2026-02-lighting-quotations

# Campaign: Lighting | Quotations specialists - US & Canada
**La Growth name:** Lighting | Quotations specialists - US & Canada
**Audience:** Lighting - Quotations
**Leads:** 119 | **Reply rate:** 7%

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## LinkedIn path (connection accepted)

### Step 1: DM #1 (after accept)
Hey {{firstname}}, thanks for connecting. I'm a former electrical apprentice turned software developer. I spent a decade of my life building PlanGrid and now building an AI estimating agent. I noticed you used to be an estimator and I'd love to get your help and feedback into what I'm building. Do you have 30 mins for a phone call sometime the next couple of weeks?


### Step 2: DM #2 (if no reply)
Would you be open with playing with the application or giving me feedback based on a demo video?


### Step 3: DM #3 (if no reply, no email)
I'm also more than happy to share what I've learned from others or help with questions about other construction software.


---

## Email path (accepted, has email)

### Step 4: Email #1
**Subject:** Former electrical apprentice
Hey {{firstname}},

I'm a former electrical apprentice turned software developer. I spent a decade of my life building PlanGrid and now building an AI estimating agent. I noticed you used to be an estimator and I'd love to get your help and feedback into what I'm building. Do you have 30 mins for a phone call sometime the next couple of weeks?

Alexei



## Email path (NOT accepted)

### Step 6: Email #1
**Subject:** Former electrical apprentice
Hey {{firstname}},

I'm a former electrical apprentice turned software developer. I spent a decade of my life building PlanGrid and now building an AI estimating agent. I noticed you used to be an estimator and I'd love to get your help and feedback into what I'm building. Do you have 30 mins for a phone call sometime the next couple of weeks?

Alexei


### Step 7: Email #2 (if no reply)
**Subject:**
Would you be open to trying an early version of my AI estimating agent? Or watching a demo video if you'd prefer to give feedback that way?

Alexei


### Step 8: Email #3 (if no reply)
**Subject:**
I'm also more than happy to share what I've learned from others or help with questions about other construction software.

Alexei

# Retro: Lighting | Quotations Specialists — US & Canada

**Campaign ID:** 2026-02-lighting-quotations
**La Growth name:** Lighting | Quotations specialists - US & Canada
**Audience:** Quotation specialists at lighting companies
**Leads:** 119 | **Replies:** 6 | **Reply rate:** 5.0%

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## Channel Metrics

| Channel | Contacted | Key metric | Replies |
|---|---|---|---|
| LinkedIn | 119 new contacts | 30 accepted (25%) | 3 LI replies |
| Email | 81 contacted, 80 received | 27 opens (34%) | 3 email replies |

**Connection acceptance rate: 25%** (30/119). Moderate — quotation specialists connect at a reasonable rate.

**Reply split: 50/50 LinkedIn vs email.** Unlike most campaigns where LinkedIn dominates, email pulled equal weight here. This may reflect that quotation specialists check email more regularly (they receive RFQs via email).

---

## Content Analysis

### DM#1 (65 words)
Founder-story framing — "I'm a former electrical apprentice turned software developer. I spent a decade building PlanGrid." Asks for 30-min phone call for feedback. Personalized with "I noticed you used to be an estimator."

**Observations:**
- Good founder-story opener, but at 65 words it's slightly long.
- "I noticed you used to be an estimator" — personalization that acknowledges their background. However, many leads are quotation specialists, not former estimators, so this may miss for some.
- Uses the "30 mins for a phone call" CTA — weaker performer.

### DM#2
"Would you be open with playing with the application or giving me feedback based on a demo video?" — Low friction pivot. Good.

### DM#3
Generic offer to help with construction software questions.

---

## Reply Analysis (6 replies)

### Reply-by-reply breakdown

| # | Title | Company | State | Channel | Sentiment | Reply summary |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lighting Project Quotations & Inside Sales | Next Sales and Marketing | Nova Scotia | Email | Neutral | Holiday auto-reply (office closed Dec 24 – Jan 5) |
| 2 | Controls Quotations Specialist | Lighting Environments | Maryland | Email | Neutral | Auto-reply: person no longer with company |
| 3 | Quotations Manager | FRM Lighting & Controls | Florida | LI | Soft decline | "I don't use that type of software... Might be better on the EC side" |
| 4 | Quotation Manager | Southwest Sales Reps | Arizona | LI | **Positive** | Busy but interested — "if you could give me a little more of what you are looking for specifically I can try and gather some ideas" |
| 5 | Design and Quotation Consultant | Custom Neon | — | LI | Ambiguous | "Hi, Alexei" (greeting only, no substance) |
| 6 | Quotations Specialist | Specialty Lighting Group | Connecticut | Email | Neutral | Out-of-office auto-reply (returning Dec 23) |

### Reply quality
- **Positive:** 1/6 (Southwest Sales Reps — genuine interest)
- **Neutral/auto-reply:** 4/6 (holiday OOO, person left company, greeting only)
- **Soft decline:** 1/6 (FRM — redirected to electrical contractor side)

**Effective reply rate: ~0.8%** (1 genuinely interested reply out of 119 leads). The 5.0% headline rate is inflated by auto-replies and OOO messages.

### Campaign timing issue
This campaign ran in **December 2025**, overlapping with the holiday season. At least 2 of 6 replies were holiday auto-replies. Real engagement was suppressed.

---

## Leads Analysis (119 leads)

### Title distribution
| Title cluster | Count | Replies | Rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Quotations Specialist variants | 32 | 3 | 9.4% |
| Quotations Manager variants | 10 | 2 | 20.0% |
| Project Quotations | 5 | 0 | 0% |
| Quotation Consultant | 2 | 1 | 50.0% |
| Other | 70 | 0 | 0% |

Quotation Managers (20%) outperformed Quotation Specialists (9.4%), though both had mostly low-quality replies.

### Industry distribution
| Industry | Count | Replies | Rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wholesale | 31 | 0 | 0% |
| Appliances/Electronics Mfg | 19 | 0 | 0% |
| Architecture and Planning | 11 | 1 | 9.1% |
| Construction | 8 | 0 | 0% |
| Wholesale Building Materials | 7 | 1 | 14.3% |
| Design Services | 2 | 1 | 50.0% |
| Manufacturing | 2 | 1 | 50.0% |

Replies scattered across industries with no clear concentration. Wholesale (the largest segment) had zero replies.

### Geography
Repliers came from Nova Scotia, Maryland, Florida, Arizona, and Connecticut — wide geographic spread with no pattern. Florida continues to show up as a responsive state.

---

## Key Insights

1. **Quotation specialists are moderately reachable but low-converting.** They connect (25%) and respond (5%), but most replies are administrative (OOO, forwarding) rather than genuine interest.
2. **Holiday timing killed this campaign.** Running in December meant 33% of replies were auto-OOO. Avoid December launches.
3. **The redirect signal is valuable.** The FRM Quotations Manager said "Might be better on the EC side" — confirming that the **electrical contractor** (the end user doing takeoffs) is closer to our value prop than the lighting rep (who does quotations, not takeoffs).
4. **Email performed equally to LinkedIn** — unusual. Quotation specialists may be more email-responsive due to their RFQ-driven workflow.
5. **"I noticed you used to be an estimator" personalization** was slightly off-target for many leads who are quotation specialists, not former estimators. Personalization should match the lead's actual role.

---

## Recommendations

1. **Deprioritize quotation specialists** as a primary target. They're adjacent to the problem but not core users of takeoff tools.
2. **Never run campaigns in December.** Holiday auto-replies inflate metrics without delivering real engagement.
3. **If retargeting this audience**, focus on Quotation Managers (higher seniority, higher response quality) over Quotation Specialists.
4. **Redirect insight: electrical contractors are the better target.** The FRM reply confirms the playbook finding that users (people doing takeoffs), not adjacent roles (people doing quotations), are the entry point.

No leads linked to this campaign yet.