Directive's LinkedIn spin-off put its own pipeline on cold email
Abe is Directive's LinkedIn-first sister agency. They asked Sales Automation Systems to build and run cold email for their own sales team. Over roughly six months of tracked revenue generation, SAS-sourced campaigns closed $597,000 in ARR.
01Key Numbers
At a Glance
"our win rates are higher than theirs right now."
Larissa Williams
Managing Director, Abe
02About Abe
Who Abe Is
Directive launched Abe as a LinkedIn-first B2B marketing agency, built on a playbook they had already sharpened inside Directive Consulting. Abe runs LinkedIn advertising for B2B companies that want pipeline they can actually measure.
Same founder, Garrett Mehrguth. Same leadership: Managing Director Larissa Williams moved over from Directive. Just a tighter focus on one channel.
So this is a team that grades marketing channels on performance for a living, not on story.
03Why They Called Us Again
From Directive to Abe
Sales Automation Systems started with Directive. We built and ran cold email for the flagship brand first.
When Abe spun out as Directive's LinkedIn-focused sister company, they didn't shop for a different cold email partner. They added Abe to the work we were already doing.
Directive's CRO put it plainly:
"you guys are working great for abe, so, you know, no changes there."Sean Baker, CRO, Directive
This is the Abe half of the story. Directive's half is written up separately. Read the Directive story.
04What We Ran
Building the Outbound Engine
For Abe, SAS owned the whole outbound program:
- Ideal-customer targeting and prospect data
- Cold email strategy and copywriting
- Sending infrastructure
- Deliverability and reputation management
- Reply handling and routing to Abe's sales team
- Closed-deal attribution back to campaigns
Abe already ran a LinkedIn engine that worked, so the job was narrow: show cold email could sit next to it as a real source of pipeline.
05Pipeline & Revenue
What Cold Email Closed
The first weekly scorecard already had a standout on it:
"You have one campaign that's just insane: 134 to 1 email to lead ratio. Second best we've ever seen in history."James Nolle, SAS
Closed ARR, sourced by cold email and confirmed against Abe's own contract records, over roughly six months of tracked revenue generation.
Though we'd rather you judge us on the closed number above.
The contracts followed:
"We've closed our first SAS deal for Abe … and it was a sizable one! (Contract value of $150,000). Looking forward to many more!"Larissa Williams, Managing Director, Abe
"one of our first enterprise level retainers came through the SAS inbox."Larissa Williams, Managing Director, Abe
06Channel Mix
How Cold Email Fit
Abe builds LinkedIn programs for a living. They held cold email to that same bar and kept it running. That's the proof.
07The Directive Story
Companion Story
Abe is the LinkedIn-only sister brand built out of Directive. We proved cold email for Directive first, then added Abe when they launched. Here's that half of the story.
08Book an Intro Call
Work With SAS
Cold email is usually the channel B2B teams try last and trust least. Abe didn't need another one. They already had a LinkedIn engine that worked, and they still put their own pipeline on our cold email. If you want an outbound channel someone else runs and stands behind, let's talk.
We'll run the numbers together. If it doesn't pencil out, we'll tell you.