About two years ago, I started a quest to try to replace cold prospecting. The reason I did this is because the average reply rate on a cold email in 2022 was 0.7%, and the average connect rate on a cold call was less than 3%.
1 in 3 emails people send to prospects will never hit someone’s inbox. Only 0.4% of the touches that a sales rep will do will actually turn into a meeting when someone gets prospecting.
The frustration isn't just for sales. It's on both sides
On the customer side, getting prospected is super annoying.
You’ll get prospected about 780 times a year if you an entry level employee. 98% of sales reps will reach out to you at least twice, and most will do 6 to 15 touches to get your attention.
For hundreds of years, we’ve seen salespeople chasing deals. There’ll be 647 billion prospecting touches this year.
The Need for Change
Today we have to make some dramatic changes to the company. This won’t work if we don’t make these changes.
If we don’t make these changes, this company will fail. Outbound prospecting will fail, and we’ll continue to see more B2B companies fail to raise money and fail to have a nice, successful exit.
What Pitchfire Has Done So Far
You’ve seen me test messaging on Pitchfire. I’ve talked about:
• Getting less interruptions and being more productive when you get cold-called or cold-emailed.
• Our free inbox apps, which pull you out of sales automation when you reply back.
• Making extra income when someone tries to sell you because you should value your time and your attention.
The problem is those things are nice to have, and I get to the executive team to try and get your whole team to use Pitchfire. You know what they say?
They say, “That’s nice, but I kind of feel weird about having my employees answer sales pitches for money.”
The Reality of Pipeline Problems
Companies usually come up with goals that they’re trying to change. And I want to talk about something that comes up every quarter, no matter what—and that’s pipeline.
87% of B2B companies are reporting that they’re falling short of their pipeline number. And we’re supposed to get almost half of that from outbound prospecting. The roads we use to prospect today don’t work anymore.
What We’re Doing Now
The things we’ve done on Pitchfire up to this day have not been a waste of time.
• We’ve gotten 2,200 users on.
• We’ve had well over 400 pitches that have been sent and answered on Pitchfire.
• Overall, we’ve helped people generate meetings at an unbelievable rate.
Half of the pitches that get sent on Pitchfire will turn into a meeting.
Where We’re Heading
In the coming weeks, we’re going to be making some dramatic changes to Pitchfire. And if you’ve ever been sent to Pitchfire as a sales rep or you’ve ever used Pitchfire, it’s going to impact you somehow.
First things first, we're going to privatize the marketplace. We’re going to rebuild the marketplace and get full companies on. If you’re someone that works in B2B tech and you have a pipeline problem, you need to sign your company up for the B2B marketplace.
A Smarter Approach to Meetings
Why list your employees on Pitchfire?
• Traditional prospecting takes 220 touches for you to generate a meeting.
• On Pitchfire, it takes three.
It’s 74x more efficient than normal prospecting.
The Cost Advantage
In the history of the company, the average pitch rate on Pitchfire is $63. It takes three pitches to generate a meeting That means that to get a meeting on Pitchfire costs, on average, about $180. In the real world, the average B2B tech company will pay $3,500 to generate a meeting. Some companies spend as much as $12,000–$15,000 just to get a meeting with a customer.
No More Humiliation
If you’re a sales rep:
• No more being ignored.
• No more humiliation.
• No more chasing people.
How Pitchfire Payments Work
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When someone pitches your company, we split the payment:
• 40% goes to the company.
• 40% goes to the employee.
• 20% goes to Pitchfire.
If I get pitched for $100, the company I work for gets $40, I get $40, and Pitchfire takes $20.
Let’s Make It Happen
If you are an existing Pitchfire user, we want to compensate you to help us get into your company. All you have to do is refer people, and we’ll give you a piece of our transaction fee. If you’re a company that’s struggling with pipeline, and you want to change the way that you’re building pipeline, please interview to be in our private B2B marketplace.
You can’t join unless your employees are listed in the marketplace. Once you book an interview, ’ll walk you through the rules and process.
Thank you for all the support so far, everyone. Let’s make this happen.
Ryan O'Hara is the founder of Pitchfire. Prior to starting Pitchfire, he has been an early employee at several startups helping them with marketing and prospecting tactics including Dyn (Acquired by Oracle 2016) and LeadIQ (first GTM employee-Series B).
He's had prospecting and marketing campaigns featured in Fortune, Mashable, and TheNextWeb. Ryan specializes in go-to-market strategy, branding, business development, prospecting, and sales training. He also mentors two accelerators, The Iron Yard and The Alpha Loft.
