Road to 10,000 SalesRobot Users

Welcome to the 28th edition of the “Road to 10,000 Users” Newsletter for SalesRobot 2.0

New Monday, new newsletter.

Settling into a solid groove now.

We hired a 24 hour nurse (perks of being in India) who’s taken a lot off our plates.

Delegation works guys!

Hiring well is a true superpower.

Anyway, back to LinkedIn Automation.

Like I said in the last one, we have a change of focus now.

We realised that B2B sales teams with more than 4 sales reps (SDRs) and lead gen agencies are a very good fit for SalesRobot

And we have more and more of those in our sales pipeline.

Which is a great sign.

What we’re trying to do more of now is focus on features and product marketing that will enable them to be great users of SalesRobot.

Like last week, we released the ability to send native embedded videos as a part of the LinkedIn sequence (not a loom or a video link)

It’s already a hit with beta users.

(here is how a video message looks in the inbox. Unrelated note: Bethany of Sendspark is a legend)

If you’d like early access, email me saurav AT salesrobot DOT co

Remember the goal? Get 10,000 people to grow their businesses using SalesRobot

In this issue:

• Milestones: Key metrics on our path to 10,000 users (currently at 4561)
  

• LinkedIn Message Roast: We find the worst performing Linkedin Messages from real SalesRobot users and show you how we'd save the campaign (after making fun of them of course lol)
  

• SalesRobot Champion Customer of the Week: How Jeremiah O'Brien and Vatsal Singhal of Emerge Global (a firm that helps visionary entrepreneurs get on TEDx stages to share their story to the world) got 45% reply rate from SalesRobot campaign

Let’s dive in.

Milestones

MRR: $57,120 

Where we stand:

• [GOOD NEWS] Sales demos done (from 14 Jul - 21 Jul 2025): 22. Volume went down slightly again but quality demos.
  

• [GOOD NEWS] Free Trials Started (from 14 Jul - 21 Jul 2025): 60 (averaging ~10 signups per day. Dip here cause we restricted low quality signups from personal emails)
  

• [GOOD NEWS] New subscription revenue: $3k in new revenue from 7 users (some good agency deals in there)
  

• [BAD NEWS] Downgraded subscription revenue: only $850 in downgrades and churn since I sent the last newsletter
  
  Insights:
  We are rolling our already successful LinkedIn influencer program to 10 more employees.
  

  

  
  (This post from Ambika about our LinkedIn Outreach Bible, a relatively new influencer on our team got 200+ comments)
  
  Here is the post if you’re curious

LinkedIn Message Roast

Now, let’s dive into the LinkedIn message that a SalesRobot user sent to 125 people on LinkedIn and got a 0% response rate

The Message Copy:

"Message 1:

Hi [firstName],

Thanks for connecting with me.

Noticed [companyName] is scaling fast. Quick question - are you seeing CAC creep up while conversion rates plateau? 

We've helped 200+ e-commerce brands break this cycle with data-driven strategies.

Worth a 10-min chat?

[yourName]

Message 2:

Hi [firstName],

What's your biggest challenge with digital marketing ROI right now? Just curious about your perspective.”

Here are my thoughts:

• "Thanks for connecting with me."
  (Standard pleasantries - check!)
  

• "Noticed [companyName] is scaling fast."
  (Vague observation that could apply to literally any growing company)
  

• "Quick question - are you seeing CAC creep up while conversion rates plateau?" (Translation: "Let me guess your problems using the most common ecom metrics!")
  

• "We've helped 200+ e-commerce brands"
  (The magical "200+" number - not 199, not 201, always a nice round number!)
  

• "Worth a 10-min chat?"
  (The classic "low commitment" ask that turns into an hour-long sales pitch)

And then the follow up

• What's your biggest challenge with digital marketing ROI right now?"
  (Going from "we solve CAC problems" to "what problems do you even have?" - smooth transition!)
  

• "Just curious about your perspective."
  (The fake casual approach - "I'm not selling, just curious!" while obviously fishing for pain points)

This sequence is beautiful in its desperation! Went from confident problem-identifier to "please tell me what to sell you!"

The pivot from specific CAC expertise to generic "what's your biggest challenge?" shows they have no actual specialization - just throw marketing spaghetti at the wall!

Here's what they SHOULD have written:

A Better Approach:

Message 1:

Hi [firstName], Thanks for connecting!

I noticed [Company] launched in 3 new markets recently based on your product announcements.

Quick question - during expansion, are you seeing customer acquisition costs spike in the new regions compared to your home market?

We helped [Similar Company] maintain their $47 CAC across 4 markets by adjusting their attribution model for regional differences.

Worth a 10-minute call to share what worked for them?

Best,
[YOURNAME]
Growth Analytics Lead”

Message 2:

“Hi [firstName],

I saw [Company]'s new ad creative on Meta last week - the [specific campaign element] caught my attention.

Instead of asking about general challenges, would it be helpful if I shared the specific attribution setup that helped [Competitor] track ROI across similar creative formats?

Just a focused 10-minute conversation about what's working in your space.

Best,
[YOURNAME]”

Key differences:

1. References specific, observable business activity (expansion, ad campaigns)

2. Asks targeted questions based on research, not generic guessing

3. Provides specific case studies with real numbers ($47 CAC)

4. Shows they've actually looked at the prospect's marketing activity

5. Offers concrete value rather than fishing for pain points

6. Follow-up builds on specific observations, not generic asks

7. Positions as knowledgeable peer, not desperate vendor

8. Makes relevant comparisons to similar companies

This approach demonstrates relevance and expertise rather than generic startup assumptions.

SalesRobot Champion Customer of the Week: Jeremiah O'Brien and Vatsal Singhal of Emerge Global (a firm that helps visionary entrepreneurs get on TEDx stages to share their story to the world)

Strategy

Jeremiah and Vatsal from Emerge Global achieved a 44.7% reply rate (vs. 15-20% average) targeting C-suite executives with TED Talk opportunities. Their key insight: top executives will engage when offered prestigious speaking platforms, but only with the right approach.

Targeting

Premium School Strategy

• Exclusively targeted executives from top institutions (Stanford, Harvard, Wharton, MIT)

• Focused on California C-suite leaders at 5,000+ employee companies

• Used second-degree connections for warm introductions

• Strategic exclusions: stealth startups, entry-level roles, inactive LinkedIn profiles

As Vatsal explained: "We were mostly focusing on those C-suite experts and founders and CEOs from the California region... not have anyone who are in like stealth startup or those kinds of companies."

Copywriting

• Profile views and post engagement before connection requests
  

• Connection message leveraging mutual connections: "Recently discovered that we shared mutual connection"
  

• Positioned TED Talks as exclusive opportunity: "looking for exceptional leaders to step onto the TED stage"
  

• Used eligibility language for intrigue: "you may be eligible" (not "you are eligible")
  

• Addressed hidden objections: "just a quick conversation to assess your eligibility"

As Jeremiah noted: "The major goal for any kind of cold outreach is not to get a positive response... It's mainly to just get a reply from the person."

Results 

The campaign achieved exceptional results:

• 44.7% reply rate (vs. 15-20% platform average)

• 33% connection acceptance rate

• $10K minimum service price with strong conversion

• Real impact: Connected with $500M ARR prospects scaling to $2B

Early Mistakes & Learnings 

Early Mistakes:

• "Asking for the meeting upfront and asking them if they want to be a TED speaker today"

• Writing long copy that executives never read

• Wrong targeting outside their ICP

What Worked:

• Headlines drive 80% of opens—optimize ruthlessly

• 15-minute discovery calls vs. 30-minute requests

• Value-first approach: "offer a gift in return" for every ask

• A/B test internally before launching campaigns

Next Steps for Jeremiah and Vatsal

• Multi-channel approach: Combining LinkedIn + email with different messaging
  

• Retargeting strategy: Re-engaging prospects after 3 months as situations change
  

• Continuous learning: Team reads 1+ books weekly with bi-weekly presentations

Their success proves that ultra-premium targeting combined with genuine value offers can crack open even the most exclusive executive networks. As Jeremiah puts it: "If you elevate service to hospitality, you're building the relationship first—not asking for something."

Here is the full video if you’re interested:

Bonus: If you send a lot of cold email, you can double your response rates using this Zap

That’s it for Issue #28 of “Road to 10,000 Users.”
If you found this helpful, share it with a friend. Got feedback? Shoot me a reply—I read every one of them.

Thanks for following along.

Saurav G.
Founder, SalesRobot 2.0
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