How BambooHR Doubled Conversion Rates Without Adding a Single New Lead Source

Client: BambooHR
Industry: HR Software
ICP Fit: Mid-market companies ready to move beyond inbound-only growth
Challenge: BambooHR had inbound dialed in but needed to build an outbound motion from scratch, with a senior team that had never done account-based marketing and no bandwidth to slow down while learning it.
Solution: Scrappy ABM built the playbooks, improved the targeting, and handed BambooHR a system their team could run without an agency.
Impact:

• ABM accounts converted at double the rate of the rest of the outbound pipeline
• Re-engaging lost accounts became the highest-revenue program on the entire outbound team
• Marketing and sales aligned around building experiences for specific accounts instead of blasting the same message to everyone
• The team now owns and runs the full ABM program independently

The Challenge:

A High-Volume Machine Without an Outbound Operating System

BambooHR wasn't starting from zero.

They had a strong inbound program, a recognizable brand in the HR software space, and a senior marketing team that knew how to generate demand. The leads were coming in, but inbound has a ceiling.

As BambooHR started pushing upmarket, the cracks became visible. The team was generating more leads than they could work, with no system for deciding which accounts deserved the most attention.

Sales and marketing were also operating on different targets. There was no way to measure whether programs were contributing to pipeline, and the accounts worth winning were getting the same experience as everyone else.

The bigger problem was that nobody on the team had built an outbound account-based motion before. Hannah Forson, Senior Manager of Demand Generation, had ABM experience from previous companies, but she couldn't spend her days training a senior team through a new motion while the business kept moving.

Here's where things weren't working:

• No outbound operating system: The team knew how to do inbound. Account-based outbound was a different skill set with no playbook to follow.
• More leads than the team could work: Volume was high, but prioritization was nonexistent, so the most valuable accounts weren't getting the most attention.
• No pipeline visibility: There was no reliable way to connect marketing programs to pipeline or revenue outcomes.
• Targeting inconsistencies: Account lists didn't match between platforms, making it hard to know who was being reached.
• No bandwidth to build and run at the same time: Leadership needed the team to keep performing while learning an entirely new motion from scratch.

Bamboo needed someone who had done this before and could build the system while the business continued to run.

The Solution:

Build the Operating System, Then Hand It to the Team

BambooHR needed a system to make the activity they were doing work.

From the start, the goal was to build something their team could own and operate long after Scrappy ABM stepped back. Using the 4D Framework and Account Progression Model, here's what changed.

Data:

Before building any plays, we needed to know which accounts deserved the most attention.

We ran a best-customer profile analysis using close-won data, churn history, and active-customer patterns to define what a great-fit account looked like. From there, we built the target account list and target customer profile from scratch, giving the team a foundation to build on rather than guessing.

We also fixed the targeting inconsistencies that were creating blind spots. Account lists didn't match between Salesforce and 6Sense, which meant programs were targeting the wrong audiences. Getting those systems aligned gave the team confidence that what they were putting into the market was reaching the right people.

Distribution:

Once the right accounts were defined, we built the motions to reach them.

Each activation play was documented as a flowchart with a defined target, channel plan, conversion point, and tracking path, so the team could run it without having to rebuild from scratch each time. Nothing lived in someone's head or required institutional knowledge to execute.

One of the most impactful plays from this phase was closed-loss re-engagement. BambooHR had a database full of accounts that had shown interest but didn't convert the first time. Instead of leaving them cold, we created a dedicated play to bring them back, which became the team's highest-revenue outbound program.

Destination:

With plays in place, the next step was making sure the message reflected the relationship.

Instead of sending the same content to every account, each segment received communication tailored to their situation. A cold target account heard something different than a company that had already been in a sales conversation.

The shift was from blasting messages to creating progressive experiences, moving accounts from low awareness to interest through a sequence that made sense for where they were.

Direction:

The last piece was making sure none of this was a black box.

Plays were documented, accounts were tracked, and programs were tied to pipeline so the team could see what was contributing to revenue. Sales and marketing were looking at the same accounts with the same targets, which made it possible to coordinate instead of collide.

For the first time, the team had a solid picture of what was in market, who it was reaching, and what was happening as a result.

The Lasting Impact:

Before vs. After

BambooHR no longer relies on a high-volume inbound machine as its only path to revenue. They have a documented account-based operating system, a team that knows how to run it, and a pipeline that reflects the quality of accounts they're going after.

Before Scrappy ABM:

• No outbound ABM motion and no playbook to build one from
• More leads than the team could work with, and no system for prioritizing the right accounts
• Account lists mismatched across systems, creating blind spots in targeting
• No way to connect marketing programs to pipeline or revenue outcomes
• A senior team with no prior ABM experience or bandwidth to learn on the job

After Scrappy ABM:

• A fully documented ABM operating system built as flowcharts the whole team can follow
• Closed-loss re-engagement running as the highest-revenue outbound program on the team
• ABM accounts converting at 2x the rate of standard outbound
• Sales and marketing aligned around the same accounts with full visibility into what's in market
• A foundation in place to get creative with the accounts that matter most