Cafeto Software: The Road to Success

Cafeto Software at a glance

Client

Cafeto Software (Cali, Colombia)

Industry

Tailor-made software development

Problem

Cafeto only worked with US companies that had previously employed its founder, which limited growth.

What TEG built

An alumni outreach campaign by proxy, an inbound campaign (social media, Google Ads, Clutch), and sales coaching on introductory calls.

Outcome, first six months

Two new clients valued at more than $1,000,000, 65 qualified leads and over 50 meetings with high-ranking decision-makers.

Short answer: Cafeto Software wanted to move beyond US clients who knew its founder personally. TEG ran outreach from the founder's LinkedIn account to alumni of Cafeto's existing clients, built an inbound marketing channel, and coached the CEO on introductory calls. In six months the work produced two new client deals worth more than $1,000,000, 65 qualified leads and more than 50 meetings.

The Client

Luis Perez is an entrepreneur with over 30 years of experience in the technology industry. Luis founded Cafeto Software in 2010 and spent the next ten years refining a niche in tailor-made software. Before working with TEG, Cafeto's sales did not generate adequate growth. When Luis received a message from TEG in February 2020, Luis was intrigued.

How the Relationship Began

In early 2020, Conor Sullivan was living and working in Cali, Colombia, teaching English at a local high school by day and spending afternoons and evenings as a part-time business development consultant for The Endurance Group, the family business. Conor studied the South American market to find emerging industries that TEG's expertise could help, and found that many South American technology companies were interested in entering the US market.

Conor organized and launched an outreach campaign by proxy as TEG's CEO, Jim Sullivan, targeting business leaders in the South American technology sector. That campaign connected Jim with Luis Perez, CEO of Cafeto Software in Cali. Jim and Luis corresponded over LinkedIn, traded background stories about their businesses, and soon agreed to an introduction call.

The Need

On the introductory call, Luis explained that Cafeto wanted to enter the US market further. At that point Cafeto worked only with US companies that had previously employed Luis, which limited its potential for growth. Luis wanted a broader customer base.

Jim and Conor presented a multi-phase approach. It began with an alumni campaign by proxy on Luis's LinkedIn account. TEG would target individual decision-makers who had previously worked at a company in Cafeto's current client portfolio, start conversations based on that shared work history, and try to schedule meetings.

TEG also proposed an inbound campaign: meaningful content on Cafeto's social media (blog entries, reposted content and interaction with prospective targets), a Google Ads campaign, and a Clutch profile to drive inbound leads. Cafeto agreed to all of the suggested services. Jim assigned the work to Conor because of Conor's personal investment in its success and proximity to Luis's offices in Cali.

The Engagement

To finalize the agreement, Conor met Luis in person at the Cafeto office. Once the documents were signed, the two started onboarding. A few weeks later COVID-19 sent the world into lockdown, and that first visit to the Cafeto office was the last. The pandemic led Conor and Conor's wife to leave Cali and move back to the USA. The move also changed Conor's role, to Vice President of Operations at TEG, which increased the drive to make Cafeto a success.

Conor launched the first campaign, targeting high-ranking decision-makers who were alumni of Cafeto's current US-based clients, along with US-based C-level executives who had graduated from Luis's alma mater in Mexico and from top Colombian universities. Conor also looked at gaps the pandemic was creating that Cafeto could fill, and chose to focus on US technology companies that would be seeking staff augmentation. That served as a secondary campaign alongside the alumni outreach.

• Joined Luis on introductory calls and helped move from the shared background into a pitch about Cafeto
• Coached Luis on the points of Cafeto's value proposition that would most appeal to each target
• Took notes in meetings, held debrief sessions and wrote a post-engagement follow-up plan
• Managed Cafeto's Instagram, LinkedIn and Clutch profile
• Wrote content for Cafeto's website, plus a blog entry on the importance of staff augmentation during the pandemic

TEG met weekly with Cafeto's marketing specialist to review progress:

The Results: First Six Months

• Deals with two new clients valued at more than $1,000,000
• 65 qualified leads
• Over 50 meetings facilitated with high-ranking decision-makers
• An increase in Cafeto's total social media impressions
• Growth in the average number of likes and comments per post

Ongoing Work

The work gave Cafeto a healthy sales pipeline. Cafeto has multiple pending deals with clients TEG generated that have a high likelihood of closing, and TEG plans to follow up with companies that asked Cafeto to reach out after changing the way they work because of the pandemic. TEG is proud to have helped Cafeto grow into the US market and diversify its client portfolio at a time when growth was extremely difficult.

How does a foreign software firm win its first US clients outside its network?

Start from relationships that already exist and extend them with a reason to talk. This engagement followed that pattern:

• Find people connected to what the firm already has: alumni of current clients, and graduates of the founder's own schools
• Open conversations on that shared background, then move to the pitch with coaching
• Pair outreach with an inbound channel so prospects who check the firm out find a credible profile
• Respond to market shifts, here the pandemic demand for staff augmentation, with a secondary campaign

See more TEG client results. To see how we apply the same approach today, read about business development, run for you or our work for B2B technology and SaaS companies.

Frequently asked questions

How did a Colombian software firm enter the US market?

Cafeto Software only worked with US companies that had previously employed its founder. TEG ran an alumni outreach campaign by proxy on the founder's LinkedIn account, targeting decision-makers who had worked at companies in Cafeto's client portfolio, and added an inbound campaign across social media, Google Ads and a Clutch profile.

What results did Cafeto see in the first six months?

Deals with two new clients valued at more than $1,000,000, 65 qualified leads, more than 50 meetings facilitated with high-ranking decision-makers, and growth in social media impressions and engagement.

What does outreach by proxy mean?

TEG ran the outreach from the Cafeto CEO's own LinkedIn account and found prospects through shared work history, such as alumni of Cafeto's existing clients. TEG's team then joined introductory calls and coached the CEO on moving from the shared background to Cafeto's value proposition.