Using AI to Find Valid B2B Contact Emails

The sales stack that runs our $4.4M+ agency: CONTEXT We run outbound campaigns for > 70 B2B organisations. We need to be flexible because our clients are: - in different niches - targeting various personas - at different stages (enterprise, scaleups, SMBs) Some platforms overlap, since we adapt to clients' existing software stack. TOOLS 1/ Data "The list is the strategy" The first step in a successful outbound campaign is to build an Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) list. We can do this in several ways: - exporting data from b2b databases - scraping websites to find custom data - leveraging ai agents to research data at scale - uncovering buying intent by using monitoring signals Depending on the use case, we'll leverage: - AI Agents: Relevance AI, Claygent - Enrichment Platforms: Prospeo.io, FullEnrich, Icypeas, LeadMagic - Intent Data: Common Room, Trigify.io, LoneScale, Unify, Vector 👻 - Data Scrapers: Instant Data Scraper, PhantomBuster, ZenRows, Serper - Data Sources: Openmart (local data) DiscoLike (ai lookalikes) TheirStack (technology data) LinkedIn, Apollo, Ocean (b2b databases) To validate this data, we use 1 out of Instantly.ai, BounceBan, LeadMagic or NeverBounce. 2/ Outreach "The right message, in front of the right person, at the right time" The right message is easier to write when you have the right person. That said, you can get some extra help with platforms like Octave for ICP research, Twain for copywriting or Grammarly for spelling. To send these "right" messages, we use Instantly.ai (best at email outreach) & lemlist (best at multichannel outreach) Depending on projects, other platforms we'll use include: - Woodpecker.co, Unify, Smartlead (for email sending). - HeyReach.io (for LinkedIn outreach) - Salesfinity (for cold calling) 3/ Workflow Orchestration To bridge the gap between outreach & data, we use workflow builders that let us add conditions around how data should interact with sales engagement platforms. In practice, that means that platforms like Relevance AI, Default, Clay or n8n allow you to automate: - receiving enriched contact data - creating conditions for whether someone shall be contacted - routing leads to the appropriate campaign - reaching out The best way to think about 'workflow orchestration' is to imagine what you'd do manually if you had all the time in the world. Then, replicate these manual steps using workflow builders. 4/ Deal Closing We use OutboundSync to synchronise leads generated through outbound efforts with our clients' CRM. Plus, we use: - Attio as our CRM. - Breakcold for social selling. - Attention for meeting recording. - Qwilr to send proposals after our prospects' meetings. That's it. Once again... we use way more tools than necessary because we switch from one to another depending on our clients. If you're running outbound for your company... Pick 1 platform max per category. And you'll do just fine. That said... anything you'd add to this stack?

I wasted $47k testing 200+ AI sales tools so you don't have to. Here's the exact stack that took us to $6M ARR: 1,300+ AI sales tools exist in 2025. Most are unnecessary. Here's what you actually need: 1/ Accurate B2B data Data quality determines campaign performance. Everything downstream depends on this foundation. Your sourcing options: - Standard databases: LinkedIn Sales Navigator, Ocean.io, Apollo - Niche targeting: Openmart for local business focus - Custom scraping: Apify, Instant Data Scraper for specific requirements - Intent signals: Clay, Common Room - prospects showing buying behavior - AI agents: Claygent, Relevance AI, Exa, Linkup - automated prospect discovery 2/ Reliable data enrichment Valid contact information is non-negotiable. You need verified emails and phone numbers. Two approaches: - Point solutions: Prospeo.io, Wiza, LeadMagic - specialized tools - Waterfall platforms: FullEnrich, Clay - multiple data sources in sequence 3/ Engagement platforms - Email solutions: Instantly.ai - LinkedIn outreach: Expandi.io, Valley - Multi-channel: lemlist - email + LinkedIn 4/ Deal execution When prospecting generates consistent pipeline, you need a system to close those deals: - CRM: Attio, Breakcold for deal tracking - Intelligence: Attention, Momentum.io - call recording, CRM enrichment, next-step recommendations The strategic advantage comes from integration, not tool quantity. What's your latest stack addition? Want weekly breakdowns of the tools that actually work? Join 10,000+ reading getting our AI sales newsletter.

We’ve been generating 20 outbound leads every single week for a B2B SaaS company. Here’s exactly how: 1️⃣ Target Account List Created an ICP Model including all personas & segments: → Used DiscoLike to find lookalike companies → Scraped competitor’s followers on LI → Curated a list of VC-backed companies with GetLatka 2️⃣ AI Qualification We imported CSVs to Clay for AI Qualification based on: → Industry → Location → Funding stage → CRM they’re using 3️⃣ Data Enrichment Gathered all important data points and eliminated manual research: → Created a prompt with Claygent + GPT 4o mini → Found ICP companies of each account on the target list → Created personalized snippets for our messaging 4️⃣ Contact Sourcing Found relevant contacts with Clay from each account: → Filtered based on department and job title → Cleaned first names with GPT and formulas → Found & validated their emails using Findymail → Found phone numbers using BetterContact 5️⃣ Contact Tiering Segmentation was arguably the most important thing here: → Tier 1: Champions/Users (Managers: Ops & Growth) → Tier 2: Decision Makers (C-Suite: Sales & Growth) → Split into groups based on whether they’re following the main competitor 6️⃣ Multi-channel Outreach We used a combination of email & LinkedIn outreach: → Created different copy for each of the segments → Pushed all data to Instantly.ai for email outreach → HeyReach.io as the LinkedIn sequencer Result: ↳ Email: 8-10 leads per week ↳ LinkedIn: 9-12 leads per week TL;DR: Outbound still works. My biggest takeaway: Segmentation is much more important than AI personalization. PS: Anything you’d add to make it better?