How To Set Up Companies Using the Power of Gazelle.ai

Reaching out to prospect companies can be tricky. Which companies should you focus on? Who should you contact? Should you call first, then email? Should you email them, then follow up with a LinkedIn message? How many times should you contact a company before moving on? In this article, we use over 15 years of experience from our colleagues at ROI Research On Investment to guide you through the outreach process and set you up for success as their trusted adviser.

Before we begin, it's vital to understand what a Gazelle.ai company is, what makes them different and why they are so important. Growth companies often referred to as “Gazelles” are known to:

Simply put, Gazelle.ai companies buy more of everything. 

Gazelle.ai companies are hard to identify, as they come in every size, can be start-ups or well-established companies, and are present in every industry and region. 

To find them Gazelle.ai's G-Score helps us find the signal in the noise so we can hone in on specifically the companies that show the strongest evidence of growth and expansion. 

You can utilize Gazelle.ai's G-Score to prioritize which companies you'll be investing your time in. We'll help you spend less time chasing and more time closing. 

Now that you’ve used Gazelle.ai to build a targeted list of high-growth prospects, companies with the highest propensity to expand, the fun part begins outreach!

Deciding who to contact inside an organization can be a bit tricky. Depending on the size of the company, they may have a dedicated department for procurement and strategy, but decision-makers at SMEs (Small-to-Medium Enterprises) may carry the burden of procurement and carrying out strategic expansions themselves. Using Gazelle.ai, you can identify the size of the company and which person you'd like to contact. 

We’re going to be going step-by-step through an example of company outreach using Cardflight as our example. Cardflight is a New-York based FinTech SaaS company that has a G-Score of 5 and which has received $10.1 million in total VC funding, making them an ideal candidate. Let’s get the ball rolling! 

Let’s start by just quickly taking stock of some relevant information about who we’re going to be talking to. For one thing, Cardflight seems to have been doing quite well for themselves in terms of VC funding: 5 rounds, totalling $10.1 million. 

For another, we have quite a lot of contact information to go from: a phone number, LinkedIn profile, Twitter feed, Facebook profile, and Crunchbase profile. We’ll leave these as tools of last resort, for now, but it’s good to know we have them. Instead, let’s click on the “People” tab in the top right. 

Once again, it looks like we have quite a few people to choose from! Let’s take a moment now to consider the kinds of people we should be focusing on with our outreach. For SMEs, we can go ahead and head straight for the C-suite – CEO, COO, and the like. For larger enterprises, however, it’s unlikely that you’ll manage to get in touch with someone that high up the ladder. Instead, try and focus on people in strategic or real estate positions at the Vice President level. 

Let’s consider this in the context of Cardflight. Since they have under $10 million in revenue and just over 50 employees, we can safely head straight to the top for our outreach. That leaves us with three viable candidates: CEO Derek Webster, Manage for Finance and Strategy Jason Fishman, and SVP for Strategic Partnerships Marla Knutson. Fortune favors the bold – let’s start with Derek.

For our purposes, there are two things we’re going to need to know about Derek that we don’t know yet. First is his email address, which you’ll notice isn’t listed. Not to worry! That blue envelope means that we can run our script that will generate an email address based on the most common permutations of corporate email addresses and let us know if it finds a match!

The second thing to take note of is his LinkedIn profile. Before you even reach out to someone, if you can find them on LinkedIn and do a little cursory research, we highly recommend it. 

Here are some ideas of things to make note of on a LinkedIn profile:

Note that it’s a good idea to put any information like this that you find in a note on the company by clicking on the “Notes” tab to jog your memory in the future. Now we’re prepared! Let’s get into the nuts and bolts of outreach.

Reaching Out

Our tried-and-true tactic is contacting each key decision-maker a minimum of 7 times over the course of around two weeks. It may sound like a lot, but thanks to Gazelle.ai's Notes and Email Reminders, it'll become second nature in no time.

To get started, use Gazelle.ai to identify at least two top decision-makers at the company. Like I mentioned above, for SMEs we recommend looking at their C-suite executives. For larger companies, look at the Vice Presidents relevant to your requests, such as VP Business Development or Corporate Strategy.  Get ready, because you're going to be contacting this person once every other day for the next two weeks. Try creating a systematic approach that you’ll apply to each decision-maker. You can make a step-by-step breakdown like this one:

 Step 1: Email Step 2: Phone Call Step 3: Follow-up Email Step 4: LinkedIn Connection Step 5: Phone Call Step 6: Email + Phone Call Step 7: LinkedIn Message

Let’s break down what each of these steps looks like in practice. 

Step 1: Email

Keep your initial email as short and sweet as possible to grab the decisionmaker's attention first. The most effective emails are those that fit comfortably on a smartphone screen and are not filled with hyperlinks, PDFs, or graphics.

Including hyperlinks, PDFs, and graphics can result in your email going straight to the spam folder. Try and think from their perspective: would you open an email with a mysterious attachment from an email address you don’t recognize? 

Decisionmakers on the cusp of making a significant decision will not be responsive to generic sales and marketing emails. Remember that your objective here is to start a conversation, not seal the deal in a single email. Shorter emails open the door for building a long-term relationship with your prospect. While we're always aiming to have a productive conversation straight away, we have to acknowledge some sales cycles are longer than others. Just because they may not need your services today, doesn't mean they won't tomorrow! Building your relationship through genuine communication will start you off on the right foot. 

Pro tip: 

The key to your email standing out is to include context-specific information: this is information about the company that is related to the reason you're getting in touch with them. Thankfully, you’re not looking to talk to any old company – you’re talking to Gazelles. Because of that, you know a few things already:

Company profiles can also contain clues for you to capitalize on. Here’s a couple to bear in mind:

That gives us lots of material to work with, so let’s move on to the finishing touches. 

Before a decisionmaker even reads your email, you’ll need a catchy subject line that will make you stand out. Try your best to stay away from sales and marketing clichés like 'LIMITED TIME OFFER' or 'Expires in X Days' or '6 ways we can help [Company]'. Our goal is to stand out and ensure our prospect doesn't feel like they are 1 of the 1000s we're trying to contact - even if this may be the case. 

We suggest you put either your target company’s name or the name of your contact in the subject line as we’ve found this will increase your open rates. If you are an economic developer or government agency you might consider subject lines like:

'[Company ]in [Region]' – Cardflight in Virginia

'[Company] – [Region] Market Development' – Cardflight - Virginian Market Development'

'Growing in [Region]' – Growing in Virginia

‘We can [value proposition]’ – We can make finding a new office easy

‘[Value proposition] in [Region] – Tax management services in Germany

We now have all the pieces we need to start writing great emails! While there is no such thing as a one-size-fits-all answer when it comes to writing an email, we do have a couple of templates you can consider drawing from.

Are you an EDO trying to reach out to Gazelles for your area? Try this template:

Template 1: Introduction for Economic Development Organization

Subject: Support for [company name] in [region]

Good Afternoon Mr./Ms./Mx. [Last name],

I hope you're doing well today. I noticed [custom information about the company]. and thought you may be interested in exploring [your company's products/services]. [Introduce your agency value proposition].

Could we set up a short, exploratory discussion next week?

Warm regards,

[Your Name]

Short and sweet! Now let’s take a look at what that looks like in practice, using Cardflight as our example:

Subject: Support for Cardflight in Exampleville

Good afternoon Mr. Webster,

I hope this email finds you well. I’d like to congratulate you on rolling out SwipeSimple on the PAX A80! I’m sure the new platform will help you reach even more small businesses across the country, and I wish you all the best of luck. 

Precisely because you have such a strong interest in small businesses, I thought I’d reach out to you about expansion opportunities for Cardflight here in Exampleville. I saw that you’ve put out job postings for a lot of software engineers in the last few months. You’d be happy to know that Exampleville Polytechnic has the most computer engineering graduates of any 4-year university in the Midwest and we’ve already established partnerships with local startups like Flexr and PictureBox. We’d love for you to be able to tap into this rich vein of tech talent! 

If you have time in the next week or two for a brief phone call, I’d love to discuss these opportunities further. 

Regards,

Janelle

Are you a B2B firm looking for new clients? Try these templates on for size:

​Template 2: Introduction for Business Development / B2B

Subject: [Subject line that identifies key pain points for a client.]

Good Afternoon Mr./Ms./Mx. [Last name],

I hope you're doing well today. I noticed [custom information about the company]. and thought you may be interested in exploring [your company's products/services]. [Introduce your agency value proposition]. 

Could we set up a short, exploratory discussion next week?

Warm regards,

[Your Name]
​

Structurally, you’ll notice this quite simple: a catchy hook, a link to your organization, and a value proposition. In practice, though, customization is key to a good B2B email. Here’s an example using Cardflight again:

​Subject: Derek, expanding internationally is tricky. We can help.

Good Afternoon Mr. Webster,

I hope you're doing well today. Let me, first of all, congratulate you on rolling out SwipeSimple on the PAX A80! I’m sure the new platform will help you reach even more small businesses across the country, and I wish you all the best of luck. 

Now that you have that milestone behind you, it looks like you are starting to consider expanding your international presence. This comes with a whole suite of challenges when it comes to site selection, foreign tax codes, and legal advice. Thankfully, OmniCorp International offers leading tax and legal services for companies looking to expand outside of the United States. We have helped hundreds of businesses like Cardflight avoid the pain of costly errors and missed opportunities when it comes to international growth and we could do the same for you.

I’d love to schedule a call in the next week or so to discuss how we can help Cardflight grow. When would you be free?

Warm regards,

Janelle

Now for the fun part. Once you’ve sent the email, leave a note on the company’s Gazelle.ai profile by navigating to your "Notes" tab and clicking on the "New Note” button in the top-left corner. 

Quickly jot down your activity in a note like the one below and set yourself a reminder to give them a call tomorrow (we'll tackle that next). Now Gazelle.ai will remind you to get in touch by sending you an email and an in-app notification at the time of your choice - 9:00 AM is a good go-to if you can’t decide. If you set more than one reminder, don’t worry! We’ll only send one email, with all of your reminders included.  

Step 2: Phone Call

After sending your first email, we recommend waiting until the next business day before calling the decisionmaker you’re reaching out to. No need to dive right in with a call on the same day as your email; feel free to give them some time to respond to your email.

When the day comes for you to do your follow-up, go to the target company’s Gazelle profile and grab their phone number from the “Main” page. Pro tip: keep your email open when you call the decisionmaker, as it’ll help jog your memory of the research you did about them and their company. Now, one of two things can have happened:

You connect with the decisionmaker: 

Awesome! Now that you’ve got them on the phone, it’s time to make your pitch. Remember that email we sent in Step 1? It's time to circle back to it! Ask the decisionmaker how they are and mention that you're following up on an email you sent over the day before. Prompt them to open the email, if possible. If not, simply repeat the gist of what you said – remember to focus the conversation on them and their needs. Don't forget to give the decision-maker the opportunity to speak and pay close attention to what is being said. Ensure that you are responding directly to questions asked and that you are asking the right questions in turn.  If you are transferred to voicemail:

Don't leave a voicemail just yet. If you have not spoken with the decisionmaker before, leaving them a voicemail means they can screen your future calls, which will make subsequent outreach a whole lot harder. However, you should listen to the voicemail greeting for any direct contact numbers. Bear in mind, though, that this is something of an escalation – be sure that your pitch is solid enough to merit going through to a direct line.   If someone gets between you and the decisionmaker: 

This is a normal outcome, don’t worry. If this happens, ask for a direct line, confirm an email address, and ask when they may be available next. If the person you’re speaking to doesn’t know when the decisionmaker might next be free, offer a time and then follow up with a call then. Worst case, you’ve established that if you say you’re going to call at a day and time, you’re going to follow through. That kind of a positive impression can pay off down the line!

By now, one of two things has happened:

You've connected with the decisionmaker and started your conversation. At this point, it’s imperative that you maintain this contact and start establishing a relationship of trust between you and the decisionmaker. You’re well on your way to success!

You still haven't connected. Don't despair, we still have many options left! Leave another note on the target Gazelle.ai profile detailing your outreach and a reminder for the day after next to move on to the next step.

Step 3: Follow-Up Email (Day 3)

Two days after your call, you'll get a Gazelle.ai notification reminding you to get in touch with the decision maker. If they haven't responded by this time, simply hit 'Respond/Reply' to the email you sent in Step 1 with this short message. 

Good Afternoon Mr./Ms./Mx. Anonymous,

I hope you're well today.

I just wanted to follow up on my previous email about [custom information] and [your company]. I'd love to explore further.

I'm available next Tuesday afternoon if that works for you. 

Warm regards,

[Your Name]

By now you should see what's coming next! Leave another note on the profile detailing the outreach and set a reminder (seriously, folks, set a reminder; consistency is key) to take the next step the following day. 

Step 4: LinkedIn Connection (Day 4)

So it's been several days and you haven't heard back. Don't stress, this is normal! This time, change it up and send a LinkedIn connection to the decisionmaker. 

When you send the connection request, you can include a short message while sending your invitation out. We recommend your message matches Step 1 - short, sweet, and to the point! Hi [Person]! I see that [custom information found on their LinkedIn Profile]. I'd love to connect. 

Send it off and then, as always, track this action and set a reminder for the next day in Gazelle.ai to keep yourself on schedule:

Step 5: Phone Call (Day 5)

After another day, try giving the decision maker another call. If on your first call you were given a specific day and time to call back, you can go ahead and skip this step and call at that time instead. Otherwise, reach out to them now.  If your call goes through to a gatekeeper, be firm about your intentions to reach the decision maker. Try not to sound like you are reading a script – people can sense a rehearsed line and they’ll tune it out. Remember: focus on what the prospect needs and how you can help, not about your qualities as a location/organization/individual. 

At this point, if absolutely nothing else has worked out, you might consider leaving a voicemail. Your name will have come up often enough in calls, emails, and LinkedIn messages that you’re unlikely to be completely ignored at this point. For your message, consider something short and sweet like: 

Hi [decisionmaker’s name], this is [your name] from [your organization]. I wanted to chat with you about how we can support your growth plans in [your area]. We think that [your value proposition] and would love to talk to you soon. You can reach me at [your phone number].

In any event, add another note summarizing your action and set a reminder to send a follow-up email the next day. By now you can see how all this outreach is stacking up - lucky that you have Gazelle.ai to remind you to keep on top of it!

Step 6: Email + Phone Call (Day 6)

Time to send one last email to the decision maker. Remember that we typically recommend a minimum of 6 attempts per person before trying a new point of contact.

Hit 'Reply/Respond' to your previous email thread, and jot down a few sentences to try to prompt the decision maker to respond to you. As the last step, leave some links or resources related to your organization that they could use at their own pace.

Good Afternoon [Decisionmaker]

I hope you're well today.

I was wondering if you had the chance to consider my previous emails; please let me know if we can discuss further.

Alternatively, here are some resources for you to look over when you get the chance.

[Link1]

[Link 2]

[Link 3]

Warm regards,

[Your Name]

Immediately after sending your email, try calling the decision maker again. Once again, leave a voicemail with your contact information. This time, be sure to mention that you tried emailing them multiple times and that you'd love the opportunity to chat. 

Step 7: LinkedIn Message (Day 7)

It's highly likely that thanks to your customized message and multiple means of getting in touch that you'll find success before it gets to this point, but if not, you know you gave it your best possible shot. 

This last step depends entirely on whether or not the decision maker has accepted your LinkedIn invitation. If they haven’t accepted the invitation yet, you may wish to skip this step or revisit it on a different day.

If they have accepted your invite, however, it's time to reach out. You can usually safely assume that the decision maker has not yet read your emails and use the same content like your email in Step 1. Short, sweet, and straight to the point. 

The benefit of using LinkedIn over emails is that the decision maker can learn a lot about who you are and what your organization does with the simple tap of a smartphone screen. Over email, a decision maker may delete messages from people they do not know. Many decision-makers also have advanced spam filters and may have never actually seen your emails! This last message over LinkedIn should result in a response, especially since they have already accepted your invitation.

Keep it light and open-ended. Who knows; maybe they'll respond or give you a call back in a few weeks' time!

That’s it! If after all of these efforts you still didn’t manage to get in touch with the decision maker, try contacting another person in the organization with executive authority and trying these steps again. Don’t get discouraged! If you ever hit a roadblock, we’re ready to help you every step of the way. 

Want to run through this with us in person? Reach out to schedule a one-on-one Outreach Tips & Tricks session with a member of our dedicated Customer Success team.  

Happy Gazelle-ing!