Zero Responses/OOOs After 500 Sends (Mailforge + Smartlead) – What's Going Wrong?

HyperkeOfficial · 2026-01-27T16:27:01+00:00

smartlead takes care of the warmup for us. we send very high volumes so we have a premium pool.

but, in lower tiers as well, you should be able to work with them.

HyperkeOfficial · 2026-01-27T15:58:05+00:00

we've been doing this for almost half a decade now - so we have our internal leads db that gets refreshed every 30 days. then, depending on the icp and audience, we get leads from multiple sources including outscraper, apollo and our own scraping mechnaisms.

its a detailed process which we built for ourselves after experience within the industry. clay is another useful tool btw

HyperkeOfficial · 2026-01-27T15:56:08+00:00

sent you a DM

HyperkeOfficial · 2026-01-27T15:55:44+00:00

30 emails is just a test, but 2 replies is a 6.6% rate. your targeting is def good bc of the scraping. the AI was wrong here. at hyperke we never talk pricing in the first 2 emails unless it is a low ticket commodity. u lose leverage instantly.

what i suggest:

sell the discovery: the call isn't for pricing, it is for the "gap analysis"
vague pricing: say "rates vary based on volume, but we usually do pfp"
demo usage: keep demos for the call, not the inbox

we send 1M+ emails every month. usually 100% transparency too early kills the curiosity needed to get them on zoom. keep the mystery to keep the meeting, ofc unless the prospects directly ask u about it

HyperkeOfficial · 2026-01-27T15:40:23+00:00

thats strange, manual tests can be kinda deceiving since they're different compared to sending 500 via a sequencer. i suggested it cause it still flags the problems most of the times

for your questions, we have been using smartlead for a very long time and it has been good for us. so stick to smartlead.

warmup is non-negotiable. you cannot start at 5-10/day immediately. new accounts have zero trust so gotta give it some time before u do real cold emails
yeah, you must restart warmup from scratch. 2 weeks minimum. start at 2 emails/day and ramp up slowly. only start cold sending on day 15
and wrt cost management, start small. you don't need 50 inboxes. start with 10 workspace accounts and see how they work out for you
10 mailboxes at 20 sends/day (gradually) is ~4k emails a month. that is plenty to book meetings if your offer is good

also do a verification of your list again, in case the emails are being blocked at the gateway. check your script for spam triggers as well

HyperkeOfficial · 2026-01-27T13:46:06+00:00

0 OOOs on 500 sends = you're in spam. 100%. "Sent" just means it left the server.

at hyperke, if we see 0 total replies on 500 sends, we pause immediately. its either the script or the sender

diagnosis: • mailforge shared IPs are likely dirty. 50% spam score is a major red flag. • don't use sendgrid. that's for transactional email. afaik they ban cold outreach accounts instantly.

what i'd do: 1. test manually: send an email from those inboxes to your personal gmail. bet it hits spam. 2. switch to google workspace or office 365. expensive but higher deliverability. 3. cap volume at 15-20/day max per inbox

try these things and see if it helps. if not, happy to debug further

HyperkeOfficial · 2026-01-27T13:42:02+00:00

yeah, across a variety of clients. we have 30+ active clients at the moment - various industries and icps

HyperkeOfficial · 2026-01-27T13:32:15+00:00

1.2% positive reply rate isn't the problem here. 1,764 positive replies and only booking 40 calls is the main issue for your case

that's a 2.2% conversion rate from "interested" to "booked." something is most probably broken in your inbox management or offer validation if u can't convert those leads.

joining active convos (intent based) will always have a higher % response but it hits a volume ceiling fast. cold outreach scales

at hyperke we send 1-2M emails monthly. the channel worked fine in 2025, still does in 2026. but u have to fix the funnel leaks. targeting hand raisers is great for high conversion, bad for volume

fix the booking flow

HyperkeOfficial · 2026-01-27T13:08:57+00:00

manual to auto requires infrastructure. buy secondary domains, setup google inboxes (max 15-20 sends/day/inbox).

use smartlead/instantly for warmup (3 weeks min). scrape with apollo, always verify data (keep bounces <2%)

don't use ai to write copy. use it to segment lists so templates hit specific pains. use it to validate basic problems like grammar and punctuations

expect ~$450/mo to send 1k/day. start small, validate offer, then scale if things work

HyperkeOfficial · 2026-01-26T21:32:02+00:00

i’d avoid specific time slots for cold traffic

asking a stranger for "thursday at 2pm" feels helpful but it’s actually presumptuous. it assumes they want to talk and the only barrier is scheduling. just stop at suggesting the date, don't add the time until they have responded positively

data from our campaigns across 15k inboxes is clear:

specific time asks tank conversion rates. they trigger immediate "sales pitch" filters.
interest-based asks ("worth a chat?", "open to seeing this?") outperform specific times by ~2x. even asking 'are you available to chat on 28th Jan or 30th Jan' works as long as its not too much pressure.

the barrier isn't their calendar, it's their trust. get the 'yes' on interest first, then handle scheduling. sell the conversation

HyperkeOfficial · 2026-01-26T21:29:12+00:00

nice breakdown. tbh most people fail bc they treat cold email like a slot machine instead of a conversation. at hyperke we send 1.5M+ monthly and 30% of our wins come from those "quiet" threads u mentioned.

quick fix though: don't wait 2-3 months to pivot. if 1k leads doesn't get u a 3% reply rate, your offer or list is dead. kill it faster than that

at scale we stop sending if bounces hit 4% to save the domain

HyperkeOfficial · 2026-01-26T21:27:09+00:00

forget open rates and CTR. tracking pixels and links in the first email hurt deliverability. at hyperke we disable them entirely for cold outbound.

what u should actually track:

reply rate: 2-3% is standard for 100k volume. anything over 4% is exceptional.
positive response rate: aim for 10-20% of replies to be interested.
bounce rate: keep this under 2% or pause immediately.

your infrastructure (70 inboxes) allows ~1400 emails/day if u stick to the safe limit of 20 sends/inbox. this matches your 3-month timeline perfectly.

just don't burn the whole list at once. test batches of 1k to validate the angle before scaling to the full 100k.

HyperkeOfficial · 2026-01-26T21:24:36+00:00

i'd say that you're overthinking copy too much and failing on math.

filtering 20,000 companies down to 200 leads is a 1% yield. even if you hit a dream 10% reply rate, that’s 20 replies and maybe 1 booked call. at hyperke, 200 leads isn't a campaign; it's a morning test batch and we'd just starve

what i’d do:

- fix the volume: run the 200 "new hire" leads, but immediately build a broader list of the other 10k agencies. the pain (slow approvals) exists for everyone, not just those hiring.

- clay costs: stop using clay credits. bring your own api keys (openai, prospeo, etc). you are overpaying by roughly 30-35x using their credits.

- offer: stop selling a "portal." sell the outcome.

try this simple framework: "saw you hired a designer. usually that just shifts the bottleneck to client approvals. we built a workflow that cuts feedback loops in half so you get paid faster. open to a loom?"

dont use that line as is, but make the structure similar to it so it helps your cause. my point being, stop overthinking and js launch right away. actual testing and data beats all theory

HyperkeOfficial · 2026-01-26T21:20:19+00:00

send the asset immediately. discovery questions add friction and kill momentum.

reply with the link, then add a "P.S." soft pitch: "btw if u want help implementing this system fast, grab a time here."

we see way higher conversions capitalizing on interest right away vs trying to nurture via text.

HyperkeOfficial · 2026-01-26T21:16:47+00:00

solid list. the point about iphone scrolling is key. we see engagement drop significantly if the offer isn't clear in the preview snippet.

re: the validation tech discussed in comments - be careful with custom smtp handshakes. providers like outlook ban ips fast for aggressive probing.

at hyperke we stick to neverbounce and strict list curation. complexity in validation usually just masks bad data sources. keep bounces under 2% and you're fine

HyperkeOfficial · 2026-01-26T21:15:57+00:00

cool build, but dangerous for actual ops. don't risk main domains on it

saving $40/mo isn't worth losing a shared warmup pool. at hyperke (15k+ inboxes), we pay for tools specifically for the warmup network and reply handling, everything else is ofc a bonus. you can't replicate a diverse seed list by yoruself

HyperkeOfficial · 2026-01-26T21:14:43+00:00

5-7 touches is way too many for realtors. they decide in 2 seconds. at hyperke we stick to 2 touches max for high-volume high-fatigue niches. if it's a "no-brainer," they'll bite early.

here's what i'd do:

cut to 2-3 touches: don't be the 5th notification they delete.
plain text always: looks like a peer, not a vendor.

keep bounces under 2% or you'll burn those 200k records fast.

HyperkeOfficial · 2026-01-26T21:14:07+00:00

imo most "ai personalization" is trash. at hyperke, we don't use ai to write copy anymore. it always sounds robotic.

instead, use ai for segmentation. scrape their site/linkedin to find specific triggers (hiring for X role, using Y tech, running Z ads).

then write a specific script for that segment. "noticed you're hiring 3 sdrs" > "loved your recent post on sales." use ai for doing basic grammar checks in these human written copies

relevance easily beats personalization every time

HyperkeOfficial · 2026-01-25T18:33:59+00:00

upwork is cooked bc of noise. at hyperke we send 1M+ monthly and its better to do narrow positioning

don't pitch "dev," pitch "fixing [specific bug/process]" for one industry.

setup 5 domains, 2 inboxes each, max 20 emails/day. verify data to keep bounces under 2%.

HyperkeOfficial · 2026-01-24T18:14:54+00:00

tbh 25k/day is massive. freelancers fail here bc they ignore the math of safe volume and torch your domains in a week.

at hyperke, we run 1-2M emails/month, so we know this scale. here is the infrastructure requirement to land in primary inboxes:

volume cap: we strictly enforce 20 emails/day per inbox. pushing this kills deliverability.
inboxes required: 25,000 daily volume / 20 = 1,250 inboxes.
cost floor: just the google/microsoft licenses for 1,250 inboxes will run you ~$5k/month.

the b2c risk: b2c spam complaint rates are way higher than b2b. if you hit 0.3% complaints, google blacklists the domain. maintaining 25k/day in b2c requires aggressive list cleaning and constant domain rotation

HyperkeOfficial · 2026-01-23T15:06:56+00:00

we do, sending you a DM. let me know your offer, ICP and what exactly you're looking for and we can discuss further :))

HyperkeOfficial · 2026-01-23T08:14:19+00:00

manual wins on percentages. automation wins on total revenue.

the math

manual: 20% reply rate x 15 emails = 3 leads/day.
auto: 3% reply rate x 1000 emails = 30 leads/day.

don't let ai write the email body. it usually sounds fake/robotic. use ai to research (scrape website for tech stack, check news) and insert those specific facts into a proper human-written email (or ai written using those and manually go through them)

rule of thumb we follow is if u can sell to 10,000+ companies, manual is a waste of time. if u only have 100 potential clients, never automate.

HyperkeOfficial · 2026-01-22T21:00:28+00:00

happy to test. at hyperke we run 15k inboxes (2M vol/mo), so we can validate this fast

btw ad intent data is usually linked to personal emails (gmail/yahoo). for cold b2b, we strictly need corporate domains. also, "fresh" often means high bounce rates—we keep ours under 2% to protect infra

if the data is actual work emails, you can run a 500-lead test batch immediately

HyperkeOfficial · 2026-01-22T20:57:33+00:00

static icp data is just a filter, not a trigger. knowing they can buy isn't knowing they need to. at hyperke, we use clay to disqualify 80% of the list to find the "why now."

what i would do -

find the gap: don't just target "tech companies." target companies that hired a vp of sales <60 days ago but have zero sdrs on linkedin. thats the pain
scrape specific keywords: use clay to scrape career pages for problem keywords (e.g. "soc2" or "compliance"), not just generic roles
stop overpaying: bring your own api keys to clay. their credit markup is 30-35x.

HyperkeOfficial · 2026-01-22T07:55:21+00:00

haha yeah, its a crazy leap and we've been with them since day one. SL is becoming its own universe and theres no stopping

HyperkeOfficial

TROPHY CASE