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Account Qualification
Potential accounts were screened for organisational scale, operational complexity, and likely exposure to baggage, ramp, turnaround, or load-control challenges.
The Background
Connecting Critical Ground Operations
Zafire develops cloud-based software for time-sensitive aviation ground operations. Its FIRST suite helps airlines, airports, and ground handlers improve control and visibility across baggage reconciliation, ramp handling, aircraft turnaround, and load control.
FIRST bag supports baggage handling and reconciliation, FIRST ramp coordinates turnaround activity on the ground, and FIRST load supports load planning and communication. Together, the products address interconnected workflows where delays, fragmented information, and operational blind spots can become expensive quickly.
The Challenge
Selling a High-Value Platform Into a Specialist Market
With a typical deal value in the 60K–100K range, success depended on reaching a relatively small number of organisations with sufficient operational complexity, scale, and buying authority. Generic aviation lists would create activity without producing the right conversations.
Core Requirements
- Identify aviation organisations with complex ground operations
- Reach senior leaders responsible for ground handling and operations
- Connect product capabilities to live operational priorities
- Build credibility for a substantial technology investment
- Generate qualified enterprise meetings instead of broad lead volume
Ideal Customer Profile
Prioritising Organisations With Meaningful Operational Complexity
The initial ICP focused on larger European aviation organisations, then became more selective as response and meeting quality revealed where Zafire's operational proposition resonated most strongly.
Organisations
Airlines, airports, and ground-handling organisations
Company Size
Initially focused on organisations with 500+ employees
Geography
Europe
Decision-Makers
Directors of Ground Handling, Operations Directors, COOs, and senior ground-operations leaders
Priority Signals
Baggage handling, aircraft turnaround, load management, stand utilisation, compliance, and fragmented ground systems
The Solution
Operationally Relevant SDR Outreach
Upturnly built an SDR programme around a narrow market, senior stakeholders, and specific ground-operations challenges. Targeting and messaging were refined throughout the engagement based on the quality of accounts, replies, and meetings generated.
- ✓Selected accounts based on scale and likely operational complexity
- ✓Mapped senior operations and ground-handling decision-makers
- ✓Positioned Zafire around operational outcomes instead of generic software features
- ✓Built messaging around IATA 753 compliance, baggage reconciliation, turnaround delays, ULD and load management, and ground visibility
- ✓Used campaign feedback to prioritise the aviation organisations with the strongest fit
What Changed
From Broad Aviation Targeting to Enterprise Access
The campaign became progressively sharper. Instead of treating every aviation company as equally relevant, it concentrated on organisations where baggage, turnaround, load, and ground visibility challenges were significant enough to support a high-value technology discussion.
The Transformation
Across seven months, the SDR engagement generated 24 meetings with aviation prospects. One standout conversation was with Emirates, reflecting the level of enterprise access the campaign was designed to create.