B2B prospecting case studies: four early SalesOne customers
Updated By the SalesOne research team7 min read
The short answer
With four early SalesOne customers between December 2025 and October 2026, researching accounts before outreach brought about 40 replies from 180 emails and 47 meetings at one trade show, three new clients from a first run, and lists where most accounts met the client’s fit standard. Each company had a problem the client could solve.
Where these case studies come from
Before we built the current system, we ran the method with early customers. We did every step by hand at first, then with automation: learning what the customer sells, building the ideal customer profile, finding and researching companies, judging fit and planning the outreach. What worked became the S1 agents and the product you can use today.
Four of them are below. Each customer is under a non-disclosure agreement, so we describe them by industry and company type only. The numbers are as reported by our team for each engagement, as of October 2026.
| Customer | When | What the research did | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Consulting and strategy firm | Dec 2025 | Studied how its customers see its services, then checked prospects against its fit standard | More than 90% of accounts found met 90% or more of its profile |
| OEM parts manufacturer | Jan 2026 | Found buyers who needed what made its new process different | A target list, account strategies, outreach and in-person meetups planned |
| RFID products manufacturer | Apr 2026 | Researched trade-show attendees and wrote outreach on each one’s problem | 47 meetings held at the event |
| Digital transformation company | Aug 2026 to now | Built its outbound campaign on SalesOne research | 3 new clients from the first run |
Case study 1: 47 meetings at a trade show
An RFID products manufacturer was taking part in an industry event in April 2026. We ran a one-month pilot to set up meetings at the event.
- Screened more than 3,000 companies taking part in the event, with their teams and attendees.
- Researched more than 300 of them in depth: what each company does and which of its problems the client’s products could solve.
- Emailed about 180 people, each with two hooks: a connecting hook (we will both be at the event) and a relevance hook (the specific problem the client’s product solves for that company).
- Offered each one a printed sample showing how the client’s tag would look on their own product.
About 40 people replied, and 47 meetings were held at the event. Most replies came from the sample offer. For the full method, see our guide to trade show prospecting.
Case study 2: finding buyers for a new manufacturing process
An OEM parts manufacturer had a new, lower-cost manufacturing process. As a niche manufacturer, it could not afford to chase every company that buys parts; it needed the few that would value what it did differently.
The research looked for companies that needed large quantities, higher quality and shorter lead times, and that had use cases specific enough to need a customized part. Our client could take on custom requests, and that was what set it apart. With the list, it built account strategies and outreach and planned in-person meetups. Our guide on how to find OEM customers turns this into a method.
Case study 3: accounts that matched a consulting firm’s own standard
A consulting and strategy firm helps large companies, insurers among them, launch new projects, products and services with their existing teams. It is particular about whom it works with, so we started with its experience: how its customers perceive its services and what its brand stands for.
The firm then compared the accounts we found with its own fit standard. More than 90% of them met 90% or more of its profile. The research also turned up industries the firm had not considered, which opened new revenue opportunities. Our guide on how to get consulting clients covers the wider picture.
Case study 4: three new clients from a first run
A digital transformation company with a niche technology can serve only a certain kind of client. Since August 2026 it has planned its outbound campaign on SalesOne research, which made its targeting specific and let it spend less on both outbound and inbound marketing. The first run found three new clients, and we still work with the team today.
What the pilots taught us
The clearest lesson came from the companies that did not work. Whenever we could not link a company to a problem it already had, or to a new opportunity the client’s service could create, the account usually scored under 70% relevance. The best accounts were the ones where a conversation made sense before anyone wrote a word.
- Qualify on a problem you can name, not on lookalike traits. That is why S1 agents keep or turn down each company with its reason, using the account qualification rules in your profile.
- Target what makes you different. The OEM client targeted buyers who needed exactly what it did better, not everyone who buys parts.
- Give the reader something about them. Most replies came from the printed sample offer, made on the prospect’s own product.
- Start from the customer’s experience. The consulting firm’s research started from how its own customers describe it.
The same method now runs in SalesOne. In SalesOne’s October 2026 production research runs, S1 agents checked 1,051 companies and kept 249, and every company turned down kept its reason; see why accounts get rejected.