Close over $20,000 in recurring revenue in just 60 days.
 
Just click the link in the comments to watch it now
 
- Kilian

He used to get ZERO leads from LinkedIn.
 
Now, he gets multiple each day. 👇
 
Just these 2 weeks, he got:
 
- 2 calls booked last week
- 3 more calls for this week
- 1 (or more) positive replies/day
- And his first inbound content leads
 
Before, his outreach went nowhere.
 
- No replies.
- No leads.
- No calls.
 
He would send tons of messages,
emails, and connections...
 
Only to get zero replies,
or get rejected.
 
But once he plugged our agency
lead gen system on his profile...
 
It only took him a couple of weeks
to start getting leads for his agency.
 
So if you're trying to figure LinkedIn out,
but you're still not booking enough calls...
 
Just remember:
 
Outreach works.
But only if you do it right.
 
Once you get that down,
the rest is easy.

taplio

The Battle

Bill Stathopoulos

Kilian Markert

Followers

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Performance ScoreBill Stathopoulos's LinkedIn Performance

Performance ScoreKilian Markert's LinkedIn Performance

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taplio

The Battle

Bill Stathopoulos

Kilian Markert

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Bill Stathopoulos's LinkedIn Performance

Performance ScoreKilian Markert's LinkedIn Performance

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

Performance ScoreBill Stathopoulos's LinkedIn Performance