Product-led growth stalled, paid is expensive, and hiring an SDR team means a quarter of ramp before you learn whether outbound works for you. ForceFlow runs performance-based outbound for B2B SaaS companies: we build the sending infrastructure, target your ICP by the signals that predict a fit, and book qualified demos onto your AE's or founder's calendar. Beyond a small infrastructure fee, we only make money when those demos show up.
| In-house SDR | ForceFlow | |
|---|---|---|
| Cost before the first meeting | $70k–$110k/yr fully loaded, plus $500–$1,500/mo in tools and data, plus a manager's time | A flat infrastructure fee, a fraction of one month of SDR cost |
| Time to first sends | Hiring 4–8 weeks, ramp 3–6 months | 14 days |
| Cost of a slow month | Same salary | Infrastructure fee only; per-demo fees scale with results |
| Deliverability risk to your main domain | High if they send from company inboxes | None: separate branded lookalike domains |
| Who owns the playbook when it ends | Walks out the door with the rep | You keep domains, lists, and copy |
| Best when | You already know outbound works and need to scale headcount | You need to prove outbound works before hiring for it |
Firmographics alone produce a list of companies that could buy. Signals produce a list of companies likely to buy now. For SaaS we layer both: company size, industry, and geography from your ICP, then signals such as tech stack (companies using the tool you integrate with or replace), recent hiring for the role your product serves, funding stage, and job postings that describe the problem you solve. Every contact is verified before the first send, and existing customers, trials, and open pipeline are suppressed from your CRM.
Across our own campaigns, SaaS buyers reply to cold email less readily than agency owners or operators of service businesses do, and the reason is not that the channel fails for SaaS. It is that SaaS buyers receive more cold email than almost anyone, most of it from other SaaS companies, and they have learned to skim past anything shaped like a pitch. Three things change in the copy as a result:
| What works for service-business buyers | What SaaS buyers need instead |
|---|---|
| An observation about their service area or customer type | An observation about their stack, a hire, a launch, or a job posting that describes the problem you solve |
| Outcome in revenue or booked jobs | Outcome in their units: hours, tickets, churned accounts, activation rate, pipeline |
| A free sample of the work as the first ask | A reason why this company, now; the demo ask comes second |
| Five to six touches over three weeks | Shorter sequences; a technical buyer who didn't reply to touch three is not going to reply to touch six |
The other adjustment is expectation. A SaaS campaign needs more sends per qualified demo than a service-business campaign, which is why the infrastructure fee is sized to volume and why we raise volume only after the first campaigns prove the list and copy. What a SaaS company gets in return is a higher average deal value per demo, which is what makes the math work.
SaaS buyers have seen every "quick question" template. Our sequences lead with one verified observation about the prospect's stack or team, state the outcome in their units (hours, tickets, churned accounts, pipeline), and ask for a demo only after establishing why this company, now. Sequences are short. You approve every word before it sends, and we test through our own inboxes to confirm primary-inbox placement.
Typical benchmarks across our campaigns: 1–2% reply rate, roughly 20% of replies interested, and 30–40% of interested replies converting to a booked demo after follow-up. Results depend on ACV, market maturity, and how differentiated the product is. Most clients see compounding results after 60–90 days as copy and segments are tuned.
Two components: a flat infrastructure fee that covers your sending system, and a fee per qualified demo that shows up. Demos that don't match the agreed ICP are cancelled free and not counted. No setup fee, no long-term contract, 60-day pilot to start. Both figures are quoted on the strategy call once we know your volume and data needs. How the model works is on the pricing page; model your own funnel in the ROI calculator.
An in-house SDR costs $70k–$110k fully loaded plus tools and 3–6 months of ramp, carried whether or not they book. An agency priced per qualified call costs a small infrastructure fee plus a fee per demo that shows, is live in two weeks, and can be paused anytime. Use the agency to prove the channel, then hire to scale it.
No. All sending runs on branded lookalike domains that redirect to your site. Your primary domain stays clean for product emails, billing, and support.
Yes. We book into whichever calendar you specify with confirmations and reminders, and we can push booked demos and reply context into HubSpot, Salesforce, or Pipedrive.
A real person at a company that matches the ICP agreed at onboarding, who attends. You define the criteria, and non-matching demos are cancelled free.
Usually one of three things was wrong: the list was too broad, the copy was about the product instead of the prospect, or deliverability was never set up properly. We audit what you ran and tell you which it was before proposing anything.
Book a free 30-minute strategy session. We'll audit any outbound you've tried, define the ICP and signals, and walk you through what it would cost.
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