From a rough start to message-market fit in 42 days.
A transparent breakdown of three phases, two pivots and the lead magnet that finally made Blackwood's outbound click. It did not start pretty, which is why it is worth reading.
Gabriel FonsecaCEO, Blackwood ConsultingIn 42 days, Volente built Blackwood Consulting a cold email engine that consistently books qualified calls. Week one sent about 5,700 emails for 38 replies, 14 interested leads, 2 calls and 1 new client. After two pivots (from founders to sales titles, then into telehealth and B2B SaaS) and a free outbound script pack as the offer, one week produced 16 interested leads and about 6 calls, more than the whole previous month.
Who is Blackwood Consulting?
Blackwood is a sales consultancy, led by CEO Gabriel Fonseca, that helps tech companies build full-funnel sales systems. Clients were getting results and referrals were coming in, but there was no predictable outbound engine generating qualified pipeline. We started working together in early June.
Phase 1: what happened in the first week?
Blackwood had not found product-market fit for outbound yet, so the first campaign tested the waters with 4 to 5 copy variations aimed at founders and CEOs of tech companies with buying signals.
| Week one | Result |
|---|---|
| Emails sent | About 5,700 |
| Replies | 38 |
| Interested | 14 |
| Calls booked | 2 |
| New clients | 1, added to Slack the next day |
But the fit was not tight. The offer felt too broad, the messaging was not landing deeply and there were a lot of negative replies. So we pivoted, fast.
Phase 2: why did a clever offer still fail?
The original offer had too many moving parts (CRM, outbound, sales ops, SDR systems, dashboards). It made sense to us and was noise to a cold prospect. We tested five simpler offers, including revenue growth scorecards and a custom outreach calculator. The calculator earned curiosity but no bookings, which taught the key lesson: attention is not intent.
We moved targeting from crowded founder and CEO inboxes to sales titles (VP of Sales, sales managers, growth leaders) who live the pain every day, then into two deeper niches: telehealth and B2B SaaS. We also ramped volume down. We had been sending too many emails before finding a winning offer, which wastes leads.
Phase 3: what finally clicked?
We simplified everything: 5 offers, minimal copy, and let the market decide. The difference was a lead magnet, a free outbound script pack written for each prospect's niche. When someone replied positively, the team built and sent a full outbound strategy and scripts within an hour, then offered a 15-minute walkthrough.
Hey [First name], we help X do Y using Z
To show you it works, I've already written some outreach scripts for [Company] that you can use right away, no strings attached.
Can I send them here?
Gabriel, CEO @ Blackwood
It clicked across both verticals (healthtech and B2B SaaS) and four personas (founders, CEOs, VPs of Sales and heads of growth). Replies felt effortless, lead flow stacked as volume went up, and calls booked from every segment. In one week: 16 interested leads and about 6 calls, more than the entire previous month.
What is the lesson?
Outbound is not about getting it perfect on day one. It is about testing fast, listening to the market and simplifying until it works. Across 20+ copy iterations and multiple ICP shifts, Blackwood ended up with a proven offer, dialed-in messaging and clear segments it can scale with confidence.
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Matt leads strategy at Volente and makes sure every client's KPIs get hit. Volente is a full outbound team of GTM engineers, SDRs, senior warm callers and specialists that sends 150,000+ cold emails a month for agencies and B2B SaaS companies across the US and Canada. Connect on LinkedIn.
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