Here’s an AI Lead Generation Tool Stack & Workflow I’m Liking

There are tons of AI SDRs, BDRs and all-in-one sales tools out there. I don’t know that there’s one perfect stack, I think it’s all kind of customized to what you want.

From what I’ve learned and read, you want one central CRM to keep everything together and in one hub – and for me that’s HubSpot. But smaller stacks could very well go through a spreadsheet or another CRM to get started.

Why build a multi-tool stack vs going with an all-in-one?

My personal preference at the moment is to be able to manage the discrete steps and parts of the process as I try to dial it in.

In the past I used an automated software that did get me sending cold emails out, but I was a bit dependent on how they built their internal software.

My preference is to ideate on a target lead list, generate the list, enrich it, curate it, and work it over a period of 3-6 months in a multi-touch campaign, with variable engagement moments. I sometimes prefer a slow onramp, sometimes get inspired to go right for the punches.

All that being said, if I had to limit myself to an all-in-one stack, I would personally go with HubSpot as much as possible, with Apollo as a close, cheaper 2nd. I’m aware of some AI SDRs – Artisan AI is the only brand I can recall at the moment (take notes) – but I have not trialed any yet. I’ve used Apollo.io for years for lead identification and email outreach automation purposes, but I have not yet used Apollo for a 50%+ AI-powered campaign.

End Goal(s) from this stack:

Here’s a quick rundown of my goals and problems I’m seeking to solve, using the tool stack and the process.

• The primary end goal of this stack is to identify a really manageable, solid ABM list of companies to go after for B2B agency services lead generation purposes.
• My personal preference is about 30-100 manageable targets in a singular market segment of an industry.
• I want to find the highest value balance of value generated, at or above the minimum acceptable quality and quantity level.

I may expand on this more in future posts or an expanded version of this one. This is a bit of a brain dump, but it’s very much in the zeitgeist of the general Silicon Valley / X / sales/marketing crossover worlds.

My Current AI Lead Generation Tool Stack:

1. HubSpot: As the core CRM for prospects at every stage in our orbit
2. HubSpot Chrome Extension: For easily logging websites of prospects when visiting the web.
3. Google Sheet: As a primary tracker of ABM targets with flexible columns for easy data organization and as a parallel compendium to HubSpot CRM in many cases.
4. Apollo.io Platform: For primary contact & company database.
5. Apollo.io Chrome Extension: For adding contacts from LinkedIn.
6. ChatGPT: For brainstorming and ideating on seed lists of companies & people in target industries.
7. Crunchbase Pro: For identifying & enriching company lists at scale, pulling in SEMrush data at scale.
8. Exa Websets: For building broad initial contacts and companies lists, pulling data directly from web crawls. Loving this for ideation and structure. Has built-in enrichment and waterfall enrichment options. AI prompting engine and enrichment built in.
9. Gumloop: Don’t have this fully in production, but have a lot of workflows in build mode here. Very powerful and promising, but takes additional thinking and tinkering vs using off-the-shelf software.