Big Think Capital: the first email of the first campaign funded a deal
Big Think Capital runs a financial marketplace for small business owners, with a sales team of about 75 reps who each want roughly 250 leads a month. The number its director put on a brand new channel was 30. In about 45 days the channel delivered 154.
The situation, the work, the outcome
The situation
Part of the director's job is sourcing new lead channels for a floor of about 75 sales reps, each of whom would like roughly 250 leads a month. In SMB lending the clock is short: an owner asking for financing usually needs it within 72 hours, so a partner who answers in days is no use.
The work
A proposal first, covering about 12 weeks of work and what would go into it, with their team acting as the subject-matter expert on the message and the offer. Their tech team handled implementation. A shared channel kept answers inside minutes.
The outcome
The first cold email of the first campaign was replied to and funded a deal. Inside about 45 days of continuous work the channel produced 154 leads against the 30 anticipated, 14 approvals, and four funded businesses carrying $300,000 in funding.
Told by the operator who lived it
“I still haven't seen anybody else do something like that to this day.”Jake Dombroski · Director, Big Think Capital · Financial marketplace for small business owners.
“…they answer very quickly, if not in minutes, then at hours at most. You're not waiting on days like you are with some other vendors or partners.”On turnaround
“We actually were fortunate enough that the first cold email that you sent out and we replied to for the campaign actually funded a deal, which is outstanding.”On the first campaign
“…they'd be foolish not to.”Asked what he would tell anyone considering it
What the engagement actually looked like
Jake Dombroski has been in the SMB lending fintech space for 11 years and moved to Big Think Capital in December. The company is a financial marketplace for small business owners, offering working capital, term loans, lines of credit, SBA and HELOCs. Part of his role is sourcing new lead channels for a sales team of about 75 reps, each of whom would like roughly 250 leads a month, so any partner who looks reputable and professional is worth a first conversation.
He found us the way our partners' buyers find them. A cold email landed with a colleague, who forwarded it on, and he booked a call.
What turned that call into an engagement was the work done before any contract existed: a proposal giving “a high-level overview of about 12 weeks of work, what would be going into it, and being the subject matter expert, us putting our input in there to craft the message, craft the offer”.
Speed is not a soft preference in this market. A business owner who comes to you for financing needs it within 72 hours, which is why response time was the thing he measured us on first. Questions sent to the shared channel came back in minutes, or hours at the outside.
Implementation itself was straightforward, handled between the two tech teams. Then the first cold email of the first campaign got a reply, and that reply funded a deal. A brand new lead source where the very first lead goes through the full process and funds is not the normal shape of a launch.
Over the next stretch, about 30 days and then a little more, call it 45 days of continuous work, the channel delivered 154 leads. The number discussed on the onboarding call had been 30, set deliberately low rather than over-promised. Those leads produced 14 approvals, and four of the businesses have funded so far, carrying $300,000 in funding.
Jake offers himself as a direct reference on LinkedIn to anyone weighing the same decision.
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