FAQ

Everything you need to know about working with Propellite

How do we compare?

Propellite

recommended

Outsourced SDR

Doing It Yourself

Do It Yourself

Setup Time
14 Days
4-8 Weeks
3+ Months
2-4 Weeks
Cost Model
Flat Fee
Salary + Commission + Tax
“Free” (Time costly)
High Retainer + % of Revenue
Scalability
Unlimited
Limited by Human Hours
Limited by your burnout
Expensive upsells
Data Quality
Waterfall Enrichment
Uncertain
Manual
Varies
Transparency
100% Glass Box
“Trust me” Reports
Total Control
“Black Box”
Risk
Zero (Payback policy)
High (Churn)
High
Medium

Your questions answered

Trust & Methodology

I’ve been burned by lead gen agencies before. How are you different?

Traditional agencies rely on “black box” labor, they use cheap manual teams to send generic emails from their own servers. You never see the work. We engineer the infrastructure and hand you the keys. We build a transparent, automated system and we show you exactly how it works. You can see the data tables, the logic, and the research. Nothing is hidden behind a curtain.

How is ‘Precision GTM’ different from standard lead generation?

Our Precision GTM approach is built on three core principles: Data, Engineering and Transparency. Unlike standard lead generation’s “black box” labor, we build a transparent, automated system and show you the data and logic. We use Pain Archaeology to research individual prospects for specific public signals before we ever contact them, ensuring a personalized reach-out instead of generic spam. We also start with a Validation Sprint to prove the strategy works on a small, highly-vetted scale before scaling.

Is this just “AI Spam”?

No. Spam is sending the same generic message to 1,000 unrelated people. We use Pain Archaeology, a process where we research individual prospects for specific public signals (like a recent hire, a tech stack change, or a social post) before we ever contact them. If we can’t find a reason to reach out, we don’t.

Do you focus on lead quantity or lead quality?

Quality. While we strive to maximize lead quantity delivery, we’d rather book 5 meetings with decision-makers who match your ideal customer profile than 20 meetings with anyone who’ll take a call. We qualify leads based on criteria you approve upfront, not vanity metrics.

Can you guarantee results?

No one can guarantee sales outcomes, your product-market fit, pricing, and follow-up all matter. What we can control: data quality (<4% email bounce rate), transparent research process, and meeting qualification standards. We’ll show you early signals (reply rates, engagement patterns) within the first 2-3 weeks of launch.

How do I know you’re not just running generic email blasts?

We show our work. You’ll see the research notes for each prospect segment, the targeting logic, and the personalization variables. You approve the copy before it goes out. No spray-and-pray.

AI Agents” often sound robotic. How do you sound human?

We don’t let AI write the final email without supervision. We use AI for research (finding the data) and structuring (organizing the draft), but the final voice is tuned by human copywriters who understand nuance. We validate every template during our Validation Sprint to ensure it reads like a peer-to-peer conversation, not a bot.

Strategy & Targeting

I’ve been burned by lead gen agencies before. How are you different?

Traditional agencies rely on “black box” labor, they use cheap manual teams to send generic emails from their own servers. You never see the work. We engineer the infrastructure and hand you the keys. We build a transparent, automated system and we show you exactly how it works. You can see the data tables, the logic, and the research. Nothing is hidden behind a curtain.

Can you target very specific industries or niche markets?

Yes. Niche targeting is actually easier with our approach because we’re not relying on broad demographic filters. We identify the specific pain points your solution solves and find companies experiencing those problems regardless of industry.

Can you target companies using a specific competitor’s product?

Yes. We can deduplicate, verify emails, append missing data (job titles, company info, technologies used), and segment by intent signals. If your CRM is messy, we can fix it before launching any campaigns.

We have multiple products. Can you run separate strategies for each?

Yes. Product complexity and multiple products are our specialty. We can run separate, tailored strategies for each by segmenting based on the unique pain points and ICPs for each product. Our onboarding process ingests the technical context for each product to build a precise, insider-level strategy.

Do you help with messaging and positioning, or just distribution?

Yes, we offer three separate services: Strategy (figuring out who to target and why, which includes messaging and positioning), Engineering (building the tech stack and automation), and Lead Generation (running the outreach/distribution). You can hire us for all three or just the pieces you need.

Do you work with B2B startups that are pre-revenue?

We recommend reaching product-market fit before outsourcing. However, we do guide pre-revenue B2B startups to reach their first customers outside our typical framework. This is critical because customer pains should be understood first and the product should be fine-tuned accordinly before automation. Our focus is on engineering a repeatable system. We still use a Validation Sprint to prove the strategy works on a small scale and ensure your product is ready for outbound before you spend money on scaling, which de-risks the engagement for pre-revenue companies.

What input do you need from my team to build the plan?

We lead the strategy. Your team needs to provide the goals and in-depth product knowledge. During the setup phase, this typically involves 2-5 hours for information-sharing, onboarding workshops, and initial strategy alignment. During the execution phase, your time commitment is minimal (0.5-2 hours per week for approvals and feedback), as we handle the heavy lifting.

Technical & Infrastructure

Do I have to pay for the software licenses (Clay, Smartlead, etc.)?

No. We hate hidden fees. Your monthly investment includes the cost of the entire tech stack (Clay, n8n, Data Providers, Outreach tools, etc.). We hold the licenses and manage the complexity so you don’t have to worry about credit card limits or usage overages.

What tools do you use, and do we need to buy them?

We use a mix of market-tested tools (CRM, automation, data enrichment, research platforms, outreach). We’ll recommend what you need and can often negotiate better pricing. If you already have tools, we’ll integrate with them rather than forcing you to switch.

Can you fix my current messy sales stack, or do we have to start over?

We always audit first. Often, we can subtract tools rather than add them. However, if your domain reputation is damaged or your CRM is unstructured, we may recommend a “clean build” on our infrastructure to ensure the new system performs without legacy baggage.

How do you avoid our emails landing in spam?

In addition to hyperpersonalization, we treat deliverability as infrastructure. This includes: proper DNS setup (SPF, DKIM, DMARC), email warmup protocols, sending volume management, and monitoring bounce rates in real-time. If we see deliverability issues, we pause and fix them before they damage your domain.

How do you protect my primary domain from being blacklisted?

We never send cold outreach from your primary domain (e.g., @yourcompany.com). We engineer a fleet of “secondary domains” (e.g., @getyourcompany.com) with proper DMARC, DKIM, and SPF authentication. This isolates your main corporate email from any deliverability risk.

What happens if our domain gets blacklisted?

In line with Propellite’s deliverability practice, we use custom domains dedicated to outbound activities, ensuring your primary domain is never threatened. We treat these sending domains as critical infrastructure, optimizing and checking their health daily. We monitor deliverability daily and would catch issues before blacklisting occurs.

Can you integrate directly with our CRM?

Yes. We work with most major CRMs (Salesforce, HubSpot, Pipedrive, etc.). Leads flow directly into your system with proper tagging so you can track source and performance.

What if we want to bring this in-house later?

That’s the goal. We document everything: the targeting logic, data sources, outreach sequences, quality checks, and weekly workflows. When you’re ready to hand it off to an internal hire, we provide a complete handover package.

Process & Execution

What is the “Validation Sprint”?

Most agencies blast 5,000 emails in Week 1 to show “activity.” This usually leads to burnout and spam complaints. We start with a Validation Sprint: We target just 100-200 highly vetted contacts. We manually verify that the message resonates and the data is accurate. Only when we achieve an optimal reply rate do we unlock the volume. We do not scale failure.

Will you write the outreach copy, or do we have to provide it?

We write it based on your positioning and value proposition. You can review and approve before we send anything. The copy will be personalized based on research, not generic templates.

Who handles the replies? You or me?

We generally handle the inbox. We categorize replies (Interested, Not Fit, OOO, or as demanded) and only forward the “Hot Leads” to you for booking. This saves you roughly 10 hours a week of administrative sorting.

What if the leads you find don’t match what we expected?

We define qualification criteria with you upfront. If early responses show we’re off-target, we pivot quickly (usually within 1-2 weeks). You’re not locked into the wrong audience for months.

How many meetings will you book for me?

We don’t guess. During the Validation Sprint, we establish your specific conversion baseline. Once we have that math (e.g., 100 contacts = 3 meetings), we can project exactly how much volume is needed to hit your revenue targets.

Who will be our main point of contact?

You’ll have a dedicated strategist who owns your account. You won’t be passed between multiple people or stuck with junior account managers.

Do you close deals for us?

No. We believe founders are the best closers. No outsourced SDR can explain your product’s vision or handle objections as well as you can. Our job is to remove the grunt work, building lists, warming domains, sending emails, and handling the “No thanks.” We hand you interested leads on a silver platter; you just show up and close.

Commercial & Logistics

What is your pricing model? Retainer or Performance?

We offer flexible pricing, including monthly retainers for ongoing work, project-based fees, and hybrid models (smaller retainer plus performance incentives). We charge a flat fee to cover the expensive tech stack and engineering time, with an optional performance kicker to align incentives without encouraging the spammy behavior typical of pure pay-per-meeting models.

Is there a minimum contract length?

We typically recommend a 3-month initial engagement. This period is necessary because meaningful results take time (8-12 weeks) to dial in messaging, build the pipeline, and achieve an optimal, smoothly running outbound system. After the initial commitment, we can switch to month-to-month or extend the contract.

Can we start with a smaller pilot project?

Yes. We can run a 4-6 week pilot targeting a specific segment (e.g., one industry or persona) to test messaging and validate approach before scaling.

Do you work with companies outside your region?

Yes. We work with B2B SaaS companies globally. Most of our process is done remotely, and time zones are rarely an issue for asynchronous work.

What if we need to pause or cancel?

You can cancel with 30 days’ notice after the minimum commitment period. If you need to pause (fundraising, product pivot, etc.), we can put things on hold and restart when you’re ready.

What happens if I cancel? Do I keep the data?

Subject to the Service Agreement, you may own the data (the leads and contacts we generated for you). You can export them at any time. However, since we pay for the software infrastructure (such as Clay/n8n accounts), the automation engine itself remains with us unless you choose to buy out the system and transfer the licenses to your own credit card.

How is this different from hiring an SDR or VP of Sales?

A VP of Sales hire costs $254K on average with a 67% failure rate in the first 18 months. An SDR takes 3-6 months to ramp up and still needs management. We build the research and outreach infrastructure immediately, with no ramp time, no equity, and no management overhead.

Got more questions about Propellite?