If you’re responsible for filling a B2B sales pipeline in 2024, you already know most “game-changing” GTM software is more bark than bite. You want new opportunities, less busywork, and clear ROI. This guide is for sales leaders, ops folks, or founders looking for real answers: does Refer (and the current crop of B2B GTM tools) actually help you book more meetings and move deals forward — or are you just buying another monthly subscription that ends up collecting dust?
Let’s cut through the fluff and get into what actually matters.
What Does “B2B GTM Software” Even Mean in 2024?
“Go-to-market” (GTM) software is supposed to help you find, engage, and convert new business customers. In 2024, that usually means tools that do at least one of these:
- Find and enrich leads
- Automate outreach and follow-ups
- Track pipeline progress
- Sync with your CRM (without breaking it)
- Surface insights so you know who to call, when, and why
The problem? Most tools do one or two things well, then try to bolt on a dozen more features you’ll never use. Meanwhile, your team’s juggling multiple logins, bickering over data quality, and spending more time wrangling tools than talking to prospects.
Let’s see how Refer and some of its competitors handle these realities.
The Main Contenders: Who’s Worth Your Attention?
For this review, I’m focusing on a few tools that come up again and again in sales and RevOps circles:
- Refer (the focus of this review)
- Apollo.io
- Outreach
- HubSpot Sales Hub
- ZoomInfo SalesOS
Each promises to help you build pipeline. None are perfect. Here’s how they actually stack up, without the glossy marketing.
Deep Dive: How Does Refer Stack Up?
If you haven’t heard of Refer, it’s pitched as a B2B GTM platform that helps you “turn your network into warm leads.” Rather than scraping lists or blasting cold emails, Refer is all about leveraging (okay, using) your team’s existing connections to get intros and referrals. Here’s what’s actually useful — and what’s just noise.
What Works
- Warm intro mapping: Refer plugs into your team’s email/LinkedIn accounts to surface who knows who, so you can request warm intros instead of cold spamming. This is genuinely useful if your deals are complex and relationships matter.
- Easy intro requests: The workflow for requesting an intro is dead simple. No more awkward “hey, do you know anyone at Acme Inc.?” emails — just click, customize, and send.
- Visibility: You get a dashboard showing who on your team could open doors to target accounts. For small to midsize teams, this can surface hidden opportunities.
- Integrations: Connects with Gmail, Outlook, Salesforce, HubSpot, and LinkedIn (to varying degrees of depth).
What Doesn’t
- Limited beyond intros: If you want mass outreach, lead enrichment, or deep sales intelligence, Refer isn’t your all-in-one. It’s focused — some will love that, others will want more.
- Network privacy jitters: You’ll need team buy-in, since Refer maps connections. Some folks are cagey about sharing their network, even internally.
- Intro fatigue: If you overuse it, you can burn out your team’s goodwill — nobody wants to be the “can you intro me to X at Y?” pest.
What to Ignore
- Claims about “AI-matching” intros: Yes, there’s some smart matching, but it’s not magic. The real value is in the manual, human connections you already have.
Quick Comparison: Refer vs. The Usual Suspects
| Feature | Refer | Apollo.io | Outreach | HubSpot Sales Hub | ZoomInfo SalesOS | |----------------------------|:-----:|:---------:|:-------:|:-----------------:|:----------------:| | Warm Intros | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐ | – | – | – | | Lead List Building | – | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ | – | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ | | Automated Sequences | – | ⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ | – | | CRM Integration | ⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐ | | Data Quality | ⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐ | N/A | ⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ | | Price (Ballpark, mid-tier) | $$ | $ | $$$ | $$ | $$$$ |
What This Means in Plain English: - Refer is king for warm intros, but doesn’t do lead scraping or mass outreach. - Apollo.io is the modern “Swiss Army knife” for finding and emailing prospects, but a bit shallow on relationship nuance. - Outreach is best for big teams running lots of automated outbound (think SDR armies). - HubSpot Sales Hub is good if you’re already living in HubSpot — otherwise, it’s just “okay.” - ZoomInfo is all about massive contact databases and enrichment, but expensive and can be sketchy on data freshness.
How to Actually Use GTM Tools to Maximize Sales Pipeline — Without Drowning in Features
Here’s a no-nonsense workflow that works for most B2B teams:
- Get Your ICP and Target List Straight
- Nail down who you actually want to sell to. Don’t trust the tool to do this for you.
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Use LinkedIn/Sales Navigator or a database (Apollo, ZoomInfo) to build your initial account list.
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Map Your Network for Warm Intros
- Use Refer to see who on your team (or extended network) can open doors at your target accounts.
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Prioritize warm intros — these convert way better than cold emails.
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Fill Gaps with Outbound
- For accounts where you have zero connections, use Apollo or Outreach to run targeted outbound sequences.
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Don’t blast — personalize your messaging and keep it tight.
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Keep Your CRM Clean (Really)
- Whichever tools you choose, make sure data syncs cleanly with Salesforce or HubSpot.
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Garbage in, garbage out — bad data kills pipeline.
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Review What’s Actually Working
- Don’t just look at “meetings booked” — track how many deals actually move forward and close from each source.
- Double down on what’s working; cut what isn’t.
Pro Tip: Don’t try to roll out five tools at once. Start with one or two, make them work, then layer in others if you really need them.
The Good, The Bad, and The Stuff Nobody Tells You
- Warm intros are gold — but only as long as you don’t abuse your network. Use sparingly, and always make it easy for your colleague to say no.
- Cold outreach still works — but it’s harder every year. The bar for relevance is sky-high, so don’t waste your time with generic pitches.
- Data is messy — no GTM tool will magically clean up your CRM or make your reps remember to log notes. Build simple habits.
- Shiny features are distractions — focus on what actually helps you start more real conversations. Ignore the rest.
Bottom Line: Keep It Simple, Iterate, and Don’t Buy Hype
You don’t need the “ultimate GTM stack” to build pipeline in 2024. Start with a tool like Refer if you want to unlock warm intros — it’s genuinely helpful for relationship-driven sales. Pair it with something like Apollo or Outreach for outbound, and make sure your CRM isn’t a dumpster fire.
Test, tweak, and don’t be afraid to ditch what’s not working. Most importantly: keep your process simple, respect your team’s time, and focus on the stuff that actually moves deals forward. The rest is just noise.