Jed Mahrle

Practical Prospecting

Practical Prospecting has helped 50+ B2B tech companies create custom outbound systems that consistently book meetings.

Visit our website to learn more: practicalprospecting.io

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Join 30,000+ readers of The Practical Prospecting Newsletter: https://content.practicalprospecting.io/

Founder & CEO

Sell Better 

Partner

Here's what I do at Sell Better:

- Write the weekly Sell Better newsletter
- Write The Daily Show Emails
- Host The Daily Show 1x/week
- Create Lead Magnets, Courses & LinkedIn content
- Recruit new guests for The Daily Show

Content Creator

HeyReach.io

Expert

Smartlead

Clay

ZoomInfo

Brand Ambassador

Evabot

AI Advisor

Outbound Squad

Coach

Aligned

Strategic Advisor

Common Room

GTM Partner

Practical Prospecting has helped 50+ B2B tech companies create custom outbound systems that consistently book meetings.

Visit our website to learn more: practicalprospecting.io

Not ready?

Join 30,000+ readers of The Practical Prospecting Newsletter: jed.substack.com

Founder

Practical Prospecting is a done-for-you lead generation agency. We've helped dozens of B2B startups book meetings by creating repeatable outbound systems.

Our process has 3 steps:

(1) Email Infrastructure
(2) Precision Targeting 
(3) Practical Messaging 

To learn more, visit our website & book a free strategy call: practicalprospecting.io

After our call, you'll receive 1 unique outbound campaign idea for your B2B company (including relevant triggers, offer ideas & sample messaging)

Not ready to work with us? 

Join 22,000+ readers of The Practical Prospecting Newsletter for actionable tips and strategies: Jed.substack.com

CEO of Practical Prospecting | 30k+ newsletter readers | Helping B2B teams scale outbound

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1.5 days of content otw 👀 

Shoutout Sell Better + David Pichette & team!

#sales

How often do you get these replies: 

"I no longer work here, please re-route your email to {{person}}"

Or

"While I'm OOO, please reach out to {{person}}"

We get them all the time and weren't doing anything with them. 

Until recently...

We set up a webhook that sends all of our replies to Clay. 

Then we use an OpenAI prompt to read the email reply and determine if it's one of those emails. 

From there, Clay enriched that email with a name, company name, etc. 

Finally, they get pushed into a Smartlead campaign.

Completely automated.

If you'd like the Clay template I use for this, just comment below or shoot me a DM. I'll send you the info. 

#sales

Went live with a new client 3 weeks ago. 

- 25 positive replies from email (out of 900 contacts)
- 31 positive replies from LinkedIn (out of 700 contacts)

Here's the email template (redacted):

{{first_name}} - Saw what you've been doing around {{AI Generated Summary of Recent Company News}}, and wanted to connect. 

Had a few ideas on how we could support you in {{Outcome}}. 

Mind if I share more details here?

P.S I messaged you on LinkedIn too. Happy to keep the convo going there. 

***

The HeyReach.io + Smartlead combo has been a game-changer.

#sales

GTM 2

Here’s how we automatically scrape out-of-office emails for an alternate contact, then instantly push that person into an email + LinkedIn campaign.

You’ve probably get these replies all the time:

- “I no longer work here, please re-route your email to {{person}}.”
- “While I’m out, please reach out to {{person}}.”

We used to ignore them. Now we treat them like new leads.

Here’s the setup:
- A Smartlead webhook sends every reply we get to Clay
- An OpenAI prompt reads the email and identifies whether it’s an OOO or job-change reply.
- If it is, Clay enriches the alternate contact with name, email, company, and LinkedIn URL.
- That contact is then pushed directly into a Smartlead campaign (for email outreach) and HeyReach campaign (for LinkedIn outreach)

This video walks through the exact setup and the messaging we use.

If you’d like the Clay template + prompt for this workflow, comment below or send me a DM, and I’ll share it with you.

#sales

Connect rates hover around 5%.

And reps can only make so many calls in a day.

So there’s no excuse for them not to be calling the warmest possible leads.

Here's our system:

Step 1: 

Automate email + LinkedIn outreach (hundreds, sometimes thousands of emails per day depending on TAM size). 

Step 2:

Capture engagement: opens, clicks, replies, LinkedIn accepts/DMs.

Step 3: 

Auto push the engaged leads into Clay, waterfall enrich for phone numbers, and route to reps for same-day calls. 

Now every rep’s 50–100 calls/day go to people who are most likely to know their brand.

Bonus: add in signals like website visit leads (RB2B) and social engagement leads (Trigify) to supplement lead volume. 

How are you making sure your reps only call the warmest leads?

#sales

Most reps don't have a data problem. They have a context problem.

Data tells you who to reach out to.
Context tells you why now.

Here’s the difference:

“Congrats on the Series B!” 

vs.

“Saw you just raised Series B and posted 12 open sales roles, how are you planning to ramp that new team?”

That’s context.

And the reason most outbound still falls flat is because reps are working from disconnected data: CRM, LinkedIn, ChatGPT, etc. 

They never see the full picture.

That’s why I like ZoomInfo’s focus on complete context inside Copilot Workspace.

It’s not about having more data, it’s about connecting the right pieces you can actually act on it.

Because the difference between a name on a list and a booked meeting is usually one thing:

Context.

#sales #zoominfopartner

I started testing Smartleads "subsequences" to automatically reply (and follow up with) all of our positive replies. 

So far, it’s working well because it solves two big problems that often kill your positive reply → meeting booked rate:

#1: Speed to Lead

Automated replies go out within minutes, keeping the conversation warm while the prospect’s still engaged.

#2: Follow-Up

Sometimes it takes 3–4 nudges to get an interested lead booked. 

Subsequences make sure every reply gets the right amount of follow-up.

Anyone else testing this?

Quick note: I’d only recommend it if your reply volume is high and the positive replies you’re getting are fairly straightforward and easy to interpret.

#sales

Here's how we scrape hard-to-find TAMs in 3 steps.

If you sell to prospects who aren't on LinkedIn, most data providers won't be very helpful to you. Because they all pull from LinkedIn. 

This is how we find every possible account + contact in those markets:

1. Collect company websites

Start broad: 

First, scrape everything you can find on LinkedIn via your data provider (ZoomInfo, Apollo, etc.)

Next, use Apify to scrape Google Maps (best method and very cheap). 

Finally, look for any public directories or associations. 


2. Confirm ICP fit

Run those websites through Clay with custom prompts to validate ICP fit → human verify a sample → tweak until you’re hitting 90%+ accuracy.

3. Find contacts

Find any LinkedIn contacts available → scrape sites for names/emails if LinkedIn is weak → waterfall enrichment until you’ve got verified emails.

Use phone numbers + Contact Us forms as a fall back if you can't find any emails. 

Most teams stop after Step 1. That’s why they miss a huge chunk of their TAM.

This 3-step process makes sure you’re talking to everyone in your market, not just the obvious ones.

P.S. If you want the doc + prompts I shared, just comment below and I'll send them to you!

#sales

Only you can see this post. It’s been removed because it goes against our Professional Community Policies.

When you send cold emails, not every company’s inbox works the same.

Some companies use standard email systems like Google Workspace or Microsoft 365. 

Those are easier to reach. Your emails usually land in the inbox if your setup is clean.

Other companies use extra-secure systems like Mimecast or Proofpoint. 

These have more aggressive spam filters that block or quarantine cold emails more often.

Most sales teams send the same email volume, length, and format to everyone.

No matter which system the company uses. 

That’s a mistake.

If you send too many or include links/images to the “tough” inboxes, your emails get filtered out, so you never get a chance to earn a reply.

My friend Jesse Ouellette from LeadMagic built the fix... 

And it's free (for now) → InboxRiskScore.com

You upload your list, and it tags each domain by risk level and gateway.

Now you can send smarter:
→ High risk: short 3–5 line emails, no links, low volume, start with LinkedIn or call.
→ Standard: normal volume, lead with email, add other channels later.

Check it out!!!

When you run an agency, there are about a million tiny processes that have to happen every time you onboard a new client.

- Setting up domains.
- Creating inboxes.
- Building Clay tables.
- Writing new email copy.
- Spinning up Smartlead campaigns.
- Creating Slack channels.
 - Assigning owners.

None of those tasks are hard individually. But explaining them over and over again definitely is.

So instead of another Google doc or video walkthrough, I started using Tango to capture each process as I do it.

Now when someone joins the team or we bring on a new client, I can just share the Tango. 

They can literally follow the steps on-screen in real time.

In the video below, I recorded a prospecting workflows: how to find people on LinkedIn based on the services they offer.

If you manage a team and feel like you’re explaining the same thing every week, seriously, record it once and send a Tango instead.

 #trytango

Every B2B data provider offers “jobs data” now.

I’ve used dozens.

Clay is great if you want LinkedIn jobs (and it doesn’t cost any credits).

But the problem with LinkedIn jobs is that there are a TON of dead postings. I’ve reached out to people using that signal, and they didn’t even know their company had a job listed... in their own department!!!

Which is why I use LeadMagic. Because it pulls directly from company career pages. 

In my experience, that’s the most accurate and up-to-date source you can get.

What are you using for jobs data?

#sales

I documented the cold email system that’s booked thousands of qualified meetings across 50+ clients.

It's a 3-step process that drives predictable results:

 1️⃣ Email infrastructure that gets 95%+ deliverability
 2️⃣ Precision targeting that eliminates bad leads
 3️⃣ Practical messaging that gets prospects to engage

And I just made the entire system public.

It’s called The Practical Prospecting Playbook. It includes the exact frameworks, templates, and targeting strategies my team uses daily.

Want the free download?

Get it here: https://lnkd.in/g5C9FpV2

PS - This isn’t theory... every framework inside is pulled straight from real campaigns that generated 5,600+ meetings across a variety of B2B industries.

If your cold email campaigns aren’t performing, you’re in one of three phases.

The first step is knowing which phase you’re in so you can move toward a successful campaign.

Phase 1: No Replies

In this phase, you’re essentially getting no responses at all.

That usually points to a deliverability problem. But if your inbox health looks strong, then simplify your messaging drastically.

Just state:
- Why you’re reaching out
- What problem you solve
- And a soft CTA like, “Can I reach out from time to time if this ever becomes a priority?”

If you’ve done that and still aren’t getting replies, it’s almost certainly deliverability. 

That’s the first thing to fix before you change anything else.

Phase 2: Only Negative Replies (with no context)

This phase means people are responding, but every reply sounds like:

“No thanks.”
“Unsubscribe.”
“Not interested.”

If you’ve reached this stage, that’s actually progress.

It tells you two things:
(1) Your emails are being delivered.
(2) Your messaging is at least interesting enough to get read.

The problem is you still don’t know why they’re not interested, which means you have no data to improve your message.

At this point, break your email into three parts:
(1) The problem you’re talking about
(2) The value proposition
(3) The offer or CTA

Now start testing. Try at least five variations of each and send enough volume to get signal. I usually go with 500 emails per variation, but there’s no strict rule.

Phase 3: Negative Replies (with context)

In this phase, you’re getting rejections, but with real information behind them.

Common examples:
- “I’m not the right person.”
- “We already use X.”
- “We’re a small team and don’t feel {{pain}}”

This is the best phase of the three because you finally have data you can act on.

If you’re hearing “I’m not the right person,” look for trends in who is the right person and adjust your targeting.

If you’re hearing “We already use X,” then address that head-on. Acknowledge the competitor and reframe your message around how you’re different or complementary.

TL;DR

If your email campaigns aren’t hitting right away, that doesn’t mean you should give up.

Figure out what phase you’re in, then focus on moving one step forward until you’re performing.

What phase are you in??

#sales

This is the flow we use to iterate on campaigns, one metric at a time, until they’re scalable.

Step 1: Open rates

Yes, open rates are unreliable these days. And yes, open tracking can hurt deliverability.

But when we first launch a campaign, we still track opens just to confirm deliverability is solid. Once it’s at 40%+, we turn off open tracking.

Step 2: Reply rates

If replies aren’t hitting at least 2%, we iterate on the pain point and value prop until something sticks.

Negative replies usually point you in the right direction:
- Lots of “Not the right person” → adjust persona targeting
- Lots of “We already use X” → address that objection upfront in your copy

Step 3: Positive reply rates

If you’re getting 2%+ reply rates but less than 25% of those are positive, it usually means your offer isn’t strong enough. 

Keep testing new offers (and how you frame them) until one resonates.

Step 4: Positive replies → Meetings

If at least half of your positive replies aren’t converting to meetings, it’s usually one of three issues:

(1) Speed to lead: Outbound replies should be treated like inbound leads: respond fast.
(2) Multi-channel follow-up: Call them. Connect on LinkedIn. Don’t just rely on email.
(3) Reply quality: Don’t overshare. Too much info gives them no reason to meet. Instead, drop a nugget and suggest a call to go deeper.

That’s the framework we keep running in cycles. Fix one metric at a time, then move to the next.

#sales

Here’s a stupid simple workflow anyone running outbound should set up.

Anytime you book a close a new deal, trigger an automation that:

- Sends that account from your CRM to Clay
- Uses Ocean.io to find the 10 closest lookalike companies
- Enriches each company with decision-maker contacts
- Loads those contacts directly into a lookalike sequence

Every new deal instantly generates a new mini–TAM of similar prospects.

It’s one of the easiest ways to compound what’s already working.

If you want to scale outbound intelligently, usually the best place to start is with the people that look just like your customers. 

And if you want the automation workflow, comment below or DM me and I'll send you the vid!

#sales

I documented the 27 buying signals we use most often at Practical Prospecting.  

But more importantly, I documented how we use them in our messaging and where we find them. 

Each signal includes:
 - Where to source it (from LinkedIn, job boards, site tech, funding data, and more)
-  How to translate it into a message that feels timely, not templated

It’s a shortcut to spotting *real* intent before your competitors do.

Get it here (for free): https://lnkd.in/gbbJwJ3W

PS – Every signal in this guide is pulled straight from real campaigns that generated thousands of meetings across a variety of B2B industries.

Most of the wild outbound ideas you see online are for companies with huge TAMs.

You can test and automate ideas across thousands of accounts without worry. 

But when you’re an enterprise seller with a finite list of named accounts… you don’t get that luxury.

Every touch has to count.

Context, timing, intent, relationships, all matters more.

The good news: there’s more signal available than ever: funding updates, org changes, intent data, conversation history, CRM insights.

The bad news: it’s all scattered across 10 different tabs.

So “prepping for a call” turns into an hour of manual research.

That’s why I think the ZoomInfo Copilot Workspace is interesting.

It’s the first time I’ve seen a workspace that actually pulls all that context together (CRM, buying signals, conversations, etc.) and lets sellers just ask for what they need.

When your TAM is small, execution is everything.

This helps you spend more time executing, less time stitching tools together.

#zoominfoparnter #sales

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