Stop Milking Leads. Start Building People. I Community System Fuelled by your data >>> Check featured

We all know this section is overrated. 

If you want to find out more, let’s chat and meet.

It will be the most accurate version of both of us. 


Sandra Macele

Knowledge is information. You can copy it, screenshot it, repeat it, even turn it into a carousel. Anyone can say the same facts you say five minutes later.

If you have AI - you have knowledge.

On the other hand ... your judgement. 

Judgment is what you do when:
↳ the facts are messy, 
↳ the options all have tradeoffs, 
↳ and the consequences are real.

But this is why people follow other people. 

Folks are not looking for more information, but for a decision-making compass. 

An identity, if you wish. 
A tribe of similars.

BUT ...
... judgment requires a spine.

It means it costs you something.

To have judgment, you have to be willing to:
↳ disappoint people,
↳ to choose one path,
↳ make enemies,
↳ to say “no” to the easy answer,
↳ and to hold a standard even when it would be profitable to soften it.

Knowledge can be shared without courage.

Judgment can’t, because judgment is where your values show up when you are under pressure.


↳ 
If you like what I create up here, 
I’d appreciate one quick thing:

✦ Save > or
✦ Share > or
✦ Comment.

So LinkedIn shows it to more people. 
Then ↳ 🔔 so the new algo doesn’t bury me.

For the people who think dangerously well I Scaling Intellectual Authority I Thought Leadership I ex CMO & Creative Director 🌃 Storyteller, raised on cyberpunk fiction 🇪🇺

A liar is easy to spot. At some point, the story breaks, and you go: that doesn't add up.

Done.

But there's a different type of folks, and these ones are harder to catch.

Because they don't lie.

They say something that is PARTLY TRUE, and you kind of see yourself in that story. Maybe last Tuesday, scrolling at 11 pm, wondering why your business isn't working.

And this person shows up in your feed and says the exact stuff your brain was already half-baking.

And they say it with such certainty that it feels … like someone just handed you the answer.

And that's the trick.

I rarely see creators who are fully transparent with what can be done.

Just pump the dream, sell the stuff, brag with numbers, repeat. 

And when someone speaks to you with total certainty, you relax.

You start handing your judgment over to someone whose entire business model depends on you never developing your own.

And that's how you end up with a feed full of nice, confident little butternuggets that make you dumber.

Post by post.

I have some rules for myself.

In public:
↳ Be honest. 
The right people will see it, appreciate it ... and you have better chances for a good relationship.

In private:
↳ Always tell people what I can't do for them.

I literally tell them:
→ I am not useful here: x x x x
→ This is what I don't know x x x x
→ This is what I can't achieve x x x x
→ Here's where my thing ends and your thing begins.

And the other thing I do, which most people will never do:
↳ I tell my students to push back on my stuff.

Because I'm not going to be one more person on this green ball who trains you to shut up and nod.

Writing this, I don't have in mind any creator particularly - general observation and experience. 👀  Looking at you guys, promising transformations you can't deliver with certainty. 

Just be honest. 

It is a better "branding strategy".



↳
If you like what I create up here,
I’d appreciate one quick thing:
✦ Save > or
✦ Share > or
✦ Comment.
↳ 🔔

A lot of creators apologize constantly:
↳ Landing page not working — sorry.
↳ Double post scheduled — sorry.
↳ I was gone for 1 week — sorry.
↳ Failed launch — sorry sorry sorry.

My personal list of these has 99 bullet points at the moment.

A whole clusterfunk.

Somebody texts me:
↳ "Landing page not working" 
— (seen)

↳ "You did not answer me." 
— (seen)

↳ "You sound a bit rough." 
— (seen)

I refuse to apologise for any of it.

Actually, I am NOT sorry.

Us women like to do this particularly.

We overexplain, because our social contract requires us to do the extra emotional labour, so others can feel comfortable.

(Gotta keep the smiling up, ladies!)

😅 

But this isn't only a gender thing ...
It's a MOTIVATION thing.

People with autonomous motivation are simply more resistant to social pressure and external inputs.

Actually, one of the strongest predictors of original, sustained creative work (thought leadership) is intrinsic motivation.

Based on studies, there are 6 levels of motivation:

1. Dead battery (Amotivation)
↳ "I don't even know why I'm doing this anymore."

2. The algorithm leash (External Regulation)
↳ "If I don't post, I lose reach."
↳ You create because something outside you demands it.

3. The shame engine (Introjected Regulation)
↳ "If I mess up, people will judge me."
↳ You create to protect your ego & to prove you're good enough.

4. The strategic grind (Identified Regulation)
↳ "I don't love this today, but I know it matters."
↳ You genuinely believe the work serves a bigger goal. But you don't always enjoy it.

5. The work IS the identity (Integrated Regulation)
↳ The work is fully aligned with who you are. There's still an outcome (an audience, a business, a body of work), but it doesn't feel external anymore because the values behind it are completely yours. Failure stings less because your self-worth isn't riding on the result.

6. Pure play (Intrinsic Motivation)
↳ You create because the act of creating is the reward. You'd write at 2am with no publish button. This is the painter who paints alone and the writer who fills piles of notebooks.

We can carry more than one at a time. 
The question is which one's dominant.

When 2 and 3 run the show (algorithm anxiety and shame spirals) that's where the apology reflex lives. 

At 5 and 6, the pressure doesn't disappear. You just stop running your decisions through it.

My dominant motivation swings between 5 and 6.

I create because this is mine and I enjoy it.

Motivation at 5 and 6 makes you un-outworkable.

Because you don't need to recover from bad feedback when your motivation isn't attached to the reception.

I still have 99 problems.

😆 

P.S. If your dominant motivation sits at 1–3, I would not advise you to buy anything from me. More public visibility just means more hits to your self-worth. I talk about these things in my newsletter. Comment section.

You know what's funny about LinkedIn? You post something. You spend an hour on it. Maybe two. You hit publish ... and then you sit there waiting like it's a …(censorship).

And then the algorithm goes … nah. Not today, buttercup.

And you think it's about you. 
But it's not. 

It's about a platform that owns your audience, your data, and your reach — and can change all three while you're asleep.

I've been thinking about this a lot lately.

The people who subscribe to your newsletter don't accidentally scroll past you. 

They went on a page ... 
Typed their email in a box ...
And said: "You can land in my inbox, between my bank and my mother."

That's more than a follow. 
The newsletter people chose you, and they gave you their data. 

I'd argue that's more valuable than 100,000 followers who may or may not see your next post.

So if you're sitting here thinking about what platform to open next … maybe don't. Maybe look at the people who already said yes and start treating that list like what it actually is.

The most important thing you "own".

Anyway — tomorrow we're hosting Des Brown. 

He's answering questions about all of this. 
LinkedIn Live. 
Show up if you want.

Camila Gamboa Ramírez, Brian Berkenstock and 7 other connections attending

Most ideas die at checkpoint one, because social media was built to exploit brain filters. So I wanted to understand what ACTUALLY happens when a stranger sees our posts.

The brain version of the story, which is the story the social media tech is built on.

So I went into deep research.

cognitive psychology
persuasion theory
attention science

Studies from the 1920s to today.

(I was actually surprised, how much of the old stuff still applies today)

I mapped every moment between scrolling and following (I call it COMMIT in the model).

What I found: 
very precisely documented brain points (actions), and our content runs through them every single time.

Then I went one step further, and I turned each brain filter into an AI prompt you can run on your own content before you post.

That also took long. 

😅 

Hook prompts.
CTA prompts. 
Analysis prompts.

Subscribe to my newsletter: 
https://lnkd.in/eDj9GKwU

& I'll ship it your way 😉

The Attention Model

I don’t usually post during weekends - but my friend Robert van Tongeren has so much talent (he doesn’t see in himself fully yet) that I need and want to bring this forward to my feed. 

Beautiful work and you are just starting!!! Proud of you!!! 👏

Ps. He does the illustrations!

Delight clients before they’re clients | Content strategy that makes you look like a genius

I used to hate Valentines Day. Now it's a very special day to me.

I never felt we needed a special day to celebrate love (and remind single people how lonely they are). But now I have a good reason to celebrate.

Anyway, decided to write (and draw) a story about it. Read below if Valentines day put you in a romantic mood 😁

Anti Valentines Day: A Love Story

He read every post I ever wrote. Every. Single. One. 3 years of my LinkedIn - from my very first publication to yesterday. Then he said: 

"It was a mistake because I have 10,000 questions now. Enough for a full 12-episode series."

😂

So we're doing it.
But in one LinkedIn LIVE event!

Jean-Philippe Derout — Fractional COO who builds systems for businesses — is putting me on the hot seat. 

I have no idea what he will be asking me ... there are no scripts and no manufactured answers.

Raw and uncomfortable - exactly how this entire online thing is.

What happens when an operations expert reverse-engineers your entire content journey?

😅 

Well, I guess we are about to find out.

If you're posting, growing, and still can't figure out how to monetize — this is the event.

📅 TODAY | 🕕 6:30 PM Central European Time

See you!

A COO asking me the difficult questions about my business

The more you try to be liked, the less you can be believed.

Yesterday I rambled for one hour about my fails up here. Jean-Philippe Derout made a free workshop for anyone struggling to tackle the business side of offer creation. 

I highly recommend J.P. - he goes against the deceptive marketing and business practices we often see up here and he genuinely cares about people.

Which you want. People willing to go an extra mile for you. 

It’s a free workshop.

Note - workshop. You will actively work during the hour. 

Good luck!

Make it run. | Business Operations for founders outgrowing their structure I Sans panique | Fractional COO & Growth Architect | Advisory Board member @La Bananerie

Sandra Macele built 10K followers before she found the offer that actually resonated with her audience and with herself.

Most solopreneurs are doing the same thing right now.

Building audience, creating custom work for every client with no clear offer nor way to test what's scalable until you're already exhausted.

Join me Wednesday, 18:00 CET for a 90minutes workshop: Build a valuable offer that can scale.

You'll create the V0.001 of your offer blueprint:
The problem you solve (and for who) 
The delivery system (fixed process, not custom labor) 
The feedback loop (test it with the people in the room before you launch)

P.S. Bring your current offer (or the mess you think might become one). We're building live with peers, not theorizing.

Vishal Thacker, Brian Berkenstock and 4 other connections attending

View event: Build a valuable offer that doesn't rely on your constant manual effort

Build a valuable offer that doesn't rely on your constant manual effort

We all have six “magic” sealants that close the language leaks where sales slip away.

Through a few quick exercises — AI help welcome — you’ll gather all six and apply the fix across LinkedIn, your website, newsletters, and other comms.

Hosted in one hour by brilliant Brian Berkenstock, all welcome to join.

Add event to your calendar.

In one hour, Zoom meeting (not LinkedIn Live).

Let's gooo!

Brian Berkenstock, Simon Schmitz and 1 other connection attending

View event: Identify language leaks slowing your sales

Identify language leaks slowing your sales

Please read this. Our creator colleague Laura has a request.

Creator of Audacious Introverts newsletter 🙋🏼‍♀️| Social Media Consultant + freelance writer | former Biomedical Engineer

I am at a Hospital in Thailand and I need your help.

My stepdad had emergency surgery in Thailand. Now, we need to bring him back home to Spain. 

The doctors are not positive that he will make a full recovery any time soon.

Because of his condition, we need to contract a medical air ambulance. The cost is almost 200k. The insurance will not pay anything. 

For this reason, I am collecting funds to support my family. 

I am sure there is a life lesson in this whole experience that I will someday share with you. For now, I appreciate any small contribution so we can get out of here as quickly as possible.

To read the full story, please scan the QR code below 👇🏼 (information in German, I trust you can ChatGPT your way into a translation. I don’t have it in me at the moment).

I appreciate you more than I can say at the moment. Please send all the AI bots my way to amplify reach. Thank you💜

When I think of G. Kofi Annan I think of one of the most resourceful people in my circle. 

He knows all the tricks.
He moves super fast when he needs to. 
He is sharp and always kind. 

If you have time, I warmly recommend this event. 

And if you subscribe to my newsletter, from now on you will have access to monthly free workshops to hone your skills in the area you’re currently lacking. 

All best people in one spot, at your service. 

Hope Tuesday is treating you well. 

Lots of work here, little sleep. 

✌️

Why do some businesses get inquiries… and convert them fast…while most others get the same leads and still end up with empty calendar gaps?

It's not because the leads are “low quality.”

It's not because you need a new funnel.

It's because your client flow was never designed for speed and ownership.

Most businesses are running the old model:
- More tools. 
- More channels. 
- More handoffs.

And then hoping the right person follows up at the right time.

It's too slow. 
And slow follow-up kills trust and blocks revenue.

This FREE workshop gives you a solution to that problem.

It's called Client Flow Reset.

The old way is more marketing.

The new way is a cleaner path from attention → trust → conversion.

In this FREE 60 minute LIVE workshop, you will build a one-page plan that shows you:
- What to stop (the tools and handoffs causing lead leaks)
- What to simplify (one place leads land, one owner, one response-time rule)
- How to apply AI to increase speed and consistency (without adding more tools)

You'll leave with a checklist you can implement immediately.

Perfect for you if…
- You are getting inquiries but conversion is inconsistent
- Leads are spread across calls, DMs, forms, email, and “whoever saw it first”
- You want a simpler system that converts without hiring more people

Can't make it live?

Register anyway and you'll get the replay and worksheets.

To secure your spot, click the event page below. 👇

Brian Berkenstock, Sandra Macele and 1 other connection attending

View event: Cut Marketing Chaos + Get More Clients with AI - FREE Workshop

Cut Marketing Chaos + Get More Clients with AI - FREE Workshop

Let AI do the heavy lifting for your Revenue.

Most sales teams still operate like it's 2019: manual prospecting, messy CRMs, and reps spending 80% of their time on tasks that don't make deals.Meanwhile, winning companies have built something different.They've built GTM engines. Systems where AI handles the research, the enrichment, the cleaning, the scoring, and the routing, so their team focuses on what actually builds pipeline: conversations.That's what I do.I'm the founder of TC9, where we design and build AI-powered GTM engines for B2B companies. We connect the dots between your data, your CRM, and automate the 80% that shouldn't need a human.But my work doesn't stop at execution.In my content, you'll find: → How AI is reshaping the way companies sell→ Which strategies are working right now (and which are already obsolete)→ The systems, tools, and frameworks behind modern revenue teamsIf you're a founder, VP of Sales, or revenue leader trying to figure out what the next era of GTM looks like: you're in the right place.

Jérémy Grandillon

OpenClaw hit 100,000 GitHub stars in 3 weeks.
OpenAI just hired its creator to lead their AI agent division.

Here's why every GTM team should be paying attention.

OpenClaw is an open-source AI agent that runs 24/7 on your machine. 

It connects to WhatsApp, Slack, your CRM, your email. 
Anything.

It doesn't just answer questions. It executes tasks autonomously while you sleep.

It has persistent memory, a built-in scheduler, and anything to use your entire tool stack.

ChatGPT waits for you to open a tab. 
OpenClaw checks what needs doing, and does it.

Now think about what an SDR actually does all day.

→ Research a prospect: 10 min
→ Log info into HubSpot: 5 min
→ Write a personalized email: 10 min
→ Follow up on stale deals: 15 min
→ Repeat 30x

For every hour of selling, nearly two hours go to admin, research, and data entry.

OpenClaw can already scrape a company's website, pull LinkedIn data, summarize recent news, draft personalized outreach, update your CRM, and schedule follow-ups. 

All from a single message.

This isn't replacing SDRs. It's removing the 60% of the job that never required a human.

The reps who adopt this will outperform entire teams. 
The ones who ignore it will spend their days doing work a $20/month agent handles better and faster.

Honest caveat though: it's early. 

Security researchers flagged real concerns. 
Exposed instances, prompt injection risks, etc. 

Not enterprise-ready (yet).
But the trajectory is obvious.

We're 6 to 12 months from sending one message to an AI agent: "Build me a campaign targeting Series B fintech companies in Europe." 

And it researches the companies, finds the contacts, writes the sequences, schedules the sends, monitors replies, and books meetings.

The full SDR workflow. Automated. End to end.

Sam Altman said it himself: "The future is going to be extremely multi-agent."

I'm considering installing OpenClaw, connecting it to a real GTM stack, and putting it to the test. 

Would you be interested in such an experiment? 
Let me know in the comments! 🦞

Can OpenClaw replace Sales Teams

Sales automation in 2026 isn't a competitive edge.
It's the norm.

Your reps aren't closing deals. 
They're buried under tasks that should've been automated yesterday.

If you're still running manual processes, you're choosing to stay behind.

Here are 4 places to start:

➡️ Lead routing 
Still burning 40+ hours/month. 
Set up round robins and rule-based assignment. Done.

➡️ CRM updates 
The necessary evil no one loves. 
Let AI handle notes, activity logs, and call summaries automatically.

➡️ Data enrichment 
If your team is still doing this by hand… stop. 
Connect your tools. Get clean data in minutes, not days.

➡️ Reporting 
Kill the quarterly report. 
Sync your dashboards to live CRM data. Know where you stand right now.

Every minute a rep spends not selling is revenue you'll never get back.

Sales rewards speed and focus. 
Automation gives you both.

✚ Follow Jérémy Grandillon for more. 
♻️ Reshare to help someone level up their sales team.

4 Sales Tasks To Automate Today

Claude Code is becoming inevitable.

But 90% of sales and marketing teams haven't touched it yet.

I spent weeks testing resources, courses, and repos to find what actually matters for revenue teams.

Here's the full list:

(Save this post. You'll come back to it!)

📖 Official Anthropic Resources

→ Claude Code Docs & Installation (the starting point)
🔗 https://lnkd.in/erW_rUrD

→ Claude Code GitHub (open-source repo, plugins, community contributions)
🔗 https://lnkd.in/eNS_huU6

→ Claude Code Best Practices (CLAUDE.md setup, custom commands, multi-instance workflows)
🔗 https://lnkd.in/e2w8tCAe

→ Context Engineering for AI Agents (why context structure matters more than the model)
🔗 https://lnkd.in/es5HWkH7

→ MCP (Model Context Protocol) (connect Claude Code to your CRM, enrichment tools, and data sources)
🔗 https://lnkd.in/eWaxd7PQ

→ Claude Code in Action (Free, official Anthropic course). Context management, custom commands, MCP servers, planning modes.
🔗 https://lnkd.in/ejb4sn2n

→ Claude Use Cases for Marketing & Sales
🔗 https://lnkd.in/e_ZebcAc

🎧 Watch & Listen

→ AI Engineer: Barry Zhang and Mahesh Murag from Anthropic
🔗 https://lnkd.in/eZN9uuGi

→ Greg Isenberg + Ras Mic: "The Most CLEAR Explanation of Claude Code"
🔗 https://lnkd.in/eqGgVT9c

🛠️ Repos, Skills & Tools

→ Anthropic Official Skills (69K+ stars). Docx, pptx, xlsx, PDF creation, and more.
🔗 https://lnkd.in/eCpuP6HJ

→ Superpowers by obra (9K+ stars). Brainstorming, spec writing, TDD, subagent-driven development. Turns Claude Code into an autonomous engineering teammate.
🔗 https://lnkd.in/eZib-p7F

→ Claude Code Guide by Cranot (2,360+ stars). Most complete community reference. Auto-updates every 2 days.
🔗 https://lnkd.in/eQYiAVKu

→ Awesome Claude Code. The definitive community list. Slash commands, CLAUDE.md files, agents, skills, hooks, plugins.
🔗 https://lnkd.in/eXzWUxgw

→ Skills.sh. 55,000+ installable skills. Search marketing-relevant ones like copywriting (12K+ installs), SEO audit (17K+), social content (7K+).
🔗 https://skills.sh/

→ AI Templates (aitmpl.com). 30+ pre-built Claude Code agents, skills, commands, hooks, and MCP configs.
🔗 https://lnkd.in/eRgRPK_s

→ OneWave-AI Skills Collection. 100 production-ready skills for sales, business automation, content creation.
🔗 https://lnkd.in/eam8FR9k

I'm already using Claude Code to build custom tools and workflows for GTM.

The GTM teams that learn this now will have a 12-month head start.

What's the first GTM workflow you'd build with Claude Code?

Most salespeople send one email and move on.

Lemlist analyzed hundreds of thousands of outbound emails on their platform.

The pattern is clear: multi-touch sequences consistently outperform single sends.

Not by a little. By a lot.

Here's what's actually happening when you follow up:

→ Your prospect gets 100+ emails a day. 
One email is invisible. Three emails make you exist.

→ Timing is random. 
Your first email lands during a board prep. Your third lands when they're actively looking for a solution.

→ Following up isn't "being pushy." 
It's removing friction. Most people don't ignore you because they're not interested. They ignore you because they forgot.

The reps I see booking the most meetings all have one thing in common.

They follow up more than their competitors.

Not with "just checking in" emails. With new angles, new value, new reasons to reply.

The fear of being annoying costs more pipeline than persistence ever will.

What's your follow-up sequence look like right now? 2 emails? 5? More?

4 Reasons Why You Need Follow-Up Emails

Most sales teams are chasing the latest AI feature.
Meanwhile, fundamentals are broken.

No tool will save you if you can't answer three questions:

→ How am I relevant to my targets?
→ How do I reach out at the right time?
→ Is my technical setup delivering my messages?

Everything in outbound reduces to these three variables.

The rest is execution.

And execution goes wrong when you stack 5-6 tools and lose yourself in complexity.

Or, you can focus on one good tool that covers it all.

I’ve been using lemlist for almost 10 years, and I consider it one of the best tools in the outbound stack.

Here's what makes it work:

→ Built-in lead database. 
When I define my ICP, I build the list directly inside the tool. No exporting CSVs. No enrichment subscriptions. Just one workflow.

→ Signal detection. 
Job changes, website visitors, LinkedIn activity. You know when the timing is right before you hit send.

→ AI features that make sense.
Automatically cleaning names, classifying leads in relevant buckets, company latest news. No AI for the sake of it, only what you’d have done anyway. 

→ Multi-channel sequences. 
Email, LinkedIn, WhatsApp. Deliverability monitoring, warm-up included, all channels in one workflow.

Get the strategy right first. 
Then pick the tool that matches your resources.

After that, you'll have plenty of time to evaluate the next shiny feature the lead gen bubble is selling you.

What does your current outbound stack look like?

Stop overcomplicating outbound - Fix the basics

8 years of cold email. Many things changed.

But 3 principles never moved.

I've sent millions of cold emails since 2018.

Open rates went from easy to earn to nearly impossible if you skip the fundamentals.

Here's what still works, no matter what Gmail or Outlook throw at you:

→ Targeting
If you're emailing anyone outside your ICP, you're burning domains for nothing. Tight lists convert. Broad lists destroy your sender reputation.

→ Infrastructure 
SPF, DKIM, DMARC, domain rotation, inbox warming. In 2018, I set this up manually. Today, it's too complex and too costly to DIY. 

I use Mailpool for all my email infrastructure. Domains, inboxes, spam checks, Google Workspace, Microsoft 365, and SFTP. All handled. No going back.

→ Messaging 
Landing in the primary inbox is step one. Getting a reply is what keeps you there. Low volume. No spammy words. Relevant copy only. Replies signal to Gmail that you're a legit sender.

Most teams fail at cold email because they skip straight to copywriting.

Copy doesn't matter if your emails land in spam.
Deliverability doesn't matter if you're emailing the wrong people.

The order matters: targeting → infrastructure → message.

Get these 3 right, and cold email still outperforms every other outbound channel in cost per meeting.

And I highly recommend using a trustworthy provider like Mailpool to handle your infrastructure!

Which of these 3 is the hardest to get right for your team?

3 key principles after 8 years of cold email

I used to be "the cold email guy."

For years, that was my identity. Automating prospecting. Optimizing deliverability. Building sequences that actually get replies.

I was good at it. But at some point, I started feeling stuck.

I was solving the same problems over and over. Open rates. Reply rates. Infrastructure fixes. The tactics kept evolving, but the scope stayed small.

I wasn't thinking about revenue. I was thinking about replies.

And I kept asking myself: is this it?

The companies I admired were doing more. They had marketing, RevOps, sales, and data teams all working toward the same goal. Every piece of the revenue engine was in place.

But here's what I noticed: those pieces weren't connected. They were running in parallel, not as a system.

Then 2023 happened.

AI. Clay. 

AI-powered enrichment. Intelligent automation. Suddenly the tools existed to do something new.

Not just automate prospecting. But connect everything.

Signals feeding scoring. Scoring feeding routing. Routing feeding outbound, ads, and nurture. One system. One data layer. Every motion working together.

That's when it clicked.

The winning companies had all the pieces. What they didn't have yet was the glue.

AI + automation wasn't just the next chapter of outbound. It was the way to connect what the best companies were already doing separately.

So I made a choice.

I stopped positioning myself as an outbound specialist and started thinking like an engineer.

Not just "how do I send better emails?"
But "how do I build a revenue system where every piece compounds?"

→ I started mapping 100+ buying signals
→ I connected outbound, marekting, and CRM
→ I built scoring models that route leads automatically

Most importantly, I stopped thinking in campaigns and started thinking in systems.

Cold email is still in the playbook. But it's one play in a system of 75.

The real game is GTM Engineering. Building the glue that makes revenue engines work.

If you're feeling stuck in one skill, one channel, one identity, maybe it's time to zoom out.

The best version of your work might be bigger than what you're known for today.

What skill are you evolving beyond right now?

Cold email isn't dead. 
But lazy cold email is. Absolutely.

Inboxes are brutal right now. 
Your message gets at best 2 seconds (probably less).

Here's how to make those seconds count:

1 → Write like you talk. 
5th-grade reading level. No corporate fluff. Just clarity.

2 → Cut the fat. 
Short sentences win. If your intro needs a scroll, it's already lost.

3 → Drop the jargon. 
If they have to re-read it, they won't reply.

4 → Respect their time. 
Lead with value. No one reads past line three hoping it gets better.

5 → Sound like a human. 
People respond to personality, not pitches.

6 → Prove it. 
Drop a number. Share a result. Let proof do the selling.

7 → Make the "yes" easy. 
Soft CTA. Low commitment. Remove every reason to say no.

8 → Proofread. 
Every. Time. One confusing sentence kills an entire thread.

9 → Personal > perfect. 
Generic outreach gets generic results: silence.

10 → Follow up like you mean it. 
Automate the sequence. Most replies come after touch 3, 4, or 5.

Boring emails get buried. 
Strategic ones get meetings.

It's not magic. It's method.

♻️ Reshare if this helps someone land their next meeting.
✚ Follow Jérémy Grandillon for more!

How to make your cold emails stand out

The SDR role isn't dying. 
It's being redesigned.

Humans doing robot work was never the play.

Sales is hard. I've lived it for years. 
But hard doesn't have to mean miserable.

And your growth doesn't have to suffer either.

The GTM Engine changes everything. 
I've seen it firsthand.

Here's what a day in the life of an SDR should look like in 2026:

𝟵:𝟬𝟬 𝗔𝗠 
❌ 12 open tabs. Manual scraping. Copy-paste chaos. 
✅ You log in. Warm leads are already waiting.

𝟭𝟬:𝟯𝟬 𝗔𝗠 
❌ LinkedIn + Google detective work. 
✅ Intent data is enriched, scored, and sorted for you.

𝟭:𝟬𝟬 𝗣𝗠 
❌ Staring at a blank screen, writing cold emails from zero. 
✅ Smart outreach is drafted. You refine. You don't rebuild.

𝟯:𝟬𝟬 𝗣𝗠 
❌ Manual follow-ups falling through the cracks. 
✅ Behavior-based triggers handle it. CRM stays clean.

𝟱:𝟯𝟬 𝗣𝗠 
❌ 40 touchpoints. 1 decent conversation. Soul-crushing. 
✅ Fewer hours. Better conversations. Real momentum.

Same title on the business card. 
Completely different reality behind it.

AI isn't here to replace SDRs. 
It's here to cut through the noise that was burning them out.

♻️ Reshare if this resonates. 
➕ Follow Jérémy Grandillon for more!

SDR Life Before VS After Automation

SDRs don't fail because of effort.
They fail because of infrastructure.

Most SDR teams spend 80% of their time on research, CRM updates, and admin.

The top-performing ones spend 80% on conversations and strategy.

Here's what separates them:

→ Lead research: 
Manual tab-switching vs. automated enrichment through Clay or Builtwith.

→ Personalization: 
Writing every email from scratch vs. AI-generated messaging based on intent signals.

→ CRM hygiene: 
Repetitive manual updates vs. auto-synced workflows in HubSpot or Salesforce.

→ Targeting: 
Static lists with zero context vs. signal-qualified prospects scored by job changes, funding rounds, tech installs.

→ Onboarding: 
Weeks of shadowing vs. prebuilt sequences and playbooks ready on day one.

The SDR role isn't dying.

But the SDR operating system is being completely rebuilt.

What's the one manual task your SDRs still waste the most time on?

I just made our entire GTM Engineering Playbook free. 20+ pages. 300+ operational assets. 

Everything we use to build signal-based revenue engines for B2B companies.

After 8+ years in Sales, Marketing, and RevOps, every framework, scoring model, database, and workflow we run lives inside this playbook.

We use it to:
→ Define TAMs and qualify accounts at scale 
→ Detect 1st, 2nd, and 3rd party buying signals
→ Score and route leads to the right channel
→ Launch outbound plays triggered by real-time signals
→ Build entire GTM motions from audit to full speed

102 signals. 75 plays. 9 workflows. 300+ ready-to-use assets.

Here’s what’s inside:

1️⃣ Signal Detection

102 intent signals mapped to source, strength, and response window
82 scraper triggers for automated signal capture via Apify and Phantombuster
3-layer signal taxonomy: 1st party, 2nd party, 3rd party

2️⃣ Lead Scoring & Routing

Dual-axis scoring framework: Account Score + Lead Score on a 1-10 scale
Lead Treatment Matrix that routes leads to 6 outreach channels automatically
6 AI qualification prompts with JSON scoring rubrics ready for Clay

3️⃣ Outbound Execution

75 ready-to-execute outbound plays organized by funnel stage and effort level
6 day-by-day cadence templates with message frameworks and benchmarks
Complete cold email infrastructure guide: domains, DNS, warm-up, deliverability

4️⃣ Automation & Implementation

9 end-to-end automation workflows with trigger logic and routing rules
90-day implementation roadmap: from discovery to fully operational in 12 weeks
ROI calculator with formulas, benchmarks, and leadership-ready reporting

I know, that's a lot. 

Every piece compounds. 
Your signals feed your scoring. 
Your scoring feeds your routing. 
Your routing feeds your outbound. 
Your analytics extract what converts and feed it all back.

And the good news is that we'll keep updating it as we experiment new plays.

(Claude Code is coming). 

This is the exact methodology we deliver to clients. Now it’s free.

→ Connect with me
→ Comment “GTM”

I’ll send it straight to your DMs.

The SDR role isn't disappearing. It's splitting in two.

One path leads to GTM Engineering.
The other leads to burnout.

Most SDR teams still run the old playbook.
Manual lead research. Static sequences. Activity metrics.
Hours spent on data entry instead of selling.

That model is collapsing.

The teams winning right now look completely different.

→ They use Clay to enrich leads from 10+ sources automatically.

→ CRM updates itself through HubSpot workflows and system triggers.

→ Outreach adapts in real time based on intent signals, not arbitrary cadences.

→ Follow-ups run on autopilot until human judgment is actually needed.

One GTM Engineer replaces the chaos of 7 disconnected tools with a single orchestrated system.

The shift isn't AI replacing SDRs.

It's AI removing everything that was never selling in the first place.

Lead research. Data entry. Sequence management. Activity logging.

That was 70% of an SDR's week. Now it's zero.

What's left is the work that actually moves pipeline.
Strategic conversations. Pattern recognition. Creative problem-solving.

The SDRs who adapt become the most valuable people on the revenue team.

The ones who don't get outpaced by a Clay table and 3 Zapier automations.

What's the first part of your outbound workflow you'd hand off to automation tomorrow?

Clay just launched Ads. 
And most people will miss why this matters.

Here's the short version: 

You can now build ad audiences directly from your CRM data and buying signals, then sync them to LinkedIn, Meta, and Google ads.

Same enrichment engine that powers your outbound. Now powering your paid media.

Let me break down the workflow:

→ Pull a high-intent list from your CRM
Not a generic audience. Your actual pipeline. Your actual target accounts.

→ Layer Clay's enrichment on top
Job changes, funding rounds, tech stack signals, website visits. The same data you already use for outbound.

→ Clay enriches contacts 
Emails and identifiers to maximize match rates. They're claiming up to 95% on LinkedIn and 65% on Meta. Way above standard CRM-to-ads sync.

→ Push those audiences directly to LinkedIn, Meta, or Google. One sync. No CSV exports. No manual uploads.

But here's where it gets interesting.

You can target the exact accounts your sales team is working. Not lookalikes. The actual people.

You can exclude customers, employees, and out-of-ICP contacts dynamically.

You can shift budget based on live intent signals. 
Tier 1 accounts on your pricing page: they see your ads first.

This is CRM-powered precision advertising built on the same engine that runs your outbound.

And this is exactly why I keep saying GTM Engineering is not just about sales automation.

The same data layer that powers your lead scoring, your sequences, your CRM hygiene now also powers your ad targeting. 

Same signals. Same enrichment. Same logic. Applied across channels.

When your sales team works 200 high-intent accounts and your marketing team runs ads to a completely different audience, you're burning money. 
Clay Ads makes those two motions run on the same data for the first time.

For teams that already have GTM automation in place, this is an immediate multiplier. You're extending your existing system into a new channel with zero additional data work.

For teams that don't... the gap just got wider.

Clay keeps shipping features that prove the same thesis: GTM is a system, not a set of disconnected tools.

What channel would you connect to your CRM data first if match rates were actually reliable?

Your CRM isn't broken. 
It's misused.

Your CRM should be your dedicated gold mine. 
But it's often chaotic. And it's leaking.

Here are 5 CRM leaks quietly killing your revenue:

1️⃣ Dead leads still in active sequences 
Outdated emails are a waste of resources. 
Audit your records monthly. Protect your sender reputation.

2️⃣ Duplicate records, zero coordination 
Two reps hitting the same account = instant credibility loss. 
Set up deduplication workflows. Kill the friction.

3️⃣ Zero signal tracking 
No signals means no timing. No timing means bad outreach. 
Track visits, clicks, and page views. Let intent guide your moves.

4️⃣ No tagging or qualification logic 
Reps burn hours on accounts that will never close. 
Automate tagging to surface ICP fit and deal stage instantly.

5️⃣ Stale notes, missing context 
A rep calling without context sounds like a stranger. 
Sync every touchpoint into the contact record. 

Give your team the full picture.

Your CRM should support your revenue growth.
Not drain it. 

Patch the leaks. 
Unlock the growth that's already there.

♻️ Reshare if this hit home. 
✚ And follow Jérémy Grandillon for more!

If you're still sending cold emails from 2-3 inboxes in 2026, you're landing in spam.

Spam filters got brutal last year.

Blasting hundreds of emails from a single domain gets you flagged in days.

The fix is to scale horizontally.
More domains. More inboxes. Lower volume per inbox.

But setting this up manually through Gmail or Outlook is expensive, slow, and a technical mess.

You don't want to deal with SPF, DKIM, DMARC, and all the funky letters on your own.

That's why I use Mailpool for my clients and my own outbound.

Here's the setup in 3 steps:

→ Connect your domains (or buy them directly). 
DNS setup is guided. No more guessing which TXT record goes where.

→ Spin up inboxes across Gmail, Outlook, and SMTP. 
Mix providers for better deliverability and keep volume low per inbox. 
This is what actually keeps you out of spam.

→ Plug into your favorite outreach tool. 
Mailpool connects with most cold email platforms, so you don't rebuild your workflow from scratch.

The whole thing takes minutes, not days.

The difference between a clean infrastructure and a messy one is the difference between 40% open rates and landing in junk.

I've been in the cold email game for years, and I'm glad I found a provider I can trust. 

I definitely recommend checking out Mailpool for the best infrastructure!

Your best sales playbook already exists inside your own meetings.

Most teams never use it.

Let's be honest: playbooks are often "good practices" disconnected from the reality. 

Each business has its own context and specificities. 
When new reps join, they have to learn this on the field. 

But there is a better way. 
Your best plays are already here, in your sales meetings.

Here's how I capture them: 

Step 1️⃣:
I connected Claude to my recorder Claap.
Then asked it to analyze ten meetings and extract winning patterns.

Step 2️⃣: 
Claude identified key metrics, found frameworks, and patterns.
It even went deeper than my instructions.

Step 3️⃣: 
I turned this real meeting data into an SDR onboarding blueprint.
It was detailed, visual, and actionable.

This blueprint is unique to my business.
It reflects how my team actually sells.

Generic playbooks can never compete.

Your data is your unfair advantage.
AI is only as good as its context.

If you don't capture your own data already, stop everything and give Claap a try! 

You can try it for free, here: https://lnkd.in/ep7XmhKV 

And let me know how you're using it!

Your CRM is quietly draining your pipeline.

Not because the tool is broken.
Because nobody owns what's inside it.

I've audited dozens of CRMs. The pattern is always the same.

→ 30-40 of contacts have no valid email.
Enrichment ran once, 18 months ago. Never again.

→ Lead routing is based on fields nobody updates.
Reps get assigned accounts they've never touched. Territories overlap. Deals fall through the cracks.

→ Duplicates everywhere.
Same company, 4 records, 3 owners, zero accountability.
The "source of truth" is a source of confusion.

→ Pipeline reviews built on stale data.
Forecasts are fiction. Leadership makes decisions based on numbers that were wrong weeks ago.

The real cost isn't inefficiency.
It's the deals your team never even sees.

A dirty CRM doesn't just slow you down. It makes automation impossible.

You can't build AI workflows, lead scoring, or signal-based outreach on top of garbage data.

The companies shipping real GTM automation right now all started the same way.

They fixed the foundation first.

What's the first thing you'd clean up in your CRM if you had a full week to dedicate to it?

Pushy selling is the fastest way to kill pipeline.

I've seen outbound teams burn through hundreds leads a month with zero results.

Not because the leads were bad.
Because every touchpoint screamed "BUY NOW."

Buyers don't respond to pressure. They respond to psychology.

Here's what actually moves deals forward:

→ Reciprocity 
Give before you ask. Share a relevant benchmark, a teardown, a custom insight. Our best-converting sequences all start with value, never a pitch.

→ Social proof 
"We helped 40+ B2B SaaS companies cut cost-per-meeting by 60%" hits harder than "we're the best at outbound." Peer wins beat promises every time.

→ Loss aversion 
Quantify the cost of doing nothing. "You're spending €18K/month on SDRs generating 12 meetings" is more powerful than any feature list.

→ Micro-commitments 
Don't ask for a 30-min call on the first touch. Ask for a reaction. A reply. A small yes that opens the door to a bigger one.

→ Authority
Credentials and case studies close more than objection-handling scripts. Be the advisor buyers trust, not the seller they avoid.

→ Emotional anchoring 
Start with their goal, not your product. Tie the solution to where they want to be before you address what's broken.

Most outbound fails because it leads with pressure instead of trust.

Trust, logic, and emotion close deals. 

Sequences built on psychology outperform brute-force volume every single time.

What's the one psychological trigger that works best in your outbound sequences?

Most sales teams are still hiring their way out of problems.

More SDRs. More seats. More fixed costs.
Then wondering why margins shrink and turnover spikes.

Here's what the shift actually looks like:

The legacy playbook:
→ 12-month contracts on tools nobody fully uses.
→ 15 SDRs grinding 200 calls/day against outdated lists.
→ 40% annual turnover. Constant ramp cycles.

The modern playbook:
→ 1-2 GTM Engineers replacing entire outbound teams.
→ Pay-as-you-go stack: Clay, enrichment APIs.
→ Automated lead scoring, routing, and sequencing.
→ Pipeline grows. Headcount doesn't.

The difference isn't "working smarter."
It's architectural.

One model scales with people.
The other scales with systems.

I've seen teams cut outbound costs by 60% while tripling qualified meetings. Not by optimizing scripts. By rebuilding the engine underneath.

The companies pulling ahead right now aren't the ones with the biggest sales floors.
They're the ones where a single GTM engineer runs what used to take a team of 10.

What's the first thing you'd replace with automation in your outbound stack?

AI won't replace Sales reps.
But it will replace how they spend their time.

I had a conversation with Ashley Gross recently, and this question keeps coming up:

"Is AI coming for sales jobs?"

Short answer: no.

Long answer: it's coming for the busywork that keeps salespeople from actually selling.

Here's where AI dominates:

→ Scanning thousands of data points in seconds
→ Surfacing high-intent leads before your competitors do
→ Prioritizing opportunities so reps stop guessing

Here's where it falls flat:

→ Reading the room on a discovery call
→ Building trust over months of consistent follow-up
→ Guiding a buyer through a complex decision

That's human territory. Always has been. Always will be.

The real shift isn't AI replacing your team.

It's AI removing the friction that slows them down.

Less time researching. More time connecting.
Less time qualifying. More time closing.

So here's the question worth asking:

If your reps had 10 extra hours a week: no prospecting, no list building, no manual research, etc.

What would they do with that time?

That's the real unlock.

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