Case Study

Surgemail.ai Optimizes Cold Emailing with Smartlead for 83.8% Positive Response Rates and Six-Figure Profits

Wajahat Ali
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February 24, 2026
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Key Highlights

  • 17% Response rate and a 38.78% positive reply rate.
  • A response rate of 17.75% with an outstanding 83.83% positive reply rate.
  • Generated over $70K in annual recurring revenue (ARR) from a single cold email campaign in just one month.
  • Several six-figure deals for their clients.

Company Overview

Surgemail.ai, co-founded by Clayton Goldman, is a cold email infrastructure platform built by cold emailers, for cold emailers. surgemail.ai gives teams tools to scale their outreach while ensuring optimal deliverability and safety when sending emails. 

Their platform offers US-hosted Google Workspace inboxes for under $1 per month, optimized for high deliverability, clean sending, and safe scale. surgemail.ai serves clients across various industries, focusing on helping agencies and businesses scale their cold email outreach without falling into spam folders.

Clayton and his team at SurgeMail have been in the cold emailing business for over two years, providing both cold email services and white-labeled infrastructure for their clients. 

Surgemail has successfully generated multiple six-figure commissions and profits for their clients.

The Challenge

Before integrating Smartlead into their operations, surgemail.ai faced several challenges, primarily in email deliverability and response rates. These issues included:

Email Deliverability

Struggling to get their cold emails into recipients' primary inboxes.

Low Response Rates

Despite having well-targeted lead lists, they faced difficulty in generating meaningful replies from prospects.

Inefficient Campaign Management

Managing multiple client accounts and responses became cumbersome without proper tools for tracking and automation.

Clayton explains, "We faced huge hurdles with deliverability and response rates. We could not scale effectively until we found a solution that would help us manage multiple accounts and improve our response rates."

Why Smartlead?

After experimenting with various cold emailing platforms, surgemail.ai chose Smartlead for its comprehensive feature set and high-level automation capabilities. The platform’s ease of use and ability to monitor inbox health, automate workflows, and improve deliverability made it the perfect fit for their needs.

Key Features That Helped surgemail.ai Succeed

1. Warm-Up and Deliverability Tools

One of the standout features of Smartlead for surgemail.ai was its warm-up functionality. Before using Smartlead, managing inbox health and ensuring emails landed in the primary inbox was a major pain point. 

With Smartlead’s warm-up feature, surgemail.ai was able to increase deliverability and avoid spam filters effectively. 

Clayton says, "The warm-up feature has been a game-changer for us. It significantly boosted our deliverability rates and allowed us to land in the right inboxes."

2. White-Labeling Capabilities

surgemail.ai provides white-labeled cold email infrastructure to its clients. Smartlead’s white-labeling features allowed them to brand the tool as their own, making it easier to scale and manage multiple client accounts without compromising on quality or transparency. 

This ability to seamlessly integrate and provide a tailored experience to their clients was key in building long-lasting partnerships.

3. API Integrations

Smartlead's API access was another essential feature for surgemail.ai. By using the API, surgemail.ai could integrate Smartlead with their existing tools, including Slack for response management. 

This integration helped them automate and streamline the process, saving valuable time.

"The API is fantastic. It allows us to connect Smartlead with our systems and streamline operations, reducing manual work and increasing our efficiency."

4. Spintax and SmartDelivery

Spintax and SmartDelivery were pivotal in surgemail.ai’s success. Smartlead’s spintax feature helped them scale outreach without risking email duplication, and SmartDelivery ensured that their emails were always delivered to the inbox, not the spam folder. 

The spintax feature allows them to personalize emails at scale without relying on generic templates. It also helps in maintaining a high level of deliverability across multiple domains and inboxes.

Results Achieved

By leveraging Smartlead’s powerful features, surgemail.ai saw remarkable results in terms of both engagement and revenue. Their campaigns produced impressive response rates and generated significant revenue.

  • 17% Response Rate: One of their most successful campaigns resulted in a 17% response rate with a 38.78% positive reply rate.
  • 83.83% Positive Reply Rate: Another campaign achieved a response rate of 17.75% with an outstanding 83.83% positive reply rate.
  • $70K+ in ARR: Clayton shared their success of generating over $70K in annual recurring revenue (ARR) in just one month from a single cold email campaign, showcasing the massive potential of Smartlead in driving revenue.
  • Six-Figure Deals: surgemail.ai also secured several six-figure deals for their clients, thanks to improved deliverability, optimized targeting, and efficient email management through Smartlead.

The Secret Sauce to surgemail.ai’s Success

Clayton and his team attribute their success to a few critical factors that work hand-in-hand with Smartlead’s capabilities:

Targeted Leads

Most cold emails fail because of bad lists. Their leads are always well-targeted, relevant, and highly qualified.

Compelling Offers

surgemail.ai focuses on high-value offers that address the prospect’s pain points. "If your offer doesn’t immediately feel worth replying to, nothing else matters."

Sharp, Direct Copy

Their short, clear, and concise emails ensure they grab attention without unnecessary fluff.

Minimal Personalization

surgemail.ai relies on effective targeting and spintax to keep emails unique and relevant. "We don’t use personal hooks. If your message needs a personal touch to land, it’s probably not strong enough."

Sending Accounts

They use their own tech stack – Surgemail.ai – and follow this framework: Clean infra + smart sending = scale without issues.

Client Testimonials and Feedback

Clayton also emphasized the excellent support provided by Smartlead. 

“The customer support is stellar. The response time is extremely fast even when we need assistance with something minor. The Slack community is another great resource for sharing insights with industry peers."

Final Thoughts

Smartlead has been instrumental in transforming surgemail.ai’s cold emailing processes, from boosting deliverability to automating tasks and managing client campaigns effectively. With more than a hundred thousand cold emails sent and millions in revenue generated, surgemail.ai has become a success story of how leveraging the right tools can significantly scale a business.

“Smartlead has changed the way we do cold emailing. It covers all our needs, and we’ve seen results that we wouldn’t have achieved with any other platform.” – Clayton Goldman, Co-Founder, surgemail.ai

Check out Smartlead’s free trial for similar results.

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Wajahat Ali

Wajahat Ali is a Technical Content Writer at Smartlead, specializing in the B2B and SaaS sectors. With a talent for simplifying complex concepts, he crafts clear, engaging content that makes intricate topics accessible to both experts and newcomers. Wajahat’s expertise spans across copywriting, social media content, and lead generation, where he consistently delivers valuable, impactful content that resonates with a global audience. His ability to blend technical knowledge with compelling storytelling ensures that every piece of content drives both understanding and results, helping businesses connect with their target markets effectively.

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Frequently asked questions

What is Smartlead's cold email outreach software?
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Smartlead's cold email outreach tool helps businesses scale their outreach efforts seamlessly. With unlimited mailboxes, fully automated email warmup functionality, a multi-channel infrastructure, and a user-friendly unibox, it empowers users to manage their entire revenue cycle in one place. Whether you're looking to streamline cold email campaigns with automated email warmups, personalization fields, automated mailbox rotation, easy integrations, and spintax, improve productivity, or enhance scalability with subsequences based on lead’s intentions, automated replies, and full white-label experience, our cold email tool implifies it in a single solution.

How does Smartlead's unlimited mailboxes feature benefit me?
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Our "unlimited mailboxes" feature allows you to expand your email communications without restrictions imposed by a mailbox limit. This means you won't be constrained by artificial caps on the number of mailboxes you can connect and use. This feature makes Smartlead the best cold email software and empowers you to reach a wider audience, engage with more potential customers, and manage diverse email campaigns effectively.

What do you mean by "unibox to handle your entire revenue cycle"?
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The "unibox" is one of the unique features of Smartlead cold email outreach tool, and it's a game-changer when it comes to managing your revenue cycle. The master inbox or the unibox consolidates all your outreach channels, responses, sales follow-ups, and conversions into one centralized, user-friendly mailbox.

With the "unibox," you gain the ability to:
1. Focus on closing deals: You can now say goodbye to the hassle of logging into multiple mailboxes to search for replies. The "unibox" streamlines your sales communication, allowing you to focus on what matters most—closing deals.

2. Centralized lead management: All your leads are managed from one central location, simplifying lead tracking and response management. This ensures you take advantage of every opportunity and efficiently engage with your prospects.

3. Maintain context: The "unibox" provides a 360-degree view of all your customer messages, allowing you to maintain context and deliver more personalized and effective responses.

Can Smartlead help improve my email deliverability rates?
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Yes, our cold emailing software is designed to significantly improve your email deliverability rates. It enhances email deliverability through AI-powered email warmups across providers, unique IP rotating for each campaign, and dynamic ESP matching.

Real-time AI learning refines strategies based on performance, optimizing deliverability without manual adjustments. Smartlead's advanced features and strategies are designed to improve email deliverability rates, making it a robust choice for enhancing cold email campaign success.

Can I integrate Smartlead with other tools I'm using?
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Certainly, Smartlead cold email tool is designed for seamless integration with a wide range of tools and platforms. Smartlead offers integration with HubSpot, Salesforce, Pipedrive, Clay, Listkit, and more. You can leverage webhooks and APIs to integrate the tools you use. Try Now!

What is Smartlead, and how can it enhance my cold email campaigns?
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Smartlead is a robust cold emailing software designed to transform cold emails into reliable revenue streams. Trusted by over 31,000 businesses, Smartlead excels in email deliverability, lead generation, cold email automation, and sales outreach. A unified master inbox streamlines communication management, while built-in email verification reduces bounce rates.Additionally, Smartlead offers essential tools such as CNAME, SPF Checker, DMARC Checker, Email Verifier, Blacklist Check Tool, and Email Bounce Rate Calculator for optimizing email performance.

How does Smartlead, as a cold emailing tool, automate the cold email process?
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Smartlead’s robust cold email API and automation infrastructure streamline outbound communication by transforming the campaign creation and management processes. It seamlessly integrates data across software systems using APIs and webhooks, adjusts settings, and leverages AI for personalised content.

The cold emailing tool categorises lead intent, offers comprehensive email management with automated notifications, and integrates smoothly with CRMs like Zapier, Make, N8N, HubSpot, Salesforce, and Pipedrive. Smartlead supports scalable outreach by rapidly adding mailboxes and drip-feeding leads into active campaigns Sign Up Now!

How does Smartlead ensure my emails don't land in the spam folder?
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Smartlead, the best cold email marketing tool, ensures your emails reach the intended recipients' primary inbox rather than the spam folder.

Here's how it works:
1. Our "unlimited warmups" feature is designed to build and maintain a healthy sending reputation for your cold email outreach. Instead of sending a large volume of emails all at once, which can trigger spam filters, we gradually ramp up your sending volume. This gradual approach, combined with positive email interactions, helps boost your email deliverability rates.

2. We deploy high-deliverability IP servers specific to each campaign.

3. The ‘Warmup’ feature replicates humanized email sending patterns, spintax, and smart replies.

4. By establishing a positive sender reputation and gradually increasing the number of sent emails, Smartlead minimizes the risk of your emails being flagged as spam. This way, you can be confident that your messages will consistently land in the primary inbox, increasing the likelihood of engagement and successful communication with your recipients.

What features does Smartlead offer for cold email personalisation?
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Smartlead enhances cold email personalisation through advanced AI-driven capabilities and strategic integrations. Partnered with Clay, The cold remaining software facilitates efficient lead list building, enrichment from over 50 data providers, and real-time scraping for precise targeting. Hyper-personalised cold emails crafted in Clay seamlessly integrate with Smartlead campaigns.

Moreover, Smartlead employs humanised, natural email interactions and smart replies to boost engagement and response rates. Additionally, the SmartAI Bot creates persona-specific, high-converting sales copy. Also you can create persona-specific, high-converting sales copy using SmartAI Bot. You can train the AI bot to achieve 100% categorisation accuracy, optimising engagement and conversion rates.

Is Smartlead suitable for both small businesses and large enterprises?
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Smartlead accommodates both small businesses and large enterprises with flexible pricing and comprehensive features. The Basic Plan at $39/month suits small businesses and solopreneurs, offering 2000 active leads and 6000 monthly emails, alongside essential tools like unlimited email warm-up and detailed analytics.

Marketers and growing businesses benefit from the Pro Plan ($94/month), with 30000 active leads and 150000 monthly emails, plus a custom CRM and active support. Lead generation agencies and large enterprises can opt for the Custom Plan ($174/month), providing up to 12 million active lead credits and 60 million emails, with advanced CRM integration and customisation options.