Sage wanted to reactivate its existing customer base ahead of the upcoming e-invoicing mandate. It was the perfect opportunity to test new outbound methods with a proven duo: Scalability to spark interest, Onepilot for the first meeting and the close. Here is how the set-up exceeded expectations for Sage’s sales activity.

Guillaume Corp works alongside David Klecel, VP Sales at Sage France, on the small business and chartered accountant segment. His role: driving the operational and strategic initiatives that grow revenue and improve sales KPIs.

Tens of thousands of small business customers to reactivate, and a willingness to experiment

In its small business segment, Sage sells directly to companies with fewer than 20 employees. This base includes tens of thousands of customers worth reactivating. With e-invoicing becoming mandatory, these businesses need to equip themselves with a new solution. A considerable growth opportunity, provided you go after it through outbound.

Why Sage chose a duo over a large outsourcer

Sage had already tried outsourcing its outbound calls. Twice, the model had shown its limits:

• salaried agents, assigned to the account with little flexibility,

• one client among hundreds, without dedicated attention,

• prospecting methods that had not moved on.

“For them, Sage was only a small part of the business. They didn’t have the same focus on us.” Guillaume Corp, Sage

This time, Sage was looking for more than just another provider: partners able to cover the entire sales cycle, with modern methods and flexible capacity.

“We wanted to build a new model outside our walls, free from internal constraints. And to prove that with more modern players, we could find new growth drivers, especially in outbound.” Guillaume Corp, Sage

Sage was therefore looking for partners who could bring:

• a single proposal, from the first email to the signature,

• freelance sales reps dedicated to Sage, with capacity that adjusts to demand,

• their own tools and methods, with limited IT support required from Sage.

Passing the baton: Scalability opens the conversation, Onepilot closes

Sage chose to work with a proven, complementary duo: Scalability and Onepilot. Scalability specialises in B2B outbound: it designs and runs prospecting campaigns on behalf of its clients. Onepilot runs teams of freelance agents, selected for their sales experience, trained and managed on quality, who work directly within their clients’ tools.

A joint offer. Scalability and Onepilot built their partnership upfront, on clients they already shared. They came to Sage with a single proposal. For Guillaume, this is precisely one of the model’s strengths:
“Scalability at the top of the funnel and Onepilot on business development.”

A clear line between the two teams. Scalability generates interest within the customer base. Onepilot takes over from the very first call and carries it through to signature. The agent who makes the call is the one who closes the deal.

Shared management. Both teams work in the same CRM and review open opportunities together twice a week. Sage receives a single quarterly report, from the first email to the signed sale.

Agents integrated like Sage employees. Onepilot agents have access to Sage’s tools and can reach out to any internal expert. They completed a week of on-site training at Sage’s offices with the sales enablement teams. The telephony and sales enablement tools are provided by Onepilot.

The method: five levers, from the first email to the signature

Performance relies on a method applied at every stage of the sales cycle.

1. Personalised emails. Scalability complemented the webinars and generic content Sage usually offered with personalised, plain-text emails, sent in the name of real, identifiable people, with follow-ups. The interest rate reached 5.4% by the end of June.

2. A timely hook. The e-invoicing reform affects 100% of Sage’s small business customers. It became the systematic way into every conversation.

3. One-to-one coaching on every call. Onepilot systematically analyses calls and runs weekly one-to-one sessions and individual development plans with each agent.

4. Equipped cross-selling. Agents have product battlecards and a migration mapping from Ciel to Sage 50. With every proposal, they quantify what the customer gains, in hours and in euros.

5. Tight opportunity management. Twice a week, a review combines CRM data and call analysis to prioritise follow-ups on at-risk deals.

Guillaume highlights: “It worked because we had well-selected reps who took the time to learn a complex offer.”

Performance above market averages

In Q1 2026:

• 12,410 people contacted

• 1,024 replies, i.e. 8.3% (vs Scalability’s 4% market benchmark)

• 549 interested, i.e. 4.4% (vs Scalability’s 1.5% market benchmark)

• 348 actionable objections: replies that are not direct meeting requests but make prospecting easier. For example: “I’m not the right person, but you can contact Patricia.”

Quotes convert. The number of signed quotes grew 2.5x between April and June. In Q2 2026, conversion was close to 35%.

Agents beat Sage’s targets. In June, productivity per agent reached 1.9 times the weekly target, which had already been exceeded in May. The average deal size grew 2.3x between April and June, ending 64% above target. From June onwards, the annual recurring revenue generated exceeded the amount invoiced.

“One agent would be in our top 5 sales reps today if he had been in-house. The other two were also in the upper range.” Guillaume Corp, Sage

What Sage takes away

Experiment validated: outbound sales works for the small business segment.
Guillaume sums up the strength of the set-up in three points:

1. The quality of the agents, able to sell a complex offer at the level of the best in-house reps.

2. The flexibility of a freelance model, good for agent motivation and for adjusting capacity.

3. The duo: Scalability to spark interest, Onepilot to convert through to signature.

Who it works for

For Guillaume, the model shows its full value when volumes are high and deal sizes are larger.

“I can really see it working for tech companies with deal sizes between 5 and 30K. Onepilot agents are absolutely up to that kind of sale, with 3-to-6-month cycles.”

He also sees it as a way to test a new market with the flexibility of a partner, before committing to hiring. The model also suits sales leaders who need to accelerate without being able to hire: capacity adjusts without touching internal headcount.

The Sage case shows another use: activating a large customer base to upsell and cross-sell complementary products.

One condition in every case: a validated product-market fit, so you can work at volume.

Have a large customer base to activate, a new market to test or targets to hit without hiring? Let’s talk about your sales cycle and what a set-up like this could change.

About Sage