FAQ

Answers, upfront

The questions we get on every strategy call, answered here so you can decide whether to book one.

The basics
How is Shields different from a normal cold email agency?

Two things. First, we operate on a performance basis, so we have skin in the game. Second, we have a full-time human setter (Roy) who phones every positive reply within minutes, converting roughly 30% of replies that would otherwise go cold.

What's included in the setup?

Everything you need to go live: warmed domains and inboxes, DNS setup, Clay enrichment, initial lead list build, campaign copy written and approved, and Slack/Cal.com integration. We don't profit on setup, it covers our infrastructure costs.

How fast until I see results?

14 days from kickoff to going live. First qualified calls typically start landing on your calendar between days 14 and 18.

Do I have to sign a long contract?

No. It's month-to-month. Hit capacity? Pause us. Want more volume? Add another domain in a week. No long lock-ins.

Pricing & qualification
What counts as a 'qualified' call?

Three things: they showed up to the call, they fit the ICP you defined, and they have genuine buying intent. If they miss any of the three, you don't pay for that call.

Who decides if a call is qualified or not?

You do. After each call, you mark whether the lead met all three criteria. If they didn't, we don't invoice for it. We build the model on trust, and clients almost always tell us when a call was junk because it's their money either way.

The process
Do I have to approve the copy before it goes out?

Always. Nothing goes live until you're happy with it. We write the sequences, you approve them. We iterate until it sounds like you.

What if I don't have a clear ICP yet?

Common. We spend our first call helping you define your most profitable ICP, not who replies the most, who actually closes and pays. We do this every week; we're good at it.

Can you target a very specific industry?

Yes. We use Apollo, Store Leads, Google Maps, LinkedIn, and specialised databases depending on the niche. If your ICP exists on the internet, we can build a list for it.

How much email volume do you send?

Typically 2,000-3,000 personalised emails per day. Enough to generate steady reply flow without burning inboxes. If you want more, we can add domains, but volume without deliverability is a waste.

Concerns & objections
I've tried cold email before and it didn't work. Why will this be different?

Ask yourself what happened last time. Usually one of four things: (1) inboxes got burned from scaling too fast, (2) no personalisation, (3) no one following up on replies, (4) wrong ICP. Our 14-day warmup, Clay-level personalisation, and Roy phoning every reply, that's a fundamentally different system.

I've been burned by agencies before.

We get it. That's why we're pay-per-call and month-to-month. You're not paying regardless of results, you pay per qualified call that actually shows up. If we don't book calls, we don't get paid. Skin in the game.

I need to think about it.

Fair. The one thing worth flagging: the 14-day warmup starts from the day we kick off. Every week you wait is a week later you start booking calls. If it's a fit, moving faster helps you more than us.

Getting started
How do I get started?

Book a 20-minute strategy call. If we're not a fit, we'll tell you and point you to someone who is. If we are a fit, we walk you through pricing and next steps.

What happens after I sign up?

You get a payment link and an onboarding form (~20 min to complete). We book a 15-minute kickoff call. Then we start buying inboxes and warming domains that same day. 14 days later, you're live and calls start landing days 14-18.

What if it's not a fit?

On the strategy call, if we don't think we can help you, we'll say so. We might point you to someone we think can. We'd rather lose the sale than take money we shouldn't.

Still have questions?

Book a 20-minute strategy call. We'll answer them all, no obligation.

Book a call