If you’re building a B2B sales pipeline from the ground up – or trying to make cold outreach convert – this series is for you. Learn how to set up your SDR team for success, define your Ideal Customer Profile (ICP), and generate consistent pipeline with outbound sales.
Recently, we hosted a webinar at Firmable – From Cold to Closed: Building an SDR engine that fuels GTM growth – featuring David Feinberg, founder of The Growth Factory and former VP of Global Sales Development at Eftsure. It was packed with practical insights on what it really takes to build and scale a high-performing SDR team.
In this three-part blog series, we’re breaking down the key lessons David shared. Part 1 starts at the foundation: why investing in Sales Development Representatives (SDRs) gives you a predictable, scalable pipeline – and how defining your Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) ensures every outreach effort hits where it matters. These two pillars are what turn cold outreach into consistent, conversion-ready pipeline – and set the stage for real, repeatable growth.
Invest in SDRs to build a predictable, scalable sales pipeline
Predictable pipeline = predictable revenue. One of the webinar’s core themes was that an SDR team isn’t a cost centre – it’s an engine for reliable growth. By investing in dedicated SDR team, you create a steady, controllable flow of leads entering your funnel. That means no more feast-or-famine sales cycles driven only by sporadic inbound leads or heroic efforts from founders/AEs. Instead, a well-run SDR program produces repeatable pipeline that you can forecast and scale quarter after quarter.
As sales experts often note, this shift to a “predictable revenue” model comes from a structured outbound process: specialised prospecting roles, consistent outreach, and data-driven optimisation. In David’s words, hiring SDRs at the right time (once you have product-market fit and a target market identified) is like “adding a revenue engine to your business” – it systematically fuels growth rather than leaving it to chance.
Even small deals can fuel big growth
Even smaller deals can fuel big growth with the right SDR approach. A common misconception is that outbound SDRs only pay off for huge deal sizes. David challenged this, stressing that what matters is efficiency and targeting. At Firmable, for example, we’ve seen that with a high-quality SDR team,excellentdata, and focus, you can profitably generate pipeline with deal sizes as low as $6k-$10k ACV. In fact, by doubling down on effective strategies, our SDRs achieved a 22% call connect rate (versus an industry average ~5%) and drove about AU$160,000 in pipeline per rep each month.
Those stellar metrics prove that when you optimise outreach and give your team the right tools, outbound can deliver exceptional results even at a lower price point. The takeaway?
Invest in SDRs and process early – a small, well-trained SDR team with great data can punch above its weight, creating predictable pipeline that fuels revenue growth regardless of deal size.
Practical example: Imagine a SaaS startup initially relying on a few big inbound deals – revenue is erratic and hard to forecast. They decide to hire two SDRs and equip them with Firmable’s prospecting data. Within a few months, those SDRs are consistently booking meetings with high-fit prospects every week. Instead of hoping a large deal magically appears, the company now has a steady drumbeat of opportunities coming from outbound. This predictability lets the sales team plan, and the business confidently invest in growth. In short, the SDR investment pays for itself by unlocking a scalable pipeline that no longer depends on luck.
As David emphasised, an SDR engine gives you control over your pipeline – and by extension, control over your revenue trajectory.
How to improve outbound sales success
Once you have SDRs ready to dial, you need to point them in the right direction. That’s where an Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) comes in. David and the Firmable team hammered this point: Define your ICP and focus your outreach on high-fit accounts – it’s the key to sky-high conversion rates, even if you’re not chasing enterprise deals. An ICP is a detailed description of the company or buyer that is perfect for your solution (think firmographics, pain points, buyer behaviour). Why is it so critical? Because an SDR team armed with a crystal-clear ICP will spend their time on prospects most likely to become customers, instead of boiling the ocean. In practice, that means fewer hours wasted on “dead end” leads and more wins from a smaller, targeted pool.
Quality over quantity in outbound
Quality over quantity wins the day. It might be tempting for a new SDR to spray-and-pray cold calls to anyone who will listen. But as the webinar taught, focused targeting beats volume. When you zero in on your ideal customer segment, every outreach touch is more relevant – and relevancy boosts conversion. For example, David shared how one company narrowed its ICP to mid-market finance firms with a specific tech stack. The SDRs tailored their pitch to exactly that niche’s challenges, and the result was a conversion rate far higher than a generic approach.
Real world proof: Firmable’s ICP focus
This aligns with Firmable’s own experience: by concentrating on high-fit prospects, our team consistently turns conversations into booked meetings and pipeline. In fact, understanding your ICP deeply helps marketing and sales align on who matters, improving lead quality and close rates across the board. You can learn more about crafting an ICP in our guide “What is an Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) and why you need one” – but the core idea is simple: know your best-fit customer and relentlessly target them.
Real-world proof: At Firmable – achieving 5x industry-average connect rates and great pipeline with smaller deals wasn’t magic. A big part of that success was the targeted ICP approach. Our SDRs weren’t calling random businesses; they were calling the right businesses – those in exactly the industries and sizes where our solution excels. By focusing on companies that fit our ICP (e.g. Australian and New Zealand mid-sized B2B firms needing better data), we maximise connect rates and conversions. Studies back this up: when sales teams tailor their outreach to a well-defined ICP, they generate leads much more likely to convert into sales.
In short, ICP focus = higher hit rate. Even if your average deal is modest, high conversion efficiency means you still get great ROI on SDR efforts. David’s message was loud and clear – target outreach where it counts. A smaller list of ideal prospects that you research deeply will outperform a massive list of random names every time.
Picture this
Two SDRs at different companies. SDR A has no defined ICP, so she cold calls 100 companies of all shapes and sizes. She spends her days hearing “not interested” – because most weren’t a good fit to begin with. SDR B, meanwhile, has a clear ICP playbook. She knows her ideal customer is, say, a SaaS company with 50–200 employees in the fintech space. She calls 40 companies that fit that profile, armed with insights about their needs.
Even better, she uses signals on Firmable to identify timely buyer activity – like recent hiring spikes, funding rounds, or tech stack changes – so she knows when to reach out, not just who to reach. These AI-powered signals act as a new kind of buyer intent data, helping her time her outreach when interest is likely to be highest. Her conversations immediately click – prospects say “Yes, we actually do struggle with that!” By week’s end, SDR B books five demos while SDR A struggles to land one. The takeaway? Focusing on your ICP and layering in intent signals means fewer dials, richer conversations, and more deals.
The moral: Focusing on your ICP means fewer dials, richer conversations, and more deals. It’s the not-so-secret sauce to high conversion rates without needing enterprise-sized contracts. As David quipped in the webinar, “Why chase 1000 maybes when you can chase 100 hell-yeahs?”. Define who your “hell-yeah” customer is and let your SDRs double down on them.
Final thoughts: SDRs and ICPs are your outbound foundation
Investing in an SDR team and clearly defining your Ideal Customer Profile go hand-in-hand – they form the foundation of a scalable outbound engine. When your reps know exactly who to target and have the structure to do it consistently, you unlock a predictable pipeline that drives predictable revenue. It’s the shift from sporadic wins to a repeatable growth model. Focused outreach means every call and email lands with purpose – and that’s what transforms cold outreach from chaos into a high-performing GTM machine.
In Part 2, we’ll dig into how to hire SDRs with the right mindset (even if their resume isn’t sales-heavy) – and how aligning Sales and Marketing turns pipeline generation into a true team sport. Let’s keep building.
