How to run outbound for a two-sided marketplace
- Cormac Repman
- 3 days ago
- 4 min read
Two-sided marketplaces have a brutal constraint that typical B2B companies don't face: you need both sides to show up at once.
You can't just build supply. You need demand. You can't just win customers. You need suppliers. And until both exist, your marketplace is a ghost town.
This is why marketplace outbound is different. Standard SaaS outbound optimizes for cost per acquisition. Marketplace outbound optimizes for ecosystem velocity - the speed at which you can activate both sides and get them transacting.
The Supply-Demand Sequencing Problem
Most marketplace founders get this wrong. They launch by trying to recruit both sides simultaneously, which spreads resources thin and produces zero traction on each side.
Here's what actually works: pick a side and go deep first.
For fintech and insurtech marketplaces, the winning playbook is almost always demand-first. Start by recruiting money movers - the people who actually have deals to move or customers to serve. They create proof of concept that attracts supply.
Your first 20 customers on the demand side should be warm introductions from 5-10 advisors who understand your thesis. Not cold outreach. Not advertising. Direct introductions from people who can vouch for your model.
Once you have genuine demand - real people looking for real partners - your supply recruitment becomes dramatically easier. People want to join marketplaces where there's actually work.
Identifying Your Beachhead Market
Before you run any outreach, you need obsessive clarity on who your first buyer actually is.
For a fintech marketplace, this might be:
Credit unions under $500M AUM looking for outsourced underwriting
Regional insurance brokers with 2-10 agents seeking backend operations
Specialty lenders who need fraud detection but can't afford enterprise software
Niche insurtech startups that need licensed MGA relationships
Pick one. The tighter your beachhead, the higher your conversion rate. We see 25-40% connect rates when outreach targets a specific persona (regional credit union CTO, for example) versus 6-12% for broad "fintech VP" targeting.
The Dual-Track Outreach Sequence
Once you've identified your demand beachhead, run two parallel outreach campaigns.
Track A: Demand Generation
Call the heads of operations at 100-150 companies in your beachhead. Your hook is specific: "We're building [marketplace name] for [specific problem]. Your team is dealing with [concrete pain]. Can I show you what 10 other [titles] are already using?"
The goal isn't to close them in 15 minutes. It's to get a 30-minute discovery call where you understand their current workflow and introduce them to your marketplace concept.
Our best-performing scripts mention specific competitors they're currently using and quantified pain points. "Most credit union COOs we talk to are spending $8K-12K monthly on [vendor]. We're seeing teams cut that by 40% with our approach" performs 3x better than generic value propositions.
Track B: Supply Recruitment
While you're courting demand, recruit your first 5-10 service providers who can actually fulfill those customer needs.
These should NOT come from cold outreach. These should come from:
Your personal network and advisor intros
Existing service providers who are frustrated with current platforms (and can be convinced your marketplace will send them better leads)
Competitors' talent - people running similar services but at agencies or solo
For insurtech, this might be licensed MGAs or underwriters. For fintech, this might be risk analysts or compliance consultants.
Your pitch to supply is different: "We have 15 companies in [specific industry] looking for [service]. We're building infrastructure to connect you efficiently. Can you handle 2-3 pilots?"
Running Cold Outreach at Scale
Once your beachhead market shows traction, you can cold-source at scale.
Here's what works specifically for marketplaces:
1. Target by transaction history
Use APIs from LinkedIn Sales Navigator, Hunter.io, or Apollo to find decision-makers who've recently changed jobs into relevant titles. Job switchers into your target roles have a 3-5x higher conversion rate than passive prospects.
2. Reference the marketplace itself, not your feature set
"We connected [company name] with underwriting support through [marketplace name]. Do you want to see how this could reduce your vendor stack?" performs better than "Our platform has APIs."
3. Make the first ask low-friction
Don't ask for a demo. Ask: "Would you be open to a quick 15-minute call to see if this could help your team?" or "Can I add you to our weekly marketplace digest for three weeks?"
Lower the friction to 15 minutes and you'll see 8-12% acceptance rates. Ask for 30 minutes and watch that drop to 3-4%.
4. Lead with social proof from similar companies
Name-drop. "Credit unions are seeing $4K-8K monthly savings because they can finally use [service] without dedicated staff." Specific numbers + specific company types + specific outcome.
Converting Marketplace Prospects
When you get a discovery call, you're not selling software. You're selling participation in an ecosystem.
Your conversation should follow this structure:
Problem validation: "Walk me through your current process for [sourcing partners / finding customers]"
Ecosystem introduction: "Here's how other companies in your industry are solving this"
Urgency creation: "Most people we talk to waste $500-2K monthly on [inefficient current approach]. We're onboarding a new [service provider type] next month"
Pilot commitment: "Can you give us 2-3 weeks to run a pilot with [supplier] and see if this changes your workflow?"
Don't try to close them on the call. Get them to commit to the pilot. The pilot sells itself because your supply side (if you recruited well) will actually deliver results.
The unsexy truth about marketplace outbound is that it's not about better copywriting. It's about building real supply first, then proving it works in discovery calls, then scaling outreach to demand.
If you're running a fintech or insurtech marketplace and outbound isn't moving the needle, you probably have one of three problems: supply isn't proven yet, your demand positioning is too broad, or your pilot process isn't structured to convert.
Nurturance runs outbound for marketplaces like yours. We build the demand generation engine while you recruit supply. We've closed pilot deals at $2-5K CAC for marketplace platforms because we focus obsessively on beachhead fit and ecosystem velocity, not vanity metrics.
If you're scaling a two-sided marketplace in fintech or insurtech, let's talk about how we'd approach your outbound. [Book a call here](https://cal.com/nurturance).
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