Field Report / 001Verified"Well I really appreciate having you on as a partner. This stuff I wouldn't be able to do without bouncing it off of you back and forth and you being there to coach them."
How FusionAuth nearly doubled SDR connect rates and turned sales training into an outbound operating system
SD Lab embedded a progressive coaching and execution system across targeting, messaging, cold calling, campaign construction, call review and pipeline inspection — then helped FusionAuth turn it into a durable operating cadence.
~4% → 7.73% connect rate
Proof point 01
Nooks dashboard · baseline client-reported
1,411 dials · 3 meetings set
Proof point 02
Nooks export · independently verified
Jul 7–30, 2026 reporting window
Proof point 03
Nooks export · independently verified
Report thesisTraining only pays when it becomes operating behavior — FusionAuth is the engagement where a workshop earned enough trust to become the outbound operating system, and then the leadership cadence around it.
- Outbound System
- SDR Leadership
- Coaching
- Pipeline
- Industry
- B2B SaaS | Identity & Access Management
- Engagement
- SDR Summit → Revenue Rebuild → Embedded Outbound Advisory
- Dates
- Apr–Aug 2026
The engagement began as a $4,500 SDR Summit, expanded into a $22,500 Revenue Rebuild, and continued through a $7,500 August advisory extension.
Artifacts from the work
A compact view of the engagement record. Open any item to inspect it.
What was actually happening
FusionAuth had SDR talent and outbound activity, but the motion lacked consistency, structure, inspection and a unified operating rhythm. Manual dialing, inconsistent call volume, limited visibility and underdeveloped messaging made it difficult to know whether the team needed more effort or a better system.
What we found
The issue was not simply hustle. Targeting, messaging, live-call behavior, tooling, feedback loops and leadership cadence all needed to work together. SD Lab reframed the engagement from isolated sales training into a working Revenue Rebuild.
Outreach was aimed at broad engineering titles rather than a defined buying context.
Relevance could not be proven on a call, so connect quality stayed low regardless of dial volume.
Dialing was manual and volume swung week to week with no floor.
There was no stable denominator, which made every performance conversation anecdotal.
Calls were happening but not being reviewed against a shared standard.
Coaching stayed general. Nothing compounded from one week into the next.
Leadership had no recurring inspection point between the rep's activity and the pipeline.
Problems surfaced at the end of the month instead of during the week they were created.
What we built
- Account and persona prioritization frameworks
- 3x3 research and relevance system
- Rep-owned weekly outbound plays
- Cold-calling and discovery coaching using live execution
- Azure AD B2C competitor-displacement play
- June multichannel outbound campaign across email, LinkedIn and phone
- Gong review, ride-along and weekly commitment feedback loops
- Rep scoreboards and pipeline operating reviews
- Nooks-supported dialing and performance visibility
How the work ran
The engagement progressed from workshop → assignment → live execution → inspection → refinement. Ethan and Nico submitted plays and calls, worked from real accounts and campaigns, and received coaching against what was happening in the field rather than hypothetical scripts.
- 01WorkshopThe mechanic gets taught in the room, not mailed as a deck.
- 02AssignmentEach rep leaves with a play they own and submit.
- 03Live executionThe play runs against real accounts that week.
- 04InspectionCalls, plays and activity are reviewed against what actually happened.
- 05RefinementThe system changes based on the field, then repeats.
Receipts from the engagement
The April Summit deck that opened the engagement and framed targeting, messaging and execution as one system.
The competitor rip-out play — how to run operationally-driven outbound conversations around forced migration pressure.
Campaign construction session. Target accounts, prospect mapping, sequence, LinkedIn messaging and call track built in the room.
The six-week arc of the rebuild, reviewed with the team before execution month began.
The per-rep performance panel used for weekly inspection. This panel shows a different reporting window than the figures cited in Results.
How the team operates now
FusionAuth moved from fragmented outbound activity toward an inspectable operating system. Ethan described June/July as the most outbound progress the team had seen to date, including a doubled connect rate and outbound meetings. Nico described clearer structure, stronger relevance and a process he could repeat.
Outreach to broadly engineering-related titles with no proven relevance
Prioritized accounts and personas with a 3x3 research standard behind every touch
Manual dialing with volume that swung week to week
Nooks-supported dialing with a visible per-rep performance panel
General feedback disconnected from live calls
Weekly review of submitted plays and recorded calls against a shared standard
Performance discussed at month end
Weekly inspection of activity, plays and pipeline in a recurring operating review
What we can verify
- Connect rate improved from approximately 4% to 7.73% for Ethan (baseline client-reported; 7.73% from the Nooks dashboard)
- 1,411 dials placed between July 7 and July 30, 2026 (verified in the Nooks export)
- 3 meetings set in that window (verified as Meeting Set dispositions in the Nooks export)
- 109 connects and 37 conversations across the same window (Nooks dashboard figures)
- Weekly leadership and rep coaching cadence became established
- Reps submitted weekly outbound plays and worked from real accounts under review
- The team can run the workshop → assignment → execution → inspection loop without SD Lab in the room
- Reps build a multichannel campaign from target accounts through sequence and call track
- A competitor-displacement play exists and can be re-pointed at other migration events
- Leadership inspects calls and weekly commitments against a documented standard
Dial counts, the reporting window and meetings set were independently verified against the raw Nooks call export. Connect rate, connect count and conversation count are Nooks dashboard figures. The ~4% baseline is client-reported. Quotes are transcript-backed. Workshop goals, meeting targets and modeled pipeline values are not presented as achieved results.
“Definitely in June or July, we saw... the most progress in the outbound motion that we've seen to date... double the connect rate... got some meetings out of it as well. Just always positive.”
“I know that what I'm saying matters to the people that I'm reaching out to. Whereas before, I was just reaching out to anybody engineering related... with no proven relevance.”
What stayed behind
- Progressive workshop curriculum
- Targeting and persona worksheets
- Weekly outbound play submissions
- Cold-call and discovery field guides
- Competitor rip-out playbook
- June campaign build
- SDR coaching playbook
- July Revenue Rebuild plan
- Execution reviews
- Nooks performance reporting
What remained unproven
Every engagement leaves something unresolved. These are the limits of what this report can claim.
- Meetings set is a small absolute number over a single reporting window — durability across quarters is not yet proven
- Hiring, org design and the next phase of the revenue engine were in progress at the time of publication
- A later-phase, client-reported statement from Ben describes Ethan having “at least five or seven” outbound meetings; that figure is client-reported and not independently verified
Sales training becomes valuable when it turns into operating behavior. FusionAuth is the flagship example of SD Lab teaching the system, building it with the reps, inspecting live execution and helping leadership turn it into an ongoing cadence.
The thinking behind this work
- FrameworksMost SDR Coaching Is ReactiveReactive coaching starts after the miss. This is the inspection cadence: daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly. That surfaces the problem while there is still time to change it.Read
- FrameworksThe Constraint Nobody Is Looking AtApparent rep-performance problems are often system constraints. How to tell the difference before you coach, PIP or replace.Read
- FrameworksYou Don't Have an Activity Problem. You Have an Aim ProblemWhy teams can hit activity KPIs while missing pipeline because targeting and prioritization are wrong.Read
More in the Resource Library and on Media.
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Published from the engagement record. Dial counts, window and meetings set were checked against the raw Nooks export; connect rate and conversation counts are Nooks dashboard figures; quotes are transcript-backed. Artifacts are real engagement files.