When cold outreach isn't enough

Hey — I’m Rinat.

We help 25+ US & EU B2B teams to accelerate sales and scale GTM through structured outbound systems. Every week, I share tactics, benchmarks, and behind-the-scenes lessons on how to run outbound that actually drives revenue.

Most teams don’t talk about the campaigns that didn’t work. Especially when everything on paper looked right — strong team, solid product, proven motion in one market.

But I think this one’s worth sharing.

If you’re here for success stories instead, grab this one – it’s a quick win:

We at Sally recently wrapped up a 4-month campaign with a cybersecurity startup born in the CIS region. Backed by a legacy of enterprise clients, they launched a separate brand, relocated to Cyprus, and started expanding into the European market.

Their go-to-market motion worked locally. On the island, the pipeline was growing, deals were closing — proof that the product fit and local presence could drive sales.

That’s where we came in: to help scale this success into the colder corners of the EU through outbound.

What we did:

Explored 5+ verticals — fintech, banking, high-load infrastructure projects, etc.
Targeted sensitive cases — from Swiss and Italian banks to iGaming companies who have to endure peak traffic events
Built lead lists from attack data — open-source DDoS reports, darkweb mentions, breach feeds
Reached out to recently attacked companies with the pitch:

“Add a second protection layer. Try it in the field.”
Ran thousands of touches across email and LinkedIn
Refined hypotheses every week based on traction and feedback

What happened:

We got replies. But they didn’t turn into a predictable pipeline.

Eventually, we paused the campaign — on a good note, with mutual respect.

Both sides saw the effort, the hustle, and the level of care. But sometimes, even great execution can’t outpace product–market friction.

Why I think the funnel stalled:

💥 Rare use case + high activation threshold

DDoS protection is a just-in-case solution. It’s easy to deprioritize — until it’s too late. Companies prefer to invest in growth or clear ROI, not insurance.

🌍 “Local” wasn’t local enough

Even with active operations in Cyprus, deals in new regions were blocked by one missing ingredient: personal access. In cybersecurity, who you are matters as much as what you sell.

No events. No intros. No face time. No traction.

🔒 Not enough value to displace existing vendors

To make an enterprise switch security providers, you need to offer a 5X gain — in price, performance, or UX.

This wasn’t that kind of leap.

What would’ve worked better:

📌 A hybrid motion — outbound plus local presence.

Email alone won’t cut it for trust-heavy, high-risk categories. But outreach can support events, drive intros, and extend real-world touchpoints. With this playbook, you build context before you pitch.

And it turned out in B2B cybersecurity — context wins.

📚 More stories on outbound that actually works: