Case studies / Brainstorm
How Brainstorm scaled with its co-founder out of sales.
“JM gets me some of the best leads in my 15+ years of sales. Every call is a legit business owner with real problems and real needs. I actually told him he could loosen the qualification criteria some (first time I’ve ever told a marketer that).”
AI automation and custom software firm, South Florida
Brainstorm had grown on referrals and never run an ad. We built a Meta funnel, scaled it to $12k a month in ad spend, and recruited, placed and ramped a professional account executive. Every booked call now goes to the AE. The co-founder is out of the sales process.
$12k
Monthly ad spend
Up from $0.
72
Sales calls booked
30 in the best month.
$75
Cost per lead
28 leads in a single week.
28 of 28
Calls run by the AE
Every call booked since the handover.
Where they started
The co-founder was the sales team.
Brainstorm builds CRM, ecommerce, data and AI systems for mid-market companies. Every new client came through the founders’ network. Zach Campbell ran sales himself, alongside everything else a co-founder does.
- “My partner and I play a ton of golf. We belong to some fancy-schmancy clubs and, you know, get a lot of new business that way.”
- “I’m primarily the one responsible for sales.”
- “We’ve never marketed. We’ve never done any ads.”
- “Our sales infrastructure is non-existent, but ready to hire to it.”
Zach Campbell, co-founder, Brainstorm.
What was in the way
Two constraints.
- Not enough lead flow. Referrals closed well, but there weren’t enough of them, and nothing brought in buyers who didn’t already know Zach.
- The co-founder didn’t have time to take all the calls. Every sale ran through Zach, on top of running the business.
We worked on those two constraints and left the rest alone.
“Even more important than the actual number of clients, I think having it be not dependent on you in any way and not being a key man risk is going to be really important.”
What we built
A sales system that runs without the co-founder.
- Offer
- A “Business OS” offer for mid-market companies, with AI automation as the way in.
- Funnel
- Unbranded Meta ads to business owners, a short qualifying form, then a book-a-call page. Live a week after kickoff.
- SDR team
- Our SDRs call every qualified lead who doesn’t book on their own.
- Sales process
- A 3‑call close: discovery, presentation, go or no-go. A show-rate playbook before every call.
- Account executive
- We wrote the role, found the candidate through our network and introduced him. He took his first booked calls three weeks later.
- Handover
- Every booking link then went to the AE. The co-founder’s calendar is out of the funnel.
- ABusiness OS offer
- BMeta adsUnbranded, to business owners
- Fit?The qualifier checks role and company fit on a short form. If yes, continue to C.
- If no: Not a fit
- CBook-a-call page
- DSDR calls the lead
- ESales callAE runs the 3‑call close
- Feedback loop with step E: Expert sales trainerReviews the recorded call. Feedback goes into the next one.
- FSigned client
Results
A company that keeps scaling, with an AE on the calls and the co-founder out of sales.
| Metric | Before | After |
|---|---|---|
| Where new clients came from | Referrals only | Meta funnel |
| Monthly ad spend | $0 | $12k |
| Sales calls booked | None from ads | 72 in 14 weeks |
| Cost per booked call | None | $497 |
| First deal from cold traffic | None | Closed in 4 calls |
| Who runs sales calls | Co-founder | Professional AE, every call |
“I’m amazed that I’m getting business decision makers on so many of these calls.”
What comes next
One problem, one campaign.
Most of the AE’s proposals are for the same thing: an executive dashboard that pulls every tool into one view. The next tests are video ads recorded by the AE and a campaign built around that request, so the working funnel stays untouched.
Timeline
Start
Evaluation call. Growth plan presented.
Week 1
Kickoff and offer workshop. Meta funnel live seven days later.
Month 1
14 calls booked. 3‑call close and show-rate playbook installed.
Month 2
30 calls booked. AE role written and candidate introduced. AE on the calendar three weeks later.
Month 3
All bookings go to the AE. First deal closed in 4 calls. Spend reaches $12k a month. 28 leads in one week, at $75 each.
Now
The AE runs his own booking calendar. Engagement continues.
In their words
“We have the execution running on its own, but now I need the growth running on its own.”
“I just think this is going to work with a good salesperson, this works really well.”