In the cockpit
In this conversation, I sat next to Wouter, an entrepreneur who built a company with nineteen employees and more than a hundred clients in just four and a half years. His mission: to unburden sales departments with campaigns that look surprisingly simple, but are highly effective.
The Leap of Faith
Wouter started in the middle of the COVID period. While many companies saw their sales grind to a halt, he built an alternative. Not call centers or anonymous lead factories, but personal, hyper-targeted emails sent in the name of the account manager.
The idea arose almost by coincidence but turned out to be gold: 40% response rates, up to 70% open rates, and above all – warm contacts that the account manager could personally follow up on.
Research confirms this: personalized outreach significantly outperforms generic campaigns because relevance and timing are crucial factors in breaking through commercial noise (Bhatia & Yetton, 2020).
The Flywheel of Growth
His approach works best with traditional companies, where sales often still run “on gut feeling” and with little structure.
That is where Wouter and his team make the difference: manually built lists, carefully chosen words, and always a human tone. No generic messages, but a first contact that inspires trust.
Trust is the key here. Studies show that the first minutes of a customer relationship disproportionately affect the course of collaboration (Cialdini, 2016). That makes such a first email not a detail, but a flywheel moment.
Two Worlds, One Cockpit
What stays with me from our conversation is how his story aligns with what I do at Add Business. Where my focus is on improving the actual client conversation – the moment where trust is made or broken – Wouter ensures that there are more conversations in the first place. Two sides of the same cockpit: he turns on the radar, I help with the landing.
Lessons from the Sky
- Wouter shared how he learned that “wanting to be liked” can sometimes stand in the way of growth.
- Making choices, daring to ask for prices, while staying true to the belief that you cannot outsource the first contact – that is what sets him apart.
Interestingly, this aligns with research on assertive selling: salespeople who set clear boundaries experience more sustainable customer relationships than those who focus mainly on being liked (Schwepker & Good, 2021).
Conclusion – Charting a Course with Complementary Strength
In the cockpit of commercial growth, it is not the technology or the channel that makes the difference, but the way people connect.
Wouter shows that cold acquisition can become warm again – if you approach it with humanity and intelligence.
References
Bhatia, A., & Yetton, P. (2020). Personalization in B2B sales outreach: Effects on engagement and response rates. Journal of Business Research, 116, 375–386.
Cialdini, R. (2016). Pre-suasion: A revolutionary way to influence and persuade. Simon & Schuster.
Schwepker, C. H., & Good, D. J. (2021). Improving sales performance through ethical assertiveness. Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, 36(13), 76–88.