Case Study · AI Automation · 2024
SDRs were spending hours
on research. Now they spend none.
Signal Hooks is an AI outbound engine that takes a prospect list and returns enriched profiles, intent scores, and personalised email sequences — ready to send. Built on n8n, Clay, and the Claude API. Zero manual input at any stage.
The Problem
Outbound was eating the SDR calendar.
Every outbound sequence started the same way: pull a prospect list, research each company manually, write personalised first lines, score for fit, and load into the email tool. A good SDR could work through 20–30 prospects a day. The research was inconsistent, the personalisation was shallow, and the fit scoring was mostly gut feel.
For smaller teams running outbound themselves — founders, sales leads — the same problem was worse. No dedicated resource and no time to build a proper process. Most outbound was either generic (low reply rates) or so time-consuming it wasn't worth doing consistently.
The Build
A pipeline that runs without anyone watching.
Signal Hooks is a multi-stage n8n workflow. A prospect list comes in — company name, domain, or LinkedIn URL. Clay handles enrichment: technographics, firmographics, funding signals, job change triggers, and recent news. That data feeds a Claude API scoring step that evaluates fit against a configurable ICP and produces a score with reasoning.
High-scoring prospects move to the personalisation stage. Claude writes a first line and a short message variant tailored to the specific signal that triggered the score — a funding round, a new hire, a technology install. The output lands in Instantly, ready for sequence launch.
The whole pipeline runs on a schedule — new prospects are processed overnight and the SDR arrives to a prioritised, ready-to-send queue.
The Result
Research automated. Sequences personalised. Every day.
Prospect research dropped to zero manual steps. Every contact that enters the pipeline exits with enrichment data, an ICP fit score, a signal-based first line, and a sequence draft. What used to take a full working day happens automatically, overnight.
Reply rates improved because the personalisation is grounded in a real, recent signal — not a generic "I noticed you're at [company]" opener. The fit scoring also means the SDR's attention goes to the accounts worth pursuing, not the ones that happen to be first on the list.
Stack
What it was built with.
Why this matters
Signal Hooks is a production system, not a prototype. It handles real prospect data, runs on a schedule without supervision, and feeds an active outbound programme. If you have an outbound workflow that still depends on manual research, this is the build that replaces it.
Want an outbound engine for your workflow?