How Zuora fast tracked 7 figures of closed won ARR with Champify

"Based on our category, prior familiarity and engagement timing are really key in our outbound efforts. Champify was particularly valuable for us because we needed a way to drive quick pipeline at the end of the month from low hanging fruit." - Paul Matthew, Sales Development Manager at Zuora

The Challenge: Long Sales Cycles and Low Account Penetration

Before implementing Champify, Zuora faced several critical challenges:

Extended Sales and Prospecting Cycles: With 10-18 month sales cycles and equally long prospecting periods, the team needed ways to accelerate pipeline generation, especially for end-of-month targets.

Limited Relationship Leverage: While Zuora had strong customer relationships and deep engagement data, there was no scalable way to leverage this familiarity when customers moved to new companies. Their customers love their products, but Zuora was in the dark about exactly who those advocates were.

Difficulty Prioritizing Accounts and Contacts: The team struggled to identify and prioritize the warmest prospects who already understood Zuora's value proposition and had previous buying experience. They have a large TAM so prioritization is important, but difficult. 

The Solution: Leveraging Relationship Intelligence for Warm Outbound

"The level of granularity that Champify can drill into from previous customer data is what makes this all possible. Now when we call past customers at new companies, we know: did they use our billing or revenue product? Were they attached to a closed won opportunity? We can even figure out if the prospect was Zuora certified."

Zuora partnered with Champify to transform their outbound approach by:

Granular Relationship Tracking:

Champify provided detailed insights into previous customer relationships, including:

• Product usage history (billing vs. revenue products)
• Involvement in closed won/lost opportunities
• Zuora certification status (power users who completed training)
• Buying cycle participation and influence level

Salesforce Integration:

All relationship data lives directly in Salesforce, making it more scalable than manual LinkedIn research and ensuring seamless workflow integration and adoption.

Multi-Layered Personalization Strategy:

The team evolved from basic job change outreach to a sophisticated approach combining:

• Previous relationship context
• Current company research and initiatives
• Closed lost data from prospect's current company
• Specific use cases from their past organization
• Specific reps that the prospect has engaged with in the past

Implementation: Building a Scalable Relationship-Driven Process

Evolved Messaging Strategy

"At first, we tried leaning into just job changes and familiarity alone, and that wasn't necessarily moving the needle as much as we wanted to see. When we paired that with account research for current initiatives, closed lost data from their current company, and tripling down with the use case from their past organization - that's a winning formula."

The Three-Layer Approach:

1. Relationship Foundation: Reference specific previous experience with Zuora
2. Current Context: Research current company challenges and initiatives
3. Closed Lost Intelligence: Leverage any previous engagement at current company

AI-Enhanced Workflow

Zuora combined Champify with specific AI to scale their process:

• Catalyst Detection: An AI agent scrapes target accounts for relevant news (IPOs, product launches, growth announcements) and sends Slack alerts to reps
• Account Prioritization: When news alerts trigger, the team uses Champify dashboards to identify accounts with multiple previous customers for maximum relationship leverage
• Research Acceleration: ChatGPT expedites account research, drilling into 10-Ks for financial goals and critical audit matters

Accountability and Adoption

No sales tool is magic. The Zuora team built an operating cadence around the use of Champify and fully embraced the solution as a core component of their prospecting strategy. This included:

Daily Requirements:

• Sequence at least 5 Champify contacts per day
• Complete all Champify call tasks
• Work relationship-driven messaging that can be assembled quickly

Dashboard Monitoring: Custom Salesforce dashboard tracks Champify usage and rep activity, driving accountability and performance visibility

Results: Industry-Leading Performance and Pipeline Impact

Sequence Performance

• 58% open rate (above industry standards)
• 55% higher reply rate than any other outbound sequence 
• 50% of replies come on the first email, indicating strong name recognition and familiarity

Meeting Quality and Conversion

• 65% of Champify meetings convert to qualified opportunities
• Meetings convert at higher ratios than traditional cold outreach
• Quality matches quantity - not just more meetings, but better meetings that actually convert to pipeline that closes

Major Deal Success

$240,000 Multi-Product Closed Won Deal 

• Customer purchased both billing and revenue products
• Initiated through email outlining previous Zuora familiarity
• Referenced current challenges aligned with Zuora's value proposition
• Meeting booked directly led to closed won opportunity

Enhanced Rep Confidence

"It's like they can go into these calls at least feeling that it's a lukewarm engagement. Being able to go on the call and say something like, 'Hey, Stephanie. I saw you use Zuora at Champify and moved over to Outreach. Given your recent AI launch, I figured Zuora could help reduce some operational bottlenecks.' We know with confidence that they're gonna have some familiarity."

Key Success Factors: What Made Zuora's Implementation Work

Leadership Accountability

Strong management commitment to working Champify leads daily, with clear metrics and expectations for rep activity

Evolved Messaging Strategy

Moving beyond basic job change outreach to sophisticated, multi-layered personalization that combines relationship history with current business context

Technology Integration

Seamless Salesforce integration with custom dashboards and AI-enhanced workflows that fit naturally into existing processes

Feedback Loop Utilization

"We've gotten feedback on what challenges they had, and it's really helped shape our messaging for different sequences besides Champify. We've even gotten feedback on some things that they wish could be different, and we're able to circulate that feedback to our product team."

Using conversations with previous customers to gather product insights and improve overall go-to-market messaging

Looking Forward: Champify as a Strategic Revenue Driver

For Zuora, Champify has evolved from a prospecting tool to a strategic revenue driver that:

• Accelerates Pipeline Velocity: Turns 10-18 month prospecting cycles into warm, qualified conversations
• Maximizes Customer Investment: Leverages years of relationship building and customer success into new opportunities
• Enhances Rep Performance: Provides confidence and context that transforms cold calling effectiveness
• Drives Predictable Revenue: Creates a scalable, repeatable process for generating high-quality pipeline

"Having three layers of personalization is really effective. It's scalable, but it's personalization at scale that you really can't do with too many other strategies."

The best part about this strategy is that no competitors can copy. This is unique data and relationships that only Zuora has. And it compounds with time.