GTM 84: Outbound Isn’t Dead: This is How to Reach the Inbox with Stephen Hakami

Stephen Hakami is the Founder and CEO of Wiza – the most accurate way to find verified contact information for B2B prospects. Stephen started the company in 2019 after a sales career of being frustrated with bad data, and set out to build a prospecting tool that’s powered by live LinkedIn data.

Discussed in this Episode:

• The frustration with bad data and the inspiration behind building Wiza.
• The importance of email deliverability and strategies for improving it.
• The recent acquisition of Drift by Salesloft and the topic of consolidation in the sales tech stack.
• Stephen’s journey from sales to CEO, highlighting the value of creative prospecting. 
• The hardest lesson Stephen learned in sales.
• Effective tactics of cold email and deliverability.

Highlights:

(3:27) Strategies for email deliverability.

(08:01) The journey from sales to entrepreneurship.

(11:06) Sales technology and the consolidation.

(20:41) Strategies for effective cold emails.

(25:49) Understanding your competitors.

(27:38) The importance of being a true consultant.

(28:32) Redefining your competitors.

(31:55) One thing revenue leaders believe to be true that Stephen thinks is bull$***.

(34:26) One thing that is working for Stephen/Wiza in go-to-market right now.

Guest Speaker Links (Stephen Hakami):
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/stephen-hakami-5babb21b0/
Website: www.wiza.co/

Host Speaker Links (Scott Barker):
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/ssbarker/
Newsletter: thegtmnewsletter.substack.com/

Sponsor:
Today’s episode is sponsored by The ELG Conference, presented by Crossbeam and The ELG Alliance. The smartest companies are embracing Ecosystem-Led Growth, or ELG.

Join us at the gorgeous Proper Hotel in Austin on May 15-16 and hear how the top SaaS companies are leveraging partner ecosystems in their GTM motions aka Ecosystem-Led Growth. Early-bird tickets expire next week.

What you’ll get at ELG Con:

• Case studies from companies like Datadog, Cloudera, and more.
• A chance to tour (and maybe even race on?) Austin’s F1 track.
• Candid, off-the-record conversations — no recordings here.
• A highly curated group of 200 GTM leaders, 85% director level and above across Sales, Marketing, and Partnerships.

Claim your tickets today, including a limited number of special two-for-the-price-of-one tickets.

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Don’t miss The GTM Podcast dropping every Tuesday discussing true stories and experiences including trials and tribulations in the Go-To-Market world.