European Software Company Scaling International Sales
Details shared with permission.
Situation
A European software company had reached a stage where the product was proven, the team was growing, and existing clients were renewing. Revenue was healthy, but unpredictable. Inbound leads came in waves. Some months were strong; others were quiet. The company had no control over when pipeline appeared, and no way to turn it up when growth targets demanded it. The leadership team knew they needed outbound. They had tried before, hiring salespeople, running LinkedIn campaigns, experimenting with cold email tools. Each attempt produced short bursts of activity but no sustainable results. New hires would come in with confidence, run for a few months, and plateau. The cycle repeated. The company was targeting international clients, across Europe and beyond, which added complexity. Different markets, different buying behaviors, different expectations. Without a system that accounted for these differences, outreach felt scattered and generic. The CEO was still involved in most important deals. Scaling meant freeing the founder from the sales floor, but handing over to a team that didn't have a system to follow felt risky.
What was unclear
When we began the diagnostic, it became clear that the company had been treating symptoms rather than solving the root problem. Previous hires had been given tools and targets but no system. They were told to "generate pipeline" without a clear definition of who the ideal client was, what message would resonate, or how to measure whether outreach was actually working. The team couldn't answer basic questions: Which industries respond best? Which company size is the sweet spot? What problem statement gets the most engagement? Is the issue targeting, messaging, or follow-up timing? There was also confusion about channel strategy. The company had tried LinkedIn, cold email, and even paid ads, but never in a structured way that allowed comparison. Each channel was attempted in isolation, abandoned when results were slow, and replaced by the next tool or tactic. The result was a team that was busy but not productive. Activity metrics looked fine, messages sent, calls made, but qualified conversations weren't happening. And nobody could pinpoint why.
What we changed in the system
We embedded with the team for a full engagement, starting with a system diagnostic before touching any execution. The first step was redefining the target client profile for international markets. We moved away from broad industry categories and instead built a signal-based framework: What events, triggers, or patterns indicate that a company is likely to need this solution right now? We identified specific pain points that international buyers face and mapped them to the company's strengths. Next, we built a message framework from scratch. Every outreach sequence was structured around the buyer's world, not the company's product. We wrote sequences that addressed real concerns: How do I trust a software partner I've never met in person? How do I manage a development team across timezones? What happens when requirements change mid-project? We then ran campaigns together. The sales team wasn't watching from the sidelines, they were writing messages, reviewing replies, adjusting sequences, and learning what worked in real time. We tracked every signal: open rates, reply rates, positive vs. negative responses, meeting conversion rates. We also built a qualification framework so the team could quickly assess whether a reply was worth pursuing or not. This stopped them from wasting time on prospects who were curious but not buying. Finally, we documented everything into a playbook, not a static PDF, but a living system the team could adjust as they learned more about their market.
What improved
By month 5, the system was producing real commercial results, not just activity metrics. 11 qualified leads were in active pipeline, prospects who had been properly targeted, engaged through a tested sequence, and moved into structured conversations. The first deal closed at €150K ARR. This wasn't a warm referral or an inbound lead, it was a prospect identified through the outbound system, engaged through the message framework, and closed by the team. A second deal was in progress at €30K ARR per month, with negotiations ongoing. The pipeline was no longer dependent on timing or luck. Two structured meetings were booked in week 8 alone, a signal that the system was building momentum, not just producing one-off results. The engagement was still running at month 5, with the team increasingly operating the system independently. The founder was stepping back from day-to-day outreach and focusing on strategic deals and business development. Most critically, the company had moved from "we need to figure out outbound" to "we have a working outbound system that's producing international pipeline." The team had the skills, the framework, and the confidence to keep running it.
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Pipeline snapshot, Quarter 2
| Metric | Result | Channel |
|---|---|---|
| Qualified leads | 9 | |
| Proposals sent | 5 | - |
| New ARR added | €150K | - |
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