Churn Signal

GTM Engineer Take-Home Assignment

James Jackson Leach | April 2026

A signal-driven campaign to sell retention intelligence
to Apollo.io's GTM leadership.

02

The Company

Churn Signal

Monitors the external web to detect churn signals 60–90 days before they hit your CRM — turning reactive retention into proactive revenue protection.

Churn Prevention

Flag at-risk accounts before renewal conversations start. Give CS teams a 90-day head start.

Expansion Intelligence

Identify upsell and cross-sell triggers hiding in public data. Turn risk flags into growth signals.

Champion Tracking

Monitor when key stakeholders change roles or leave. Know about champion turnover before it impacts renewal.

"Apollo finds buyers. Churn Signal keeps customers. Same signal infrastructure, opposite direction."

03

The ICP

Why Apollo

How Churn Signal identified Apollo.io as a high-intent target account.

Firmographic Fit

B2B SaaS platform with a PLG motion and enterprise expansion

$100M+ ARR — board-level pressure on Net Revenue Retention

270M+ contacts — massive customer base to protect

Dedicated CS and Account Management teams in place

Tech Stack Fit

Operates an internal CRM — already managing customer relationships

Builds enrichment and signal tools (product-market overlap)

API-first architecture — seamless integration surface

Buying Signals Detected

New CRO HireAdam Carr joined Apr 2025 — 90-day strategic review window

$100M+ ARR MilestoneBoard-level focus on NRR — churn directly impacts valuation

Apollo Labs LaunchInnovation evaluation team — actively testing new tools

RevOps Scaling 1→22Henry Mizel's team build — operational infrastructure investment

GTM Engineer Role ExistsRene's career path — org already thinks in signal-driven workflows

PLG + High-Volume BaseProduct-led growth model with massive customer scale = massive churn surface

04

Signal Taxonomy

Three Layers of Intelligence

Each layer increases specificity and conversion potential.

Esoteric

Behavioral

Standard

"The deeper the signal, the higher the conversion."

L1 Standard Signals

Firmographic data, headcount trends, tech stack changes, funding rounds. Available in Apollo and most enrichment tools.

L2 Behavioral Signals

VP of CS hired, RevOps team scaling, new job postings for retention roles, CRO change. Requires monitoring org charts and job boards over time.

L3 Esoteric Signals

G2 reviews mentioning "churn," CS leader posting about being "reactive," lost a major logo, Glassdoor reviews citing "firefighting." Requires NLP on unstructured public data.

05

Buying Group

8 Personas, 8 Campaigns

Every executive gets a different sequence based on their unique signal profile.

TZ

Tim Zheng

CEO & Co-Founder

Signal: $100M+ ARR milestone; board focus on NRR

"Your 270M contacts know churn before your CS team"

AC

Adam Carr

CRO (New Hire, Apr 2025)

Signal: New CRO; 90-day strategic review window

"90 days in — the blind spot most CROs inherit"

EQ

Eric Quanstrom

CMO

Signal: Apollo Labs innovation team launch

"Apollo Labs tests signals. We found one you're missing."

HM

Henry Mizel

Head of RevOps

Signal: Team scaling 1→22; ops infrastructure

"Scaling from 1 to 22 — what breaks at step 15"

RC

Rene Castro

Sr. GTM Engineer

Signal: GTM workflow builder; automation-first

"The workflow that turns CS tickets into pipeline"

SL

Sarah Lin

VP of Customer Success

Signal: CS team scaling; firefighting indicators

"What if CS saw churn 90 days earlier?"

MP

Mark Peterson

VP of Product

Signal: Enrichment product overlap; API-first

"The API your product team will ask for by Q3"

DT

Diana Torres

VP of Marketing

Signal: PLG model; high-volume acquisition

"When PLG leaks, it's retention — not acquisition"

06

Agentic Workflow

12-Day Multi-Touch Sequence

Every branch uses a different AI prompt based on engagement data.

D1

AI Email

Signal-first

D2

Connect + note

D4

Branch

Opened Not opened

D7

Phone

C-suite only

D9

Breakup

Value-add exit

D12

Social

Engage content

If Opened / Clicked

D7: Phone call (C-suite) or personalized follow-up (others). Reference the specific link clicked.
D9: Case study email with ROI data relevant to their role.
D12: Engage their LinkedIn content with a thoughtful comment.

If Not Opened

D7: Re-send original email with a new subject line (A/B variant).
D9: Breakup email — short, direct, offering to reconnect next quarter.
D12: Add to nurture track. Monitor for new signals.

D1

AI Email

Signal-first outreach with personalized AI prompt per persona

D2

LinkedIn Connect

Connection request with a short personalized note

D4

Branch Logic

Split based on email open/click engagement data

D7

Phone / Re-send

C-suite gets a call; others get a re-send or follow-up

D9

Breakup

Value-add exit or case study based on engagement

D12

Social Touch

Engage content or add to nurture for signal monitoring

"Every branch uses a different AI prompt based on engagement data. No two prospects get the same follow-up."

07

AI Messaging

Signal-First Copy

Lead with what we know, not what we're selling.

To: Adam Carr, CRO

Subj: 90 days in — the blind spot most CROs inherit

Adam —

Congrats on the CRO move at Apollo. The first 90 days are about finding the gaps your predecessor left.

Here's one that's probably not on your list yet: Apollo helps teams find buyers. But 68% of SaaS revenue comes from existing customers — and right now, your CS team is likely flying blind on which accounts are about to churn.

Churn Signal monitors the external web — G2 reviews, LinkedIn job changes, forum sentiment — and flags at-risk accounts 60–90 days before the renewal conversation.

Worth 15 minutes to see what signals we're already tracking on Apollo's customer base?

— James

AI Prompt Used

Write a first-touch email to a new CRO who joined {company} within the last 90 days. Lead with the challenge of inheriting a revenue org without visibility into customer health. Reference signal: {new_cro_hire_date}. Tone: peer-to-peer, strategic. Max 4 sentences of substance. Do not pitch features — pitch the insight.

To: Eric Quanstrom, CMO

Subj: Apollo Labs tests signals. We found one you're missing.

Eric —

Saw the Apollo Labs announcement — the direction of letting users test new signal types before GA is smart.

One signal category that might interest you: churn indicators. We monitor review sites, social mentions, champion job changes, and forum activity to flag accounts heading for churn months before CS notices.

Apollo already has the infrastructure for buyer signals. Churn Signal is the same architecture, pointed at retention. Could be a product partnership or just a conversation about signal methodology.

— James

AI Prompt Used

Write a first-touch email to a CMO who oversees product innovation. Lead with their recent {innovation_initiative} as a hook. Position product as complementary to existing signal infrastructure. Tone: collaborative, exploratory. Max 5 sentences. End with soft CTA — no hard ask.

To: Rene Castro, Sr. GTM Engineer

Subj: The workflow that turns CS tickets into pipeline

Rene —

Saw the workflow builds you're doing in Apollo — the signal layering is exactly what we think about at Churn Signal, just pointed at the retention side.

Imagine adding a signal layer to your sequences that says: "This account's champion just left" or "Their team posted 3 negative G2 reviews this month." That's not a CS ticket — it's an expansion trigger disguised as a risk flag.

Would love to show you the API. It plugs into Apollo workflows in about 10 minutes.

— James

AI Prompt Used

Write a first-touch email to a GTM engineer / workflow builder. Lead with appreciation for their automation approach. Show how our API extends their existing workflow. Tone: technical peer, builder-to-builder. Max 4 sentences. Include a specific integration detail (time to implement).

08

Metrics & Optimization

Measure, Learn, Iterate

Every campaign teaches the next one.

40%+

Open Rate Target

8%+

Reply Rate Target

30%+

LI Accept Rate

3%+

Meetings Booked

L3→L1

Signal Correlation

How We Optimize

A/B Test Subject Lines

Signal-first vs. benefit-first. Measure by persona and seniority level.

Adjust Signal Weights

Prioritize signals that correlate with booked meetings. Promote L3 signals that convert.

Test Send Times

Tue/Wed 9am vs. Thu 2pm. Optimize per timezone and seniority.

Remove Low Performers

Cut signals that don't drive engagement. Focus budget on what works.

"Every campaign teaches the next one. The signal taxonomy isn't static — it evolves with data."

09

Real Campaigns

Proof of Execution

Signal-driven outreach and personalized GTM — built and shipped.

Outbound Campaign

Kickstarter Creator Outreach

Multi-step email sequence to active Kickstarter creators

605

Verified Leads

587

Unique Creators

74%

NeverBounce Pass

AI-shortened project names for cleaner personalization
Categorized creators by vertical for targeted messaging
NeverBounce verified — 74% deliverability pass rate
Multi-step sequence via Instantly.ai
Personalized copy per creator category

Vertical GTM

Mancomm RegLogic Landing Pages

Industry-specific landing pages with persona messaging

6

Industry Pages

6

Unique Personas

1

Night to Build

6 industry-specific landing pages with unique messaging
Each page tailored to a distinct buyer persona
Calendly CTA integration for direct scheduling
Full vertical GTM system built in one night
Demonstrates rapid execution without sacrificing personalization

James Jackson Leach

james@crowdstake.com

linkedin.com/in/jamesjacksonleach

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