ATTENTION B2B FINTECH COMPANIES: This article will show you how to generate 10+ sales-qualified leads month after month using nothing but LinkedIn and email.
See the screenshots below?
We helped B2B FinTech companies get replies like these from C-level executives of large enterprises, week after week, using the same process we used to generate:
Over $50 million in pipeline value for clients.
Over 5000 leads
92% Open rate
63% Reply rate
68% Connection acceptance rate
The aftermath? These FinTech companies added 10+ leads every month to grow their sales pipeline.
They scaled so fast using a smart and low-cost approach that they’re consistently sending good news to their investors.
Have a look at their results below:
So if you need help delivering the rosy picture you painted when raising your round of investments…
And if you’re curious about scaling fast and consistently hitting your sales goals, then this guide is for you.
Because for the first time ever, we’re giving you an insider look at the type of cold-email campaigns we do that generate millions for our FinTech and other industry clients.
We’ll give a breakdown on:
The Scalelab secret to scaling a FinTech company super fast.
The “non-negotiable tactic” any cold-email campaign can’t do without.
The cold-email writing framework that generated a 92% open rate and over 60% reply and connection acceptance rate.
The automated cold email sequence that brought in over 5000+ leads for all our clients.
Ready? Let’s begin.
The Scalelab: Strategy Overview
As a top lead generation service provider in 2021, The Scalelab continues to generate 10+ quality leads for FinTech companies week after week.
We do this so that sales teams only have to pick up the phone and respond to the emails of prospects who are actually interested in their product.
Now that we’ve generated over 5000 sales-qualified leads and over $50 million in pipeline value for clients, people have been asking: What makes The Scalelab’s unique process so successful at scaling FinTech companies?
There are three answers to this question:
Quality Data in Quantity
Copywriting
Automation
We talk more about these three elements in the next sections, but you can get a quick overview in the table below.
Key Factors of Success: The Secret to Profitable FinTech Cold-Email Campaigns
Quality Data in Quantity | Copywriting | Automation |
Conduct quality lead search | Leverage proven and tested templates and frameworks. | Use a variety of tools to streamline the campaign |
Improve data extraction capability | Implement hyper-personalization and unique messaging | Aim to make all parts of the campaign better, faster, and cheaper. |
Establish an efficient process | Apply results-driven strategies | |
The Leading Indicator: Weekly Goals For Each FinTech Company
Here’s a quick breakdown of the input for this cold email campaign:
100 Valid Leads | Add 100 valid emails to Lemlist every week. Valid means the emails are enriched and non-recycled leads that are verified through apps like NeverBounce. |
No Spam | Getting marked as spam means the emails you’re sending to prospects are not landing in their inbox. If they’re not landing in their inbox, how would they even reply? With the use of technology, we monitor the health of each campaign and make sure there is no spam for every client. |
I. Set Up the Campaign
For the first two weeks, we define the targeting and create the campaign sequences. Let’s dive into the details.
Week 1: Create Your Highly-Qualified Prospects List
Step 1: Define Targeting
Set your “target” prospect. Do this by identifying the qualifiers that make the campaign hyper-targeted such as:
The type of industry you want to target
Ideal headcount per company
Job title, e.g. CEO, CTO, founder
At The Scalelab, we have our FinTech clients fill up a type form that specifies their prospect qualifiers.
Here’s an example of this type form:
Required Output:
A clear document outlining the qualifiers for your “target” prospect
Step 2: Conduct Prospect Search Based on the Target
Using the criteria you’ve set, head to the Sales Navigator, Crunchbase, or any other sources where you can get leads.
At The Scalelab, we create an account list per location, headcount, and per target persona or job title. We also perform a Boolean query to maximize the filtering feature of Sales navigator.
To reach the 100 weekly valid email requirement, aim for a minimum of 1000 searched leads up to an average of 2000-3000 raw leads. Raw means they are uncleaned or unverified.
Required Output:
An organized list of Sales Navigator Search URLs
Step 3: Extract the Data From LinkedIn
Extract the data from your LinkedIn searches with the data extraction tool, Captain Data. Combined with the email finding tool, Hunter.io, it generates a list of prospects with valid email addresses and other information such as first name, last name, company names, and more.
Required Output:
A spreadsheet with raw or uncleaned leads list
Step 4: Conduct Data Cleaning
At The Scalelab, having a list of raw leads and emails is not enough. We clean the data through the following:
Double-verify the list through an email verification tool such as Bouncer or NeverBounce to make sure the emails found are valid.
Clean the sheet again to make sure the personas and leads fit the criteria.
Make sure that there aren’t more than 3 contacts per company (Only add the top 3 decision-makers from a specific company.)
Sometimes, the data cleaning cuts down the leads by 20%.
Required Output:
A clean list with 100 verified leads and emails (see example below)
Step 5: Set Up Custom Icebreaker For Each Prospect
Most emails start with “Hi XXX, I hope you are doing fine, my name is YYY and I work for ZZZ company”.
This generic approach does not stand out and gets either negative responses or simply 0 responses.
At The Scalelab, we use icebreakers to show prospects that the email they received is specific to them.
Icebreakers are one-line statements that we use in our email templates. Its purpose is to personalize the email per prospect, making sure to make them feel that we actually researched them.
The results? Higher reply rates and more leads that we generate for our FinTech clients.
Here are some examples of icebreakers you can do for your prospects:
1. Service Icebreaker
For service icebreakers, simply research the most unique service that the prospect’s company does.
Goal: Make the prospect feel like we have been on their website and know what their company does.
Here is the standard structure:
“From Service 1 to Service 2 and Service 3, you’ve got your customers nicely covered.”
OR
“From Service 1 to Service 2 and Service 3, you’ve got the XXX industry nicely covered.”
💡Note: This icebreaker type works best for companies with less than 5K employees.
2. Role-Based Icebreaker
For role-based icebreakers, simply acknowledge any change in the prospect’s role in the company e.g. promotions.
Goal: Make the prospect feel like we have visited their profile.
Here is the standard structure:
1. If a lead changed roles in different companies: “From Role 2 at Company 2 to Role 1 at Company 1, I’m impressed by your evolution.”
2. If a lead changed roles in the same company: “From Role 2 to Role 1 at Company 1, I’m impressed by your evolution.”
💡 Note: This type works best for companies with more than 10K employees or large companies like Google, Nike, Coca-Cola, and all other well-known brands.
Colleague-Based Icebreaker
For colleague-based icebreakers, you can build rapport by simply mentioning the two other colleagues that you’ve connected with.
Goal: Let the prospect know that we are also engaged with other people from their team.
Here’s how you can use this icebreaker:
First, rank the leads based on seniority level (highest seniority first)
The first lead with the highest seniority should receive:
Either: Service Based Icebreaker OR Roles Based Icebreaker
The other leads should receive:
“I hope you're doing fine, I also reached out to Lead 1 and Lead 2.”
💡 Note: This works best for leads that are in the same company and in the same location.
Required Output:
A clean list with individual icebreakers created for every single prospect.
Week 2: Set-Up and Monitor Your Email Sequence
Step 6: Craft Your Cold Email Template Using the SIVA Framework
To craft your cold email template, you can follow the cold-email writing framework we used to generate a 92% open rate and over 60% reply and connection acceptance rate - the SIVA framework.
SIVA stands for Subject line, Intro line, Value, and Action. Here’s an example of a cold email that uses the SIVA framework:
Let’s break down what happened here:
| Actual Text | Description |
Subject Line | Chat next week? |
|
Intro Line | Hi Youssef, I loved your LinkedIn Poll on sales cycle duration. Shortening them seems like a strong focus at The Scalelab. |
|
Value | I have a simple framework that you can freely use that has helped companies like The Scalelab reduce sales cycles by up to 3 months. I thought this could prove quite beneficial. |
|
Action | Happy to take 5/10 min. Are you free Mon or Tues for a quick chat? |
|
If you want to learn more about how to apply the SIVA framework to your cold email templates and generate more leads, we discuss it in detail here.
Required Output:
A cold-email template tailored-fit to your company and customizable for every prospect
Step 7: Follow the Automated Email Sequence that Brought Us Over 5000 Leads
Note: At the beginning of the campaign, you won’t have your sequence set up. But once it’s in place, you can search for targeted leads week after week and plug them into the same sequence. Here’s what this typically looks like.
Schedule the first set of emails on a Monday, scheduling only 50 emails each day so that you won’t get flagged as “spam” by Google.
Pro Tip: In between the follow-ups, visit their LinkedIn profile to show that you’re keen to connect without being pushy.
Let’s dive into the sequence real quick:
Channels: Email & LinkedIn
Number of steps: 7+1
Sequence Duration: 18 days
Call to action: Schedule a call
STEP 1 - EMAIL 1
Day 0
Send the prospect a personalized email requesting a meeting. Offer them an actual coffee with a picture of yourself holding two cups. The right cup contains your name, while the left cup will automatically show the prospect's name.
Here’s the email template:
Subject: Coffee {{firstName}} ? Hello {{First Name}}, {{Insert icebreaker here}} I’m actually intrigued by how {{Prospect Company Name}}’s {{activity/service related to what you’re offering}}.
At {{Insert Your Company Name}} we {{help/enable/support}} companies just like {{Prospect Company Name}} to {{Achieve Benefit}}.
Thought this might be beneficial 🙂
Are you free {{X-Day}} or {{Y-Day}} for a 10 min virtual coffee chat to talk about {{activity}}? ☕
<< INSERT HAPPY COFFEE PICTURE HERE >>
On lemlist: - LEFT CUP: {{firstName}} - RIGHT CUP: First name of the salesperson in charge
Chat soon {{firstName}}.
{{signature}}
STEP 2 - VISIT LINKEDIN PROFILE
Same Day
Automatically visit a given prospect’s LinkedIn profile with the help of Lemlist.
This process serves as an “outreach warm-up,” allowing the prospect to recognize you once you land in their inbox.
STEP 3 - EMAIL 2
+4 days
After 4 days, it’s time to follow-up in-case they’ve missed your email or forgot to reply.
Pro Tip: Keep it short. Nobody wants to read long blocks of text especially if they haven’t read your previous email.
Here’s the email template:
What do you think {{firstName}}? Is this week or next a better time to connect?
{{signature}}
STEP 4 - LINKEDIN CONNECT MESSAGE
+2 days
If you're already connected with the prospect, send them a simple message. But if you're not connected, then send a connection request with a note.
Here’s the template:
Hi {{FirstName}}, did you get my emails?
I reached out regarding {{Prospect’s Company Name}}’s {{Benefit}} 🙂
BTW, I´m {{run/part}} of {{Your Company}}, we {{partner with ambitious enterprises, helping them scale a whole lot faster in Asia Pacific}}.
Note: Change the last bracket based on what the client achieves when they connect or work with you.
STEP 5 - EMAIL 3
+4 days
Here, you’re humoring the prospect even when they don’t reply. But, don’t forget to add a subtle, easy CTA with your calendar link to make it easy for the prospect to book a call.
Here’s the email template:
Subject: Not your cup of tea {{FirstName}}?
{{FirstName}}, maybe coffee isn’t to your liking and you prefer tea 😇
<< INSERT SAD COFFEE PICTURE HERE >>
On Lemlist: - LEFT CUP: {{firstName}} [REVERSE] - RIGHT CUP: First name of the salesperson in charge [REVERSE] Jokes aside, would you be against a 5/10min chat on this, say {{tomorrow or Wednesday?}} 🍵
I’d love to discuss how {{Prospect’s Company Name}} could {{Benefit eg. reach new markets quicker in Asia}}.
Chat soon {{firstName}}.
{{signature}}
STEP 6 - LINKEDIN MESSAGE
+2 days
Two days after sending them a follow-up email, send them another LinkedIn follow-up.
Here’s the template:
{{FirstName}},
Quick question: would you be against a quick 5/10min chat to elaborate on your {{activity/service related to what you’re offering}}?
There are a few considerations on the {{ business growth front (market demand for {{companyName}}, pace of growth, timining…)}} that I thought you could activate.
These are quite critical to companies like {{Company Name}}.
Quite curious {{firstName}} 🙂
💡 Note: Adapt this template to your prospect by inserting the specific benefits they would like to achieve.
STEP 7 - EMAIL 4
+6 days
If you haven’t gotten a response from your previous outreach attempts, make sure you’re reaching out to the “right” person by sending this email.
Here’s the email template:
Subject: {{firstName}} x {{Your Name/Company}}
Hi {{firstName}},
I reached out over email and LinkedIn but I haven’t heard back from you yet.
Quick question: are you responsible for {{Activity}} at {{Prospect’s Company Name}}?
If not, I'd really appreciate a heads up on who at {{companyName}} would be excited about {{Benefit}}🙂
Thanks,
{{signature}}
STEP 8 - (OPTIONAL)
+5 day
If you’re already connected with the prospect on Linkedin, manually send a vocal note via LinkedIn mobile.
Required Output:
An automated LinkedIn and email sequence on Lemlist or on any other outreach platform
II. Schedule and Monitor the Campaign
Now that you have your 100 valid leads with individual custom icebreakers, simply load them into your sequence using a feature called custom variable.
Schedule the emails one week in advance. Once they’re plugged in, everything is automated. All you need to do is monitor the replies and start with the next batch of searches again.
To complete the next batch of searches, simply repeat steps 2 to 5 to create a new list with 100 clean and verified leads every week. Load the leads into your automated email sequence and enjoy 5, 10, or 15+ leads month after month.
At The Scalelab, our onboarding team works with our FinTech clients for the first two weeks to set up properly and prepare for a strong kickoff.
This includes:
Defining Target
Creating Sequences
Outreach Set Up
Validation With Client
Once that’s done, our customer success team takes over to help them scale and generate leads exponentially month after month.
The Lagging Indicator: Results or Output For Each FinTech Company
50% Open Rate on Emailing Campaigns | If the cold email campaign doesn’t have a 50% open rate, then there’s something wrong with the subject line. It’s either too long or generic. To improve the open rate, always keep your subject lines short and personalized. |
2 Interested Leads per Week | At The Scalelab, we don’t have an ideal reply rate as long as we have a minimum of two interested leads per week. While our target input is 100 valid leads per week, if we don’t have any interested leads by Wednesday, then we’ll need to add more to achieve the 2 interested leads. |
Time to Scale Your FinTech Company With a High-Converting Cold Email Sequence
Here’s the challenge with FinTech cold email campaigns: Trust issues are more pressing than in any other field.
Because your digital product directly links to their financial well-being, you must build trust the moment you connect with them up until they’re already your clients.
You can do this with a personalized and automated cold email campaign.
There is no shortcut to scaling a FinTech company fast. Follow what we’ve outlined above with every step 100% on point because even the smallest detail matters.
Maximize the right tools to get the right leads. As you can notice, automation and technology are inserted in every part of this strategy. Because with the right tools, you can automate sending personalized cold emails and scale the campaign massively. The results? Sales qualified leads at scale at minimal costs.
Moreover, make sure every email you extract is VALID. This is non-negotiable. Failing to do so will land your emails in spam boxes, never to see the light of day.
And one final thought.
There’s no doubt that the framework and sequence we’ve outlined above work. It generated over $50 million in pipeline value for our clients, and landed us, The Scalelab, the title of “top lead generation service provider” in 2021 (and hopefully this year, too!)
What makes it surprisingly easy is that, once the sequence is set up, all you need to do is plug in your leads week after week. The only hard part? Searching for the right leads.
While sequences are easy to reuse, looking for fresh, targeted leads are always challenging. You’re confined to the specific prospect qualifiers of your company, making it a meticulous and time-consuming process.
In short, you’ll need creativity and resourcefulness to sustain your cold-email campaign for the next 3 - 6 months. The alternative? Outsource your campaign with the right cold email agency.
Leverage the Highest Performing Cold Email Strategies with The Scalelab
We at The Scalelab have decades of combined experience in cold outreach and sales.
Our team has helped companies land appointments with top-tier businesses such as Google, Nike, Citibank, and Samsung. Our lead generation campaigns consistently deliver warmed-up and highly qualified sales leads that directly increase your FinTech company’s pipeline value.
Come and say hello or drop us a line at hello@thescalelab.com