$17M in Sales in 6 Months for a Financial Services Company Using Cold Email

About Bottom Line Concepts

Bottom Line Concepts, LLC is an Inc. 5000 financial services company specializing in Employee Retention Credit (ERC) recovery for businesses. ERC is a refundable tax credit covering up to 70% of qualified wages during COVID-19, with a maximum of $7,000 per employee per quarter in 2021. The company needed to reach thousands of eligible businesses across the US mainland before the program deadline.

How the Partnership Began

When Reachoutly’s founder Amin researched the ERC opportunity, he immediately recognized its massive potential for businesses that kept employees during COVID-19. Rather than simply offering services, Reachoutly joined Bottom Line Concepts as a Referral Partner with the ambitious vision of systematically reaching every eligible company across the US mainland with 5-500 employees. While Bottom Line Concepts had multiple affiliate partners promoting the program, Amin proposed a data-driven approach to identify and target the companies that suffered most during the pandemic to ensure maximum conversion potential before the program expired.

The Challenge

Bottom Line Concepts and Reachoutly faced multiple complex obstacles that required innovative solutions and flawless execution.

Time-Critical Market Coverage

Bottom Line Concepts faced an urgent deadline to reach eligible businesses before the ERC program expired. While they had multiple affiliate partners, they needed systematic coverage of the entire US mainland to identify companies with 5-500 employees formed before COVID-19.

Unprecedented Scale Requirements

We needed to build a cold email system capable of handling massive daily volume while ensuring every message reached the inbox, not spam folders.

Complex Data Operations

We had to source, enrich, and verify contact information for hundreds of thousands of businesses across multiple decision-maker levels within tight quality standards.

Multi-Level Account-Based Marketing

We needed to implement account-based marketing sequences targeting multiple organizational levels within each target company.

We needed to reach every eligible business in America before the ERC deadline. Time was running out.”
Josh Fox, Founder & CEO

The Solution

We built the largest cold email infrastructure in company history to reach every qualifying business nationwide before the ERC program deadline. We ensured no company missed their chance at millions in COVID-19 tax credits.

Strategic Referral Partner Recruitment

We proactively recruited additional referral partners to ensure comprehensive coverage across the entire US mainland. This was critical because the ERC program’s expiration meant missing any eligible business could result in lost opportunities worth millions. 

By building our own network of referral partners, we created systematic outreach capabilities to reach every qualifying company before the deadline.

Precision Industry Targeting

We targeted companies across the United States with 5-500 W-2 employees.

Using LinkedIn, ZoomInfo, Sales Navigator, Apollo, and Crunchbase, we compiled a list of top 500,000 eligible companies with 5-500 W-2 employees formed before COVID-19. 

We then strategically niched down to industries like restaurants, retail, hospitality, and manufacturing that suffered the most during the pandemic. This prioritization was essential because these businesses had the highest probability of qualifying for substantial ERC credits, maximizing conversion rates.

Strategic Decision-Maker Identification

We targeted 3-5 finance-related executives per company including controllers, finance directors, VPs of finance, COOs, CFOs, and CEOs because they had direct authority over tax credit decisions. 

This approach was crucial for shortening sales cycles and ensuring qualified conversations from the first touchpoint. We used Reoon to validate the entire dataset to ensure a maximum 3% bounce rate.

Infrastructure Foundation

We built the largest cold email system in company history, deploying 1,800 Google Workspace accounts across 360 domains. We designed the infrastructure to handle 35,000 daily emails while maintaining enterprise-grade deliverability. 

We connected all systems to Instantly.ai for comprehensive campaign management and real-time performance monitoring.

Cold Email Infrastructure

Google Workspace (SMTP): 1,800 accounts
Domains: 360 domains
Cold email tool: Instantly.ai
Lead source: Apollo.io

Multi-Touch Account-Based Marketing

We implemented a systematic ABM approach starting with decision-makers, escalating to executives, then reaching C-level leaders within each organization. This layered strategy was necessary because different stakeholders needed different messaging. Finance teams needed technical details while executives needed ROI projections.

Cold Email Campaign

Copywriting: ChatGPT
Campaign duration: 9 cold email campaigns from August 2023 to January 2024.

The Personal Investment 

Amin’s commitment to this project was unprecedented. He sold personal assets including land, family jewelry, and used his father’s savings, investing over $25,000 of his own money over 6 months. This level of personal investment demonstrated the confidence in our strategy and ensured the resources needed for success.

The Results

Our systematic outreach generated $17M in tax credit recovery for businesses that kept employees during COVID-19. It delivered life-changing financial relief before the program expired.

Campaign Performance

Key metrics that demonstrated the scale and effectiveness of our outreach efforts.

• 35,000 emails sent daily across a 6-month period.
• 300+ qualified leads generated.
• 72 meetings booked with decision-makers.
• 15 deals closed worth $17M total revenue.

Lead Quality

Characteristics of prospects that drove high conversion rates and large deal sizes.

• Multi-stakeholder engagement within target companies.
• Finance executive access to CFOs, Controllers, VPs.
• Comprehensive coverage of the whole US mainland.

Business Impact

Measurable outcomes that transformed Bottom Line Concepts’ revenue trajectory.

• $17M revenue generated in 6 months.
• $1.13M+ average deal size across closed opportunities.
• Systematic US coverage reaching eligible businesses nationwide.
• Partnership scalability proving referral model effectiveness.

“The systematic approach to reaching every eligible business was exactly what we needed. The results speak for themselves: $17M in closed deals.”
Josh Fox, Founder & CEO

Master Inbox of Amin

Why It Worked

The success of this campaign stemmed from our commitment to scale and precision. By investing $25,000 in infrastructure and building the largest email system in company history, we ensured comprehensive coverage of the US market before the ERC deadline. 

The account-based marketing approach was crucial. Rather than targeting single contacts, we reached multiple decision-makers within each organization, increasing our chances of engagement at companies ready to claim their credits.

Our strategic industry prioritization made all the difference in conversion rates. By focusing first on businesses that suffered most during COVID-19, we identified companies with the highest credit potential and strongest motivation to act.