Sales teams get stuck in ruts. You hammer the same verticals, chase familiar titles, and wonder why results plateau. If you’re running outbound sales and feel like you’re fishing from the same tired pond, this guide is for you. I’ll show you how to use Rev to actually find new market segments, not just recycle lookalike leads. We’ll cut through the fluff and get to what actually works.
Why Most Outbound Teams Miss the Mark
Let’s be honest: outbound sales is usually about playing it safe. You buy a list of “ideal” accounts, maybe tweak your filters, and blast away. The problem? You’re probably chasing the same companies as everyone else.
Finding new market segments isn’t just about running more filters or buying “AI-powered” lists. It’s about getting curious, poking at your assumptions, and using the right tools to surface patterns you’d never spot in a spreadsheet.
Rev promises to help with this. But let’s get specific.
What Rev Actually Does (and Doesn’t)
Rev is a sales intelligence platform that analyzes your best customers, identifies what makes them unique, and finds similar companies you might overlook. It’s not magic. It’s not going to tell you “your next big segment is underwater basket weavers in Ohio.” But it can help you:
- Surface hidden patterns in your best customers
- Build smarter lookalike audiences beyond basic firmographics
- Score and prioritize accounts you’d otherwise ignore
Don’t expect Rev to replace your judgment, creativity, or understanding of your market. It’s a tool, not a crystal ball.
Step 1: Get Real About Your Current Customers
Before you touch Rev, get your own house in order. Most teams mess this up.
What you need: - A clean, up-to-date list of your best customers (not just biggest logos — think accounts with high usage, renewals, or upsell potential) - As much context as you can gather on why these customers succeed with your product
Pro tips: - Pull actual usage data, not just closed-won deals - Talk to your Customer Success team — they usually know which customers are thriving (and which ones just signed because their boss told them to) - Avoid cherry-picking; you want a real sample, not just your favorites
What to ignore: Don’t bother with “all customers.” You want only those who truly get value. If your list is messy or outdated, clean it up first.
Step 2: Feed Your Data Into Rev (and Don’t Phone It In)
Now, upload your best customer list to Rev. The more complete the data (company domains, firmographics, tech stack, etc.), the better.
What Rev does with this:
Rev uses something called a “Customer AI Model” to analyze your input and spot patterns you probably wouldn’t notice. This goes past industry, size, and region. It might find, for example, that your top customers all have a certain hiring velocity, use a specific software, or have a weirdly high number of engineers.
What to watch out for: - Garbage in, garbage out. If your input list is weak, your suggestions will be too. - Rev can surface false positives — patterns that look interesting but don’t actually matter. Use common sense.
Step 3: Dig Into the Patterns (Don’t Just Trust the Dashboard)
Rev will spit out a list of traits and segments your best customers share. This is where most people zone out and just download the next lead list. Don’t do that.
What’s actually useful: - Look for non-obvious patterns. Don’t get excited just because “most customers are SaaS companies.” That’s not news. - Pay attention to traits you hadn’t considered: maybe your best customers all expanded internationally last year, or all use a niche ERP. - Cross-check these traits with your team. Does this actually track with what you’ve seen in the field?
What to ignore:
If a pattern sounds like a horoscope (“most of your customers are innovative, growth-focused companies”), skip it.
Step 4: Build and Test Your New Segments
Based on the patterns Rev surfaces, create a few hypotheses for new segments. For example:
- “Companies with 200-500 employees, Series B funding, and rapid engineering hires”
- “Healthcare tech firms using outdated CRM systems”
- “Retailers expanding into e-commerce in the last 18 months”
How to test: - Pull a list of accounts matching these new segments - Craft tailored outbound messaging (don’t use your old scripts) - Run small, controlled campaigns and track response rates and conversions
Pro tips: - Keep tests small and focused — 50-100 accounts per segment is fine - Don’t expect instant wins; you’re validating a hypothesis, not running a lottery - Iterate quickly: if a segment bombs, move on
What to ignore:
Don’t get hung up on “perfect” segments. You’re looking for signals, not guarantees.
Step 5: Rinse, Repeat — And Stay Skeptical
The first batch of new segments probably won’t be gold mines. That’s normal. The point is to get out of your old rut, test new ideas, and see what sticks.
- Schedule regular reviews of what’s working and what’s flopping
- Feed win/loss data back into Rev to sharpen future recommendations
- Keep your customer list current — segment dynamics shift over time
Watch out for: - Overfitting: Don’t chase tiny patterns that aren’t scalable - Shiny object syndrome: Not every “AI insight” deserves a campaign - Abandoning what already works: Use Rev to supplement, not replace, your proven segments
Honest Pros and Cons of Using Rev for Outbound
What works: - Rev can surface segments you’d never spot manually, especially if you’ve got a big, diverse customer base - It saves time on research and guesswork, letting you focus on testing instead of theorizing
What doesn’t: - Rev is only as good as the data you feed it - It won’t help if you don’t have meaningful customer success stories to analyze - The platform can spit out “insights” that sound impressive but don’t actually help you sell
Ignore the hype: - No tool replaces talking to actual customers or prospects - Rev isn’t a replacement for understanding your market or value prop
Quick Checklist: Using Rev to Find New Segments
- [ ] Curate a list of your best customers (not just biggest logos)
- [ ] Gather as much usage and context data as possible
- [ ] Upload clean data into Rev and let it analyze for patterns
- [ ] Pressure-test suggested segments with your team
- [ ] Build small, targeted outbound campaigns for promising segments
- [ ] Track results, update your models, and keep iterating
Last Word: Keep It Simple, Iterate Fast
Don’t overthink it. Rev is a solid tool for surfacing new ideas and breaking out of old prospecting habits, but it won’t do the work for you. Start with what you’ve got, run real-world tests, and course-correct as you learn. The best outbound teams don’t chase “perfect” segments — they keep things simple, measure what matters, and aren’t afraid to try again.
Now, get out there and find some new ponds to fish in.