What is Apollo and how we use it at Noord50

Outbound sales does not fail because teams lack tools. It fails because targeting is weak, data is messy, and outreach starts before anyone knows who the right buyers are.

Apollo plays a key role in fixing the first part of that problem. At Noord50, Apollo is one of the main sources we use to find and structure the right accounts and decision makers before any enrichment or outreach happens.

What Apollo is

Apollo is a sales intelligence platform that combines a large company and contact database with filtering, segmentation, and basic enrichment capabilities.

It allows teams to search for companies based on criteria such as industry, company size, geography, and growth stage. On the contact level, Apollo helps identify decision makers by role, seniority, and department.

Apollo is especially strong as a sourcing layer. It helps answer a simple but critical question. Who should we even look at?

What Apollo is not

Apollo is not a full outbound system on its own.

While it provides a large dataset, the raw output is rarely ready for outreach. Job titles can be broad, intent is often missing, and qualification still needs structure.

Using Apollo alone often leads to large lists with mixed quality. That is why we never treat Apollo as the final step. We treat it as the starting point.

How we use Apollo at Noord50

At Noord50, Apollo is primarily used for account and contact sourcing. It sits at the top of our outbound workflows.

We use Apollo to define the initial universe of companies and roles that match a clearly defined Ideal Customer Profile. This includes filters such as company size, industry, location, and team composition.

Once the right accounts are identified, we use Apollo to map relevant decision makers. This helps us understand who is involved in buying decisions before moving to deeper qualification.

From there, Apollo data flows into more advanced systems. That is where enrichment, scoring, segmentation, and messaging logic take over.

Apollo gives us coverage and structure. Other tools add depth and precision.

Why Apollo works well for outbound sourcing

Apollo is valuable because it helps teams avoid the biggest outbound mistake. Starting too broad.

Instead of guessing industries or manually searching LinkedIn, Apollo allows us to consistently source accounts based on logic rather than intuition.

This creates a clean foundation. When sourcing is correct, everything that follows becomes easier. Messaging becomes more relevant, enrichment becomes more accurate, and outreach feels intentional instead of random.

How Apollo fits into our outbound systems

Apollo never works alone in our setups.

We typically combine Apollo with tools like Clay, CRM systems, and outreach platforms. Apollo provides the raw structure. Clay handles enrichment, qualification, and AI driven context. Outreach tools handle execution.

This layered approach ensures that only the right leads ever reach sales conversations.

By the time a message is sent, the lead has already passed multiple filters. That protects deliverability, brand perception, and sales team time.

Common Apollo mistakes we see

The most common mistake is treating Apollo as a list generator instead of a sourcing engine.

Pulling thousands of contacts without qualification usually leads to poor reply rates and burned domains. Another mistake is relying solely on job titles without understanding buying roles or internal decision structures.

Apollo works best when it is paired with clear ICP rules and downstream qualification logic.

When Apollo makes sense

Apollo makes sense when you need scalable and structured access to B2B accounts and decision makers. It is especially useful for teams targeting specific industries or company sizes.

Apollo does not solve outbound on its own. But when used correctly, it removes a large amount of manual research and guesswork from the process.

How we help teams use Apollo properly

At Noord50, we help teams design outbound systems where Apollo is used with intent.

We define ICP rules, build sourcing logic, connect Apollo to enrichment and scoring workflows, and ensure that only qualified leads move forward. The result is not just more leads. It is better conversations.

If Apollo feels noisy or underwhelming, the problem is usually not the tool. It is the system around it.