zerobusywork.io
← all work
case-study/001gtm-automationbuilt + run in public

Signal-triggered outreach and lead-scoring pipeline

The system I built to run my own outbound: it watches for buying signals, scores every account, drafts the first line, and queues the send for review. The same system I build for teams tired of spraying static lists.

build time6 wks

// 01_problem

Cold outbound breaks the same way everywhere: one static list from a data vendor, every send identical, reply rates under 1%. Meanwhile the accounts most likely to buy are raising rounds and posting job ads in plain sight, and nobody is watching.

So I built the opposite. Reach out only when there's a real reason to, and say the reason out loud. I pointed it at my own pipeline first.

// 02_system

Three stages: detect, score, send. Signals come in from job boards, funding feeds, and tech-install data via Clay. An n8n pipeline dedupes and enriches each account, then a scoring model ranks it against the ICP. Anything above threshold gets a Claude-drafted first line that names the specific signal, queued in Smartlead with human review for the first 100 sends.

[architecture diagram: signals → clay → n8n → scoring → smartlead → hubspot]
Clayn8nClaude APISmartleadHubSpotPython

// 03_details-that-mattered

01  Signal decay. A funding announcement is worth a lot on day 2 and nothing on day 40. Scores decay on a half-life, so the queue stays fresh without manual pruning.

02  Review thresholds. Claude drafts, a human approves, until the approval rate crosses 95%. Then only low-confidence drafts hit the review queue.

03  Deliverability first. Warmup, rotation, and per-domain send caps were built in before the first email went out. No burned domains.

// 04_outcome

Running against my own pipeline now, with every reply rate and booked call tracked in the open, no rounded-up vanity numbers. Every workflow is documented and every prompt versioned, so when I build it for a team, they own it after handoff.

// cta

Want this pipeline pointed at your ICP?

Book a call