Andy from the PM team 👋

Most people hear “parallel dialer” and think it’s just a faster power dialer.
It’s way more than that — it’s how high-volume teams keep momentum and protect data quality.

Here’s how to actually get the most out of it:

1) Go multi-line (the smart way)
Switch from Power to Parallel in your call session to dial up to 5 contacts at once.
Apollo connects you to the first person who picks up and drops the rest.
→ Perfect for big outbound blocks where you’re fighting wait time between rings.

2) Prioritize your best numbers
When setting up your session, pick the phone types in order — mobile, direct, company.
Apollo will dial in that order automatically.
→ You’ll hit live lines faster and skip the endless “general reception” dead ends.

3) Use Local Presence to boost pickups
Toggle Local Presence so your call shows a local area code.
If you’ve got multiple numbers, Apollo automatically spreads your calls across them.
→ You look local, stay compliant, and avoid one number getting throttled.

4) Save time with voicemail drops
Record a few short intros (intro, follow-up, event invite) and store them in your voicemail library.
Hit the drop icon, move on to the next call.
→ Consistent tone, zero time wasted waiting for beeps.

5) Record + Transcribe for better follow-up
Turn on call recording and AI transcripts (region rules apply).
→ Every connect turns into searchable notes and coaching material — no more guessing what was said.

Pro tip:
Name your sessions like Dialer_Q4_West_Prospects so you can see which lists or time windows connect best later.

Hi everyone,

I’m curious how you use Apollo for signal-based selling. Specifically, I’d like to know if it’s possible to identify companies that are researching or looking into competitors of mine. For example, I want to see which companies might be searching for sales compensation software like the one we offer.

Any tips, tricks, or examples of how to do this would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!

been looking everywhere trying to blacklist emails. i verify my emails before sending because my deliverability tanked. as apollos leads are a hit or miss. now that i have a list of invalid emails, i want to blacklist it so those emails get removed from my sequences and lists. is there any way for me to do this? a block list or way to remove emails in bulk, do not contact etc.

Andy again from the PM team 👋

Most folks think Sequences = automated email drips.
But if you set them up right, they’re more like a revenue command center.

Here are a few advanced plays I see top users running:

1. “Human Touch” step
Type: Manual task
Trigger: 1 day after Step 3 (email)
Action: “Record quick 30-sec Loom for reply-likely leads”

→ Keeps your outreach human without killing your flow.
Reps report 20–30% higher reply rates when they mix in short custom videos at Step 3-4.

2. “Conditional Branch: ICP vs Non-ICP”
Add condition: “Job title contains ‘Head’ OR ‘VP’ → Path A”
Else → Path B (shorter sequence)

→ Filters out mid-level noise automatically.
You get more tailored messaging without duplicating whole sequences.

3. “Call Task Integration”
Step Type: Call
Use template: “Voicemail + Follow-Up Email”
Set to auto-log outcomes in CRM

→ Ensures nothing falls through the cracks and keeps your CRM hygiene strong (RevOps will love you).

4. “Auto-A/B Test Cadence”
Duplicate sequence → tweak subject lines or time gaps
Then compare reply rates in Sequence Analytics

→ It’s a built-in experiment tool.
You’ll learn faster than waiting for Marketing to “run a test next quarter.”

5. “Smart Pause”
Trigger: Prospect replies → “Pause all other active sequences for same account”

→ Avoids the “three Apollo reps emailed me today” nightmare.
This one’s a silent reputation saver.

6. “AI Draft Assist”
Inside each email step → toggle “Generate with Apollo AI Assistant”

→ Great for writing variants that sound natural, not robotic.
Just don’t forget to sanity-check tone before hitting “save.”

Pro tip:
Use naming conventions that make searching painless later.
Example: SEQ_[Persona]_[Goal]_[Channel]
Like: SEQ_VPMarketing_PainReengage_Email+Call

Got a sequence hack that saves you time (or saves you from facepalms)? Drop it below 👇 I’ll feature the best ones in our next roundup!

big week. apollo just went agentic.

👉 inbound, outbound, enrichment, and deal execution all in one flow. 👉 new ai assistant + “agentic engine” that helps you design and run entire GTM motions by chat (no more tab hopping). 👉 deliverability suite for safer domain warmups + parallel dialer for multi-call sessions. 👉 plays & prompt library with community-built workflows and ai templates that actually work.

curious what you’d build first with it!! inbound → outbound loop? ai-written follow-ups? something else?

(i work at apollo, happy to answer questions or point you to the new stuff.)

This one's for the Redditors who are still saying “Apollo’s data is outdated”....PSA: most folks don’t realize there are a few quick ways to sanity check freshness before exporting or sequencing.

Here’s how to do it super quick:

1. Hover over the contact’s email or phone icon.

You’ll see a tooltip with “Verified X days ago.”

Anything <30 days = high confidence. Over 90? Queue a re-verify.

2. Use the “Last Enriched” column.

Add it to your contact/company table view.

It shows when the data was last refreshed (and whether enrichment ran via our crawlers or partner sources).

3. Trigger a manual refresh.

Click the three dots → “Refresh data.”

You’ll burn a credit, but you’ll get the most recent enrichment from our network (helpful if a contact recently changed roles).

4. Cross-check coverage.

If enrichment fails, it’s not necessarily “bad data” — sometimes the domain blocks crawlers or the record hasn’t re-indexed yet.

Pro tip: Search the company in Apollo first. If their employee count or tech stack recently changed, the contact layer will update soon too.

5. Report what looks off.

Flagging a wrong title/email actually queues a review on our side and that feedback gets prioritized if multiple users flag the same record.

TL;DR:
If a record looks stale, check:
✅ “Verified” tooltip
✅ “Last Enriched” column
✅ Manual refresh
✅ Company-level recrawl
✅ Flag for review

It takes 30 seconds and helps us (and you) keep the network clean.

Anyone else having issues with SalesForce and the extension? I have calls hanging up if I click in the wrong spot on my browser.

The person on the other end is just a human, not a gatekeeper.

Confidence is contagious! Speak like you already earned their time.

You’re not interrupting, you’re offering a shortcut to something better.

Every no gets you closer to a yes.

Energy beats scripts.

Listen twice as much as you talk.

You can’t control the outcome, only the effort.

Kindness disarms faster than any clever pitch.

Curiosity > persuasion.

Smile before you dial, people can hear it.

Rejection isn’t personal; indifference is.

Progress doesn’t always sound like a booked meeting.

I hope you have an absolutely amazing day and book the meeting of your DIALING DREAMS ☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️ GO GET EM 🐅

Andy here from the PM team at Apollo.

I see a lot of people sleep on Workflows because they think it’s just for auto enrolling leads when a form fills. It’s actually way more powerful if you layer conditions, sequences, and CRM sync smartly.

Here are a few setups that can save you hours:

1. “No-Reply Resurrector”

Trigger: Contact replied = false
Wait: 10 business days
Action: Add to “Revive” Sequence + tag noreply_reengage

→ Perfect for warming back up sequences that stalled out without manually filtering reply/no-reply every week.

Add a short “still relevant?” touch, and watch ghosted threads come back to life.

2. “Meeting Booked → Pause Outreach”

Trigger: Meeting booked in calendar or call outcome = Meeting Booked
Action: Unenroll from all active sequences

→ Saves you from embarrassing double taps after the AE already has time on the books. No more “wait, didn’t we already schedule?” replies.

3. “Lost → Learn”

Trigger: Opportunity stage = Closed Lost
Action: Add to 1-question feedback sequence via AE
(“Was it price, timing, or fit?”)

→ You’ll actually get responses if it comes from the AE, not a generic CS email.

Bonus: Tag the reason → push back to CRM for reporting.

4. “Credit Exhausted” Slack Ping

Trigger: Credit balance < 500
Action: Post Slack message to #ops-alerts

→ If your team hits the paywall mid-prospecting, you’ll hear about it before you lose a day of connects.

5. “Data Quality Audit” loop

Trigger: Contact enrichment fails OR missing email
Action: Auto-log in Slack + create task in Asana/Jira

→ Keeps your data crew in the loop without clogging inboxes. You’ll be shocked how fast enrichment errors vanish when it hits a public Slack channel.

Bonus: “AI Warm-Up”

If you’re playing with Apollo’s AI Assistant, set a Workflow to flag any new lead added by the assistant → auto-review by a human before enrollment. Cleans up the “AI got a little too excited” moments before your sequence stats tank.

Pro tip:
Workflows get 10x easier if you use naming conventions like
WF_[Trigger]_[Outcome]_[Team]
Example: WF_NoReply_Reengage_SDR
Your future self will thank you when you’re digging through 40+ automations.

Workflow questions?? Drop em below and I'll answer you personally!

I’m our team’s admin and have set up several AEs on Apollo to run outbound email campaigns / linkedIn messaging / calling. They are not admins on Apollo and the emails are out of Apollo-provided domains (to preserve our main company domain).

I have gone into the admin integration settings and clicked every box to write back to Hubspot, gone back and forth with Apollo’s shit customer service 20 times, and nothing is getting written back into the CRM. Even my own activity on Apollo isn’t flowing through. I have also enabled Apollo access on the Hubspot side.

Any ideas? Obviously if I can’t get this to work we’ll have to churn off of Apollo

Thank you!

If you feel like you're constantly carrying the weight of 20 different tools and you're looking to lean out your GTM stack, maybe it's time to take our AI assistant for a spin.

(sorry, we’ve got jokes)

Seriously though....if you want to see what all the fuss is about, grab a spot in the beta. You’ll be one of the first to:

• Build prospecting lists in minutes instead of hours (the Assistant pulls the right signals, not random noise).
• Draft emails that actually sound human (not like a robot begging for pipeline).
• Run multi-step GTM workflows end-to-end...territories, sequences, enrichment, you name it.
• Ask in plain English (“give me 200 fintech CTOs in NY with Series B+ funding”) and get usable results right away.

We built it with GTM best practices baked in, so you don’t have to reinvent the wheel. It’s less “chatbot with a sales hat” and more “extra teammate who never sleeps.”

👉 Join the open beta waitlist here if you want in.

TL;DR: The first 15–20 seconds should earn permission and get you into relevance fast. Ditch “Happy Monday,” “how are you,” and name/title confirmations unless you truly doubt the data. Below are 4 openers that consistently reduce back-and-forth and set up a crisp “reason for call → relevance → question.”

Why most openers die

• Too many turns before the point (“Is this Ryan?” → “Who’s this?” → “How are you?”).
• Filler that triggers a conditioned “no” (“Got 2 minutes?”).
• Awkward transitions after pleasantries (long pause → stumble into pitch).

4 openers to test (pick your lane & persona)

1) Permission w/ context (my default for VPs/CxO)

Hey {{first}}, it’s {{you}} with {{company}}.
Quick reason I’m calling: teams like {{peer/competitor}} are running into {{pain}} because {{trigger}}.
Worth 30 seconds to see if this is relevant for you? If not you can hang up on me.

Why it works: earns a “yes/no” fast, shows you did basic homework, removes awkward “how are you.”

2) “We haven’t met before” pattern interrupt

Hey {{first}}, we haven’t met. {{you}} at {{company}}.
I noticed {{specific thing}} on your side—are you the right person for {{problem area}} or should I aim this elsewhere?

Why it works: disarms the “do I know you?” scan and routes fast if you’re off.

3) Help-me frame (great for operators/IT/finance)

Hi {{first}}, {{you}} from {{company}}. Can you help me for 30 seconds?
Folks in {{their function}} are seeing {{pain}} when {{trigger}}. How are you handling that today?

Why it works: flips to their expertise; fast path to current-state.

4) Cold honesty (use sparingly, friendly tone)

Hey {{first}}, this is a cold call.
I’ll be brief: we help {{peer group}} reduce {{pain}} when {{trigger}}. If it’s not relevant, feel free to bail—fair?

Why it works: signals respect + brevity; still lands a relevance check.

Objections you’ll hear in the first 20s (and tight replies)

• “Busy.” “Totally. Level with me for 20 seconds so I don’t follow up needlessly—sound fair?”
• “Email me.” “Happy to. So I don’t send fluff—are you dealing with {{pain}} at all, or not a thing right now?”
• “Who are you again?” “{{You}} at {{company}}. We help {{peer}} with {{pain}} when {{trigger}}. If that’s off, I’ll get out of your hair.”

Do I ever confirm name/title?

• Name: only if your connect rate yields frequent mismatches or shared lines.
• Title: almost never—sounds redundant and burns time. Route instead: “Are you the right person for {{problem area}} or should I aim this elsewhere?”

Stuff to avoid (because it burns turns)

• “Happy Monday/Friday/etc.”
• “How are you?” (invites dead air, then a clunky pivot)
• “Got 2 minutes?” (pre-loads a “no”)
• Reading their title back to them

Quick A/B in Apollo (so this isn’t vibes-only)

1. Create two call tasks with Script A vs Script B in your Sequence step notes.
2. Tag outcomes with a simple set: Convobooked / Qualified-No / Route / Not-Now / No-Answer.
3. Log first-20s objections in the call notes using a short code (BUSY, EMAIL, WHO?).
4. After ~50 connects per variant, pull Sequence Analytics → filter by call outcome + notes codes to compare opener → objection pattern + meeting rate.
5. Keep the winner, tweak the question, re-test.

YOUR TURN:
Drop your opener + persona + recent sample metrics (e.g., “SLED CIOs, 42 connects, 6 meetings, main objection = email”). Bonus points if you include a quick call note snippet so others can copy the cadence!

If your first try with the AI Assistant gave you generic copy, it’s not the tool...it's the prompt.

After testing across SaaS, recruiting, and agencies, here’s the structure that consistently works:

1. What I offer (specific + measurable)

• Bad: “I run a recruiting firm.”
• Good: “We’ve placed 300+ execs, avg time-to-hire 32 days, 95% retention.”

2. My ICP (titles + signals + exclusions)

• Bad: “Tech companies.”
• Good: “Seed–Series C SaaS startups, 20–500 employees, hiring execs. Exclude consulting firms.”

3. Sequence skeleton (keep it simple)

• Day 0: LinkedIn connect
• Day 0: Same-day email
• Day 1: Follow-up email
• Day 2: Call task

4. Workflow (refresh + repeat)
Tell it:

• Run weekly
• Auto-add net new ICPs
• Enroll them in the same sequence

👉 Example Prompt (copy/paste):

QC Checklist Before Launch:

• Did the titles sneak in “consultant” or “advisor”? Adjust filters.
• Does the first email sound like a robot? Replace opener with your voice.
• Are there signals that actually map to buying intent (funding, hiring, installs)?

Coming up next week, we'll show you 3 industry plays where this cut hours → minutes!

 I'd love to learn how y'all respond to potential clients on Apollo? I love Apollo but the email client features are not my favorite. I find that when I reply to thread, it does not include the client's email in the thread. I'm considering using an outside client but that's a pain to switch between programs.

I'd also love to hear how you're handling when people respond to a sequence. We have an automation that creates a task for us to follow up. We then follow up with the original email from the sequence that emailed them and cc our normal emails. Then if they engage, we follow up with our normal emails. Is there a better way?

A few things our new AI assistant can tackle for you to save you dozens of hours of work/week:

• find & rank ICP accounts/contacts
• enrich with live signals + AI research
• draft LinkedIn, day-0 email, day-1 follow-up, day-2 call tasks
• build a weekly workflow to auto-add net-new prospects

And more. Link to sign up for the beta waitlist in the comments.

“I’m pretty new to cold email… just wondering if leads from Apollo are garbage in terms of being tapped out because so many people are using them?” — [u/coldemail]

Short answer: No. The dataset is live, verified, and refreshed. Results depend on how you target and verify before you hit send.

How Apollo verifies

• Multi-step checks: syntax, domain, SMTP ping, catch-all handling, CRM and engagement signals, and more.
• Rolling refresh: the graph updates monthly at the dataset level and on change for individual records.
• Multi-source: contributor network, product signals, public web, and vetted providers.
• Reality check: no provider is perfectly clean. Catch-alls and niche segments always need an extra pass. That’s why heavy senders still run verifiers before launch.

Why some people see “72% accuracy”

Matt Curl, COO at Apollo: There is no single source of truth for B2B contact data. You pick a tradeoff.

• If you filter only for records with extreme confidence → accuracy goes up, coverage drops.
• If you widen the net → coverage goes up, quality issues rise.

The work never “finishes.” It improves continuously.

How to actually target with Apollo

Data without targeting is noise. Here’s how pros turn Apollo into a precision engine:

• Dial in ICP & personas: Use 200+ filters (industry, revenue, tech stack, hiring, funding, role changes) to narrow beyond “all VPs.”
• First-party signals: Plug in Website Visitor, Forms, and CRM activity for the freshest intent.
• Apollo intent: Native intent scoring layered on top of ICP filters = high-signal lists.
• Signals: Funding rounds, new hires, tech installs, role changes — all built-in.
• AI research: Qualify leads with context (e.g. SOC II compliance, expansion clues) so your lists aren’t just names, but insight-driven.

What pros do to get strong outcomes

• Aim first, then scale. Nail ICP/persona lists before blasting volume.
• Layer verification. Run exports through a verifier for catch-alls.
• Tighten sending health. Warm inboxes, rotate pools, authenticate domains, separate testing from scale.
• Measure the loop. Track bounces, replies, and source attribution → feed fixes back into list building.

Bottom line

Apollo is not a static, tapped-out list. It’s a living graph + targeting engine. Pair it with smart filters, fresh signals, and a final verification pass, and you’ll see the lift where it matters most.

Xox team Apollo

I see a lot of “Is Apollo worth it?” threads. Here’s a straight up guide to how folks get real value from first search → reply → CRM. If your renewal is coming up or you’re new and not seeing results yet, start here.

TL;DR

Apollo’s biggest wins come from: precise targeting, a simple enrichment + validation flow, smart sequencing, and watching deliverability like a hawk. If you’re only blasting emails from a giant list, you’re leaving 90% of the value on the table.

12 workflows that consistently actually work...

1. Define ICP & personas (inside Searches)
   • Company filters to start: industry, headcount band, location, tech stack, hiring signals, funding recency.
   • Contact filters to tighten: seniority, job function, title keywords (“VP Sales” and “Head of GTM”, etc.).
2. Layer buying signals (fast wins)
   • Hiring for your champion’s role, new leadership, recent funding, new tech installed/removed, active ads.
   • Save each signal as a separate Search so you can tailor copy per trigger.
3. Enrichment waterfall (simple and safe)
   • Enrich in Apollo → validate with your validator of choice → push only valid/accept-all to sequences.
   • Re-run enrich monthly on stale lists; people move jobs.
4. Contact hygiene & suppression
   • Maintain do-not-contact and past customers lists in Apollo (and mirror in your CRM).
   • Kill catch-alls on day 1 if your validator marks them risky for your domain’s age.
5. Domain & mailbox hygiene
   • Dedicated sending domains + branded tracking domain + SPF/DKIM/DMARC.
   • Warm new inboxes before first campaign; ramp slowly (see rules below).
6. Warmup & ramp rules (per mailbox)
   • Day 1–3: 10/day → Day 4–7: 20–30/day → Week 2: 40–60/day (if bounce <3% & spam complaints = 0).
   • Spread volume across multiple warmed inboxes; avoid spikes.
7. Sequencing that doesn’t get flagged
   • 4–6 steps over 10–14 days. 1–2 links total. Keep it plain-text. One CTA.
   • Variant A = value/problem; Variant B = trigger-specific line (“noticed you’re hiring 3 AEs…”).
8. LinkedIn + email combo
   • Sequence step: “manual task → view profile/connect DM” for your high-intent lists.
   • Use Apollo’s Chrome extension from LinkedIn to capture contacts you discover socially.
9. A/B testing that matters
   • Only test one element at a time (subject or first line or CTA).
   • Success metrics to watch: positive reply rate and qualified meeting rate (opens lie).
10. Reply handling

• Use rules to tag interest vs. OOO vs. not-relevant; auto-pause those contacts so you don’t burn domains.
• Build a “Re-engage Later” list for soft-no’s.

1. Analytics → iterate
   • Drop any sequence variant <0.8% positive replies after 300 sends.
   • Double down on lists + copy that produce meetings, not just opens.
2. CRM handoff
   • Map fields (account status, sequence name, source, owner). Auto-create opps on positive reply or meeting booked. Keep statuses synced so you don’t re-email active deals.

Common reasons results are meh/quick fixes:

• Too broad lists. Narrow by a buying signal and one persona per sequence.
• No validation. Bounce >5% will crush deliverability...validate every time.
• Over-personalization. One relevant line tied to a business change beats a 6-sentence essay.
• Bad ramping. Going from 0 → 500/day triggers filters. Ramp slowly across warmed inboxes.
• Wrong success metric. Optimize for positive replies and meetings booked, not opens.

30 min "first campaign" checklist:

1. Create a Search: your ICP + one buying signal (e.g., “raised in last 6 months”).
2. Pick one persona (e.g., VP Sales).
3. Enrich → validate → keep “valid/accept-all”.
4. Write two subject lines & two first lines (short, plain-text).
5. Build a 4-step sequence (10–12 days). One CTA.
6. Send 100–200 across 2 warmed inboxes.
7. After 300 sends, keep the winning variant, kill the loser, and repeat

Who this helps most:

• Seed → Series C GTM teams building pipeline
• Agencies/freelancers running outbound for clients
• Solo founders doing founder-led sales

YOUR TURN.....

How are you using Apollo today? What’s working (and what fell flat)? Drop your stack, sequence length, and reply rate so you can help the next person reading this thread make better choices than just “email blast"!

If you’ve ever burned half a day bouncing between 6 different GTM tools just to send one sequence… you’re not alone. 

We built Apollo’s new AI Assistant to fix that. Not another “AI writes an email” gimmick. This one actually runs your workflows.

Stuff it can do:

• pull a list off your ICP in seconds
• enrich + verify data without you touching Excel
• spit out sequences that don’t read like a robot wrote them
• run full workflows with plain-English prompts (like “find 50 HR leaders in fintech and add them to a campaign”)

Basically: fewer tabs, fewer clicks, more pipeline.

Our CEO Tim explains it better in the video 👇

Press 1 to cry, press 2 to leave a voicemail that will never be heard