When Lynn Tan took over outbound at Quickbase last year, their motion wasn't built to scale. Signals lived in disconnected tools, prioritization was manual, and the team had no central place to interpret what was actually happening across accounts.
UserGems changed what's possible for them and Quickbase rebuilt the engine around three ingredients: every signal in one place (including custom ones unique to Quickbase), context on every signal so reps know why it matters, and automation to push it all downstream.
From average quarterly 2025 to Q1 2026, Quickbase hit 5x lead creation, 3x pipeline opportunities, and 2x closed-won revenue. Their SDRs and AEs now start the day engaging prospects instead of hunting for them.
About Quickbase
Quickbase is an AI-powered no-code application platform built for complex operational work. Teams use it to connect data, automate workflows, and build custom applications, with real-time visibility and governance built in.
About Lynn Tan
Lynn is the Senior Director of Growth at Quickbase. She championed their shift from a cold, campaign-first motion to a signal-led GTM engine, including a fundamental rethink of how they target: away from account-level signals and toward the contact-level precision that actually tells you exactly who to contact and what to say.
The challenge: a disconnected outbound engine
When Lynn started, two problems stood out:
- Outbound wasn't built to scale on signal. Work was manual, intent wasn't prioritized and SDRs spent two-thirds of their day researching and list-building instead of selling.
- Systems surfaced signal, but nothing interpreted it and their tools didn’t speak to each other. Different tools hinted at intent. None of them connected the dots or translated the signal into GTM action: what does this mean, why does it matter, and how should we act on it?
Quickbase needed a centralized engine that acted like a GTM brain.
"We were missing that centralized engine and that centralized engine. Also we had a of lack of the go to market context to really being able to interpret those signals. What are those signals? Why are they important and how should we act on it?"
UserGems as Quickbase's AI command center
Quickbase took a step back and rethought outbound from the ground up. Instead of fitting signal-led motion into a traditional demand funnel, they made on-demand data and AI insights the core motion, the engine that surfaces buyers already aware of their problem and of Quickbase's brand, and turns that awareness into pipeline.
The team identified three core components they couldn't build the engine without.
1. Differentiated, hard-to-replicate signals
Quickbase started with the preconfigured signals UserGems already captures but the real unlock came when the team realized they could build custom signals unique to Quickbase: people who took out a Quickbase trial, people who attended past Quickbase events, members of the Quickbase community, people engaging with specific product behaviors. These are signals no one else could replicate.
That reframing changed how the team built every playbook. Every campaign brainstorm now starts with the same question:
"Can this turn into a signal? What is the trigger event? Can we put this in the signal in Gem-E?"
2. Signals mapped to context
Getting signals into one place was only the beginning. They started training Gem-E like the ultimate revenue teammate, feeding Gem-E content from product marketing, brand, and SDR feedback and tying signals to industry use cases, product capabilities, hooks, offers, ROI calculators, and event promotions.
The result: every message is different, even to the same person, tied back to whichever signal is driving the outreach.
"We are treating Gem-E like the ultimate revenue teammate. Every time we have a new product launch or a new campaign brief, the first thing is: let's get it into Gem-E. Let's make sure Gem-E can think like an SDR, understand content like a marketer, orchestrate like a growth marketer, and drive conversation like an AE."
3. Automation built into the stack
Centralized signals and tailored messaging only matter if reps actually use them. Quickbase integrated Gem-E with Salesforce and Outreach so personalized emails, call briefs, and LinkedIn briefs all flow automatically into sequences. The Quickbase team use the AI Chrome Extension to surface context wherever reps work.
A Gem-E workflow runs at 4am every morning to find contacts, prioritize by signal, and load personalized messages into Outreach. Now their reps start their day with their top prospects already queued, with the signal, the context, and the message ready to review, approve, and send.
From account signals to contact-level precision
A key lesson Lynn shared: account signals aren't enough anymore. Account-level intent tells you something is happening, but it doesn't tell you who's driving it. Buyers expect contact-aware, highly relevant outreach and reps need the confidence that the person they're reaching is actually the right buyer.
UserGems gives Quickbase that precision. Signals pinpoint the individual and give reps a clear call to action and real reason to engage.
5x reach. Ripple effects across the entire funnel.
Comparing average quarterly performance in 2025 to Q1 2026:
- 5x increase in lead outreach volume
- Meeting volume up, driven by the expanded reach
- More opportunities entering pipeline
- More deals closing won
- A new SDR operating model where Gem-E handles research, enrichment, and prioritization, and reps focus on conversion
"In the past, SDRs and AEs spent two-thirds of their day finding contacts, prioritizing accounts, and writing messages. Now UserGems workflows run at 4 AM and they start their day directly engaging with prospects."
Lynn's advice to other GTM leaders
- Start with signals that differentiate. Ask: is this really a signal? What's the trigger event? The unlock is the custom, hard-to-replicate signals unique to your business.
- Think in playbooks, not one-off campaigns. Group cohorts, stack signals, unify the message, test what drives conversion.
- Don't skip any of the three ingredients. Signal + context + automation. Train Gem-E like a real teammate and it can think like a SDR, contact-centric marketer, ABM orchestrator and AE all rolled into one.
- Move from account signals to contact-level precision. Account intent is a lagging indicator. Person-level signal is an absolute must.
Signals, context, and automation have to work as one system. Once Quickbase got all three right, that's when outbound actually started to compound.
.png)
