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Outbound is hard. You’re interrupting strangers and asking for attention in the most crowded channel on earth. That’s why most outbound looks the same - cold email, cold call, LinkedIn bump, repeat. But every once in a while, a company does something so bold it rewrites the playbook. In 2018, Brex had 30 employees, zero customers, and a big ambition.
So they launched one of the most legendary outbound campaigns in SaaS history - and it paid off.
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SALES
Why Brex’s wild outbound play actually worked
If you’re reading this, you probably already know… outbound sales is hard.
There’s no way around it. You’re trying to convince a stranger that they should give you their time and attention, in exchange for a chance that you might be able to solve their problem or make their life better.
That’s not an easy task.
When most people think about an outbound sales campaign, it’s all about cold calls, cold emails, and maybe a LinkedIn message here and there. But if you want to break through the noise, you need to do something different…
Enter Brex's legendary champagne campaign - the Dom Pérignon of outbound sales campaigns.
In 2018 Brex was faced with a big problem… They had ~30 employees and zero customers. They needed a way to get in front of startups who had money in the bank and could use a corporate credit card solution.
Here’s what they did:
Step One: Scrape a list of 300 startups in the Bay Area that raised funding in the last 6 months.
Step Two: Buy 300 bottles of Veuve Clicquot champagne($50 each).
Step Three: Send champagne bottles to the 300 startups with a handwritten note from Brex’s CEO.
Step Four: Brex’s CEO sent a personalized follow up email to each company and asked if they’d take a demo.
Champagne: $15K
Handwritten notes: $2K
Task Rabbit delivery: $2K
Total Spend = $19,000
Prospects: 300
Demo Rate: 75% (225 demos)
Close Rate: 75%
Total new customers = 169
Why it worked..
1. Trigger-Based Outreach
Brex didn't just spray and pray. They targeted companies that had just raised funding - a moment ripe for celebration and new financial solutions. When you’re planning your outreach, look for a trigger that justifies your outreach.
Examples: Recent funding, upcoming events, new industry expansion, or new hires.
2. Personalization
A handwritten note from the CEO is a sure way to stand out from the hundreds of cold outreach messages prospects get.
Even if it was automated, it felt genuine.
3. The Follow Up
As the name of this newsletter suggests, it’s all about the follow up. Without the CEO's follow-up email, this whole campaign would have been a $15K expense with no results.
They capitalized on the goodwill created by the gift, making the ask for a demo feel natural and not forced.
Never forget The Follow Up (pun intended).
4. A+ Product
With a 75% close rate on demos, Brex clearly had a product that delivered. You can have the best campaign in the world, but if your product is a dud, none of it matters.
Applying This to Your Industry
Here are some ideas to get your creative juices flowing:
Selling to Marketing: Send a nice headset before their next Webinar.
Selling to HR: Send a gift card to a local spa when they finish annual reviews.
Selling to Finance: Send a relaxation kit after they submit their annual financial reports.
Get creative with it.
Identify the trigger, send a personalized gift, and like always… don’t forget to follow up.
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That’s all for today.
Until next time,
Team B2B Whales
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