Finance & Accounting
From zero marketing attribution to a full outbound engine — tens of thousands of fresh prospects in 5 months
Service
Done-For-You Outbound + Infrastructure
Industry
HQ
Team Size
Results First: What We Delivered
Hiline came to Corebits with an empty CRM and zero marketing attribution. They needed a complete outbound engine built from scratch — infrastructure, targeting, messaging, and workflows. Here's what happened over 5 months:
Database Expansion: From 1,000 HubSpot records to 30,000+ qualified contacts — a 30x increase in addressable market.
Email Infrastructure: Built from zero to 900-1,200 emails/day capacity with pristine deliverability.
Five Clay Playbooks: Each targeting a different segment of their ICP, with AI-powered personalization and multi-channel orchestration.
Daily Pipeline Feed: Went from "no marketing" to a machine that feeds qualified leads to sales every single day.
Full Knowledge Transfer: All playbooks built inside Hiline's Clay account with video walkthroughs, prompt docs, and Slack training. The team now runs and edits flows independently.
Zero Mental Bandwidth Drain: Fully automated motion that runs without eating into the VP Growth's time.
Domain Infrastructure Handoff: 10 look-alike domains, 30 Google workspaces, and complete sending stack ownership transferred to Hiline.
"We went from 'no marketing' to a machine that feeds sales every day."
- Toby Schumacher,
Head of Sales, Hiline
The Context: When You Have a Product But No Pipeline
Hiline is an outsourced accounting and finance-as-a-service platform for high-growth SaaS and tech companies. They handle bookkeeping, CFO advisory, financial modeling, and back-office operations so founders can focus on building product and closing deals.
Their service is a perfect fit for lean startups that need financial rigor but can't justify hiring a full-time controller or CFO. But despite having a strong product-market fit, they had a pipeline problem.
Here's why they reached out to Corebits:
Empty CRM: HubSpot had barely 1,000 records. Most were outdated or unqualified. Zero pipeline came from marketing.
Manual outbound was unsustainable: The sales team was manually prospecting on LinkedIn and sending one-off emails. It wasn't scalable.
No infrastructure: No sending domains, no email sequences, no multi-channel orchestration. They were starting from absolute zero.
VP Growth bandwidth issue: Jesse Boland (VP Growth) was juggling product, marketing, and sales. He needed an automated system that didn't require constant babysitting.
No clear ICP definition: They knew their best customers were SaaS and tech companies under $10M revenue, but they hadn't formalized targeting criteria or exclusions.
Deliverability concerns: They'd heard horror stories about spam folders and blacklisted domains. They needed pristine infrastructure from day one.
What they asked us for:
A complete outbound engine built from scratch
Rock-solid email infrastructure with deliverability dialed in
Tight ICP filtering to avoid wasting time on bad-fit prospects
AI-powered personalization that scaled
Multi-channel orchestration (email + LinkedIn)
Full knowledge transfer so they could own and edit the system themselves
"We had HubSpot, but barely 1,000 records. Zero pipeline came from marketing. We had to build outbound from scratch—fast."
- Toby Schumacher,
Head of Sales, Hiline
Strategy: Infrastructure First, Then Scale
Our approach was built in phases. You can't scale outbound without infrastructure, and you can't personalize at scale without tight ICP filtering and AI. Here's how we engineered it:
1. Rock-Solid Sending Stack (Weeks 1-3)
Before writing a single email, we built the infrastructure that would carry thousands of messages per day without hitting spam folders.
10 look-alike domains registered and configured (e.g., hiline.co, hiline-finance.com, hiline-accounting.io)
30 Google Workspace accounts distributed across domains for sender rotation
SmartLead orchestration to rotate senders and maintain pristine deliverability
Unique residential IPs for each workspace to avoid shared IP reputation issues
Automated warm-up sequences to establish sender reputation before launching campaigns
SPF, DKIM, DMARC configuration on every domain for maximum deliverability
Result: 900-1,200 emails/day capacity with near-perfect inbox placement rates.
2. Sharp ICP Definition
We didn't trust broad keyword searches. Instead, we defined clear inclusion and exclusion criteria:
Included:
U.S.-based SaaS and tech companies
Under 50 employees
Under $10M in annual revenue
Active hiring signals (indicates growth)
Funded or profitable (indicates ability to pay)
Excluded:
Manufacturing companies (inventory accounting too complex)
Healthcare (regulatory complexity outside Hiline's expertise)
Civic, nonprofit, or government entities (budget cycles don't match)
Crypto-only companies (too volatile)
Heavy inventory businesses (not their sweet spot)
This filtering protected Hiline's reputation and ensured every contact was genuinely relevant.
3. Five Clay Playbooks
We built five distinct playbooks, each targeting a different segment of Hiline's ICP. Each playbook followed the same architecture:
Step | Tool | Purpose |
Account sourcing | Apollo, Clay | Pull companies matching ICP criteria |
AI ICP filter | Claygent | Visit website, confirm fit |
Signal enrichment | Clay LinkedIn, Jobs, News | Pull hiring signals, growth indicators, recent funding |
AI copy generation | Claude | Write personalized emails referencing signals |
Email delivery | SmartLead | Send via rotated senders |
LinkedIn orchestration | HeyReach | Profile visits, connection requests, DMs |
CRM sync | HubSpot | Score leads, track engagement |
Each playbook ran independently, feeding qualified leads into the same pipeline.
4. Signal Stack (Per Contact)
For every prospect, we pulled multiple signals to personalize the message:
Signal Type | How We Pulled It |
Recent hiring | Clay Jobs → filter for "CFO," "Controller," "Finance Manager" |
Funding announcements | Clay News → keyword + company name |
Headcount growth | LinkedIn employee count change |
Tech stack | BuiltWith scrape → identify accounting software gaps |
Blog content | Text scrape → AI summarizes financial topics mentioned |
Each signal gave us something specific to reference in the email — not "I saw your company is growing" but "I noticed you're hiring a Finance Manager, which usually means..."
5. AI Copy Engine
Claude (Anthropic's AI) took the top signals per prospect and wrote a 100-120 word email.
Tone: Helpful finance advisor, not pushy vendor
Each email referenced the prospect's own hiring signals or growth indicators
No generic "I'd love to connect" — every email had a specific, signal-based hook
6. Multi-Channel Orchestration
We didn't rely on email alone. Each channel played a specific role:
Email: The primary driver. Cleanest path to booked meetings.
LinkedIn: Warm-up sequence. Profile visit → connection request → DM mentioning the email.
HubSpot scoring: Every engagement action (open, reply, LinkedIn accept) updated lead scores in real-time.
Together, they created a flow that felt natural to the buyer — not spammy, not disconnected — just well-timed outreach that led to conversations.
7. Tech Orchestration
Clay drives research + personalization
SmartLead rotates domains for deliverability
HeyReach automates LinkedIn touches (visits, connections, DMs)
HubSpot scores and tracks everything
Make.com (optional) for Slack notifications on hot leads
All workflows were built inside Hiline's own Clay account — not ours. This means they own the system forever.
The Standout Campaign: "Finance Manager Hiring Signal" Playbook
This was the playbook that proved the entire approach.
Instead of targeting companies randomly, we built a campaign around one powerful signal: "We noticed you're hiring a Finance Manager."
Why this worked:
Hiring a finance role = pain point is active. Companies don't hire finance managers unless they're experiencing financial complexity or growth pain.
Timing is perfect. If they're hiring, they're thinking about finance operations right now.
Natural wedge. "While you're searching for a Finance Manager, have you considered outsourcing the entire function?" becomes a compelling alternative.
Personalization is authentic. We're not making up a reason to reach out — the job posting is public, real, and relevant.
Campaign Breakdown:
1. Message Crafting
3-email sequence + LinkedIn DM
Subject lines tested: "Re: Finance Manager search" performed best (reply thread hack)
Email #1 referenced the specific job posting and offered an alternative approach
2. Signal Stack for This Playbook
We pulled:
Company name, website, employee count
Job posting title, posted date, and description
LinkedIn profile of the hiring manager (if available)
Recent funding announcements or growth signals
Claude then wrote: "Hi [name], I noticed you're hiring a Finance Manager [link to job posting]. Many SaaS companies in your stage find that outsourcing the entire finance function costs less than one full-time hire and gets them CFO-level strategic advice on top. Would you be open to a 15-minute comparison?"
3. Multi-Channel Outreach
Email #1: Reference job posting, offer alternative
LinkedIn visit: 24 hours later (no message, just presence)
Email #2: "Following up — have you filled the Finance Manager role yet?"
LinkedIn DM: "Saw you're hiring a Finance Manager — we work with a lot of SaaS companies at your stage. Worth a quick comparison?"
4. Results
Highest reply rate of all five playbooks
Qualified conversations with companies actively experiencing finance pain
Multiple deals closed from this single campaign
Repeatable signal — we could run this playbook indefinitely as long as companies keep posting finance job openings
5. Why It Resonated
The job posting is proof of pain. We're not guessing that they need help — they're literally advertising it. By offering an alternative (outsourced finance team) at the exact moment they're considering a hire, we catch them when the problem is top-of-mind.
"I needed an automated motion that worked without eating all my mental bandwidth."
- Toby Schumacher,
VP Growth, Hiline
What Slowed Results (And How We Fixed It)
Every campaign hits speed bumps. Here's what we encountered and how we resolved it:
Challenge | Solution |
Deliverability concerns from day one | Built infrastructure first — 10 domains, 30 workspaces, automated warm-up. Zero inbox issues. |
Too broad initial targeting | Tightened ICP exclusions (no manufacturing, healthcare, nonprofits). Wasted outreach dropped 60%. |
Generic emails blending in | Added signal-based personalization. Referenced hiring, funding, and growth indicators. Reply rates jumped. |
Hiline team overwhelmed by complexity | Built everything inside Hiline's Clay account with 5 Loom walkthroughs and prompt documentation. By month 3, they were editing flows themselves. |
LinkedIn connection limits | Distributed connections across multiple HeyReach accounts to stay under daily limits. |
HubSpot data overload | Set up lead scoring rules to prioritize hot prospects. Sales team only saw qualified leads, not raw data dumps. |
The key learning: infrastructure matters. You can't scale outbound on shaky foundations. We spent weeks 1-3 building rock-solid infrastructure so months 2-5 could scale without deliverability or reputation issues.
Why It Worked
Here are the key insights from the Hiline project:
Infrastructure first, volume second. We didn't send a single email until deliverability was pristine. 10 domains, 30 workspaces, automated warm-up — this foundation let us scale to 900-1,200 emails/day without hitting spam folders.
Tight ICP filtering protects reputation. Excluding manufacturing, healthcare, and nonprofits meant every contact was genuinely relevant. No spam complaints, no wasted outreach.
Hiring signals are the best triggers. "We noticed you're hiring a Finance Manager" beats generic "I saw your company is growing" by a mile. Job postings are public, real, and proof of active pain.
AI copy makes personalization scalable. Claude wrote 100-120 word emails for thousands of prospects, each referencing the prospect's specific hiring signals or growth indicators. This level of personalization was impossible manually.
Multi-channel orchestration feels natural. Email → LinkedIn visit → Email → LinkedIn DM creates familiarity without being pushy.
Build in the client's Clay, not ours. Every workflow lives inside Hiline's account. They own it. They can edit it. They can clone it. Full knowledge transfer = long-term ROI.
What's Next
The next stage for Hiline is all about optimization and expansion.
Expand the five playbooks: Each playbook is now proven. Scale volume by adding more contacts to each flow.
Add new verticals: Test adjacent ICPs like e-commerce SaaS, vertical SaaS, and B2B marketplaces.
Layer in cold calling: Add a dedicated caller to follow up on high-intent signals — email opens, LinkedIn engagers, website visitors.
Website visitor follow-up: Integrate RB2B to track anonymous site visitors and hit their inbox within 24 hours.
Referral playbook: Build a Clay workflow to ask happy customers for warm intros to similar companies.
Content-led outreach: Experiment with webinar invites and finance templates as lead magnets before the sales ask.
The foundation is built. Now it's about adding layers, optimizing conversion rates, and expanding into adjacent markets.
"We partnered with Corebits to add tens of thousands of clean records and the workflows to use them."
- Toby Schumacher,
Head of Sales, Hiline
