How Nez & Pez Made RSA and Black Hat Into a Pipeline Engine

How Nez & Pez Made RSA and Black Hat Into a Pipeline Engine

Nez & Pez used signal-based outreach on Heddl to identify cybersecurity vendors entering a pre-event brand cycle 10-18 weeks before RSA and Black Hat. That timing advantage produced a 5.2x increase in pre-event pipeline and a 71% meeting conversion rate on high-intent outreach.

TL;DR: Nez & Pez used signal-based GTM on Heddl to enter cybersecurity conversations 9+ weeks before competitors. The result: 5.2x pre-event pipeline growth, 71% meeting conversion on hot-signal outreach, 6 new retainer relationships with Series B-C vendors, and 3,800+ personas tracked month over month.

Every agency that works the conference circuit knows the drill. You show up to RSA or Black Hat, collect business cards, follow up with a pitch deck, and wait. By the time you're in the room, the vendor already has three other agencies in play. Budget is set. Timelines are tight. And the brief you're working against was written months before you shook that hand.

Nez & Pez felt that pressure every year. Their pipeline was strong when relationships were warm. When they needed to grow new accounts, the timing was always wrong. Not because they were late to the event. Because they were late to the conversation.

They fixed that by doing something most agencies never think to do: they built an intelligence layer that told them which cybersecurity vendors were preparing for RSA and Black Hat before anyone else knew it.

Why Did Conference Pipeline Feel So Unpredictable?

Conference-driven pipeline is unpredictable because most agencies enter the sales conversation after internal vendor decisions are already locked. By the time a cybersecurity vendor publicly signals they need agency support, budgets are allocated, timelines are compressed, and two or three other vendors are already shortlisted.

Before Heddl, Nez & Pez's pipeline looked like most event-driven agencies. Referrals carried the weight. Inbound came in bursts. Conference networking produced relationships that converted slowly, if at all. And last-minute booth requests meant rushed creative cycles with little room to do their best work.

The fundamental problem was timing. Cybersecurity vendors preparing for RSA or Black Hat typically need to refresh positioning, redesign their booth, relaunch a product, or sharpen their messaging. Those decisions happen internally, weeks or months in advance. By the time the brief reaches an agency, the window to shape strategy is already closed.

Nez & Pez weren't losing on quality. They were losing on timing. And that's a completely different problem with a different solution.

What Changed When They Shifted to Signal-Based GTM?

Signal-based GTM replaces company list targeting with behavioural intelligence. Instead of asking 'which companies should we contact,' the question becomes 'which companies are most likely entering a pre-event brand cycle right now.' That question produces earlier, more relevant, and more personal outreach.

The shift in thinking was the first thing. Nez & Pez stopped asking which cybersecurity companies they should contact and started asking which ones were most likely in a pre-event buying window right now.

That question requires a different tool. Heddl's signal layer monitors early exhibitor signals, funding announcements, leadership changes, and social conversations simultaneously. Instead of a static prospect list, the team was working from a live feed of intent data that updated as the market moved.

What Signals Did They Actually Track?

Nez & Pez tracked four primary signal categories on Heddl: early RSA and Black Hat exhibitor registrations (10-18 weeks before events), Series A-C funding announcements, new CMO or VP Marketing hires, and social conversations mentioning booth design, rebranding, or event preparation challenges.

RSA and Black Hat registration databases, vendor announcement feeds, and press releases gave them early exhibitor intent. A company confirming event participation 14 weeks out is a company that needs brand and creative support now, not in six weeks.

Funding rounds were a brand signal, not just a financial one. A Series B cybersecurity company that just raised is under pressure to increase market visibility, sharpen competitive differentiation, and show up credibly at events. That's a rich buying window.

Leadership changes were equally telling. A new CMO or VP Marketing almost always initiates a review of visual identity, messaging, and event strategy within their first quarter. Heddl surfaced those hires within days of the announcement.

And the social layer made it real-time. Heddl tracked conversations on LinkedIn and Reddit around RSA preparation, booth design challenges, agency frustration, and event positioning. Those social signals were often the earliest indicator of active need, weeks before any formal brief.

How Did the Outreach Actually Work?

Every outreach message was anchored to a specific signal: a recent funding round, an RSA participation announcement, a new marketing leadership hire, or a visible market trigger. Signal-first outreach removes generic cold messaging from the equation entirely.

This is the part where most people expect a clever template or a seven-step sequence. The reality is simpler. The outreach worked because it was specific. Every message referenced why Nez & Pez was reaching out at this exact moment.

Not 'we work with cybersecurity brands.' Instead: 'We noticed you confirmed your Black Hat booth last week. Most brands we work with start positioning strategy 10-12 weeks before the event. Here's why that window matters.'

That specificity is only possible if the signal already exists. Heddl provided the signal. The message was the natural output of it.

"What changed with Heddl wasn't just our targeting. It was that we had a reason to reach out that the prospect couldn't dismiss as generic. When you reference something that just happened in their company, you get a different quality of response." — Ruben Lopez, Head of Growth, Nez & Pez

According to GetGTM.ai's 2026 outbound benchmark, personalised signal-triggered outreach achieves a 7% reply rate against an industry average of 2%. That's a 3.5x lift driven entirely by timing and specificity.

What Did Lookalike Scoring Add to the System?

Lookalike modelling let Nez & Pez prioritise accounts that matched their highest-converting past clients: Series A-C cybersecurity companies with technically credible products, weak commercial positioning, and active event participation. This reduced time spent on poor-fit accounts significantly.

Once the signal layer was working, Nez & Pez layered a second intelligence function on top: prioritising accounts based on their similarity to past retainer wins.

The best-fit profile that emerged was specific. Series A to C cybersecurity companies. Vendors participating in RSA and Black Hat. Companies operating in crowded categories with high technical credibility but underdeveloped brand presence. Mature products that hadn't kept pace commercially with competitors.

That last element was particularly valuable. Many high-fit accounts weren't actively searching for agencies yet. But the signals were visible: outdated websites, inconsistent messaging, weak visual positioning. Heddl's ICP scoring surfaced those accounts alongside their triggering events, so Nez & Pez could enter the conversation before the company had even identified the problem themselves.

That's the timing advantage that compounds. You're not competing. You're educating. And that's a much easier sale.

What Were the Results Across the Cycle?

Over one operating cycle, Nez & Pez signed 6 new retainer clients, generated 140+ actionable social alerts monthly, tracked 3,800+ cybersecurity personas, achieved a 71% meeting conversion rate on hot-signal outreach, and grew pre-event pipeline 5.2x compared to their previous conference-driven approach.

The numbers across the cycle were clear.

• 6 new retainer relationships with Series B-C cybersecurity vendors
• 140+ actionable social intent alerts generated monthly
• 3,800+ cybersecurity personas tracked across event cycles
• 71% meeting conversion on high-intent outreach
• 5.2x increase in pre-event pipeline
• Conversations starting 9+ weeks before event booking deadlines

The shift that drove those numbers wasn't a bigger team or a bigger budget. It was timing. Conversations that used to start at the conference booth started 9 weeks earlier. Outreach that used to be generic was specific to what the company was going through right now.

Nez & Pez stopped competing inside crowded procurement cycles. They started entering conversations before formal vendor evaluation even began. In high-competition markets like cybersecurity, that timing advantage compounds fast.

Why Does Signal-Based GTM Work Better in Competitive Markets?

In competitive markets, generic outreach fails because every vendor receives similar messaging. Signal-based GTM works because it reduces perceived cold outreach to zero. The prospect receives a message that reflects an event they just experienced, making relevance immediate and scepticism lower.

Cybersecurity is a category where brand differentiation is hard and vendor noise is high. Most vendors say similar things. Most agencies pitch similar things. The decision often comes down to timing and relationship.

Signal-based GTM attacks the timing problem directly. When you reach a cybersecurity brand 12 weeks before their event, you're not competing with three other agencies in a formal review. You're having a strategy conversation while the competition hasn't started looking yet.

That's the real lesson from Nez & Pez. RSA and Black Hat didn't change. The events run on the same schedule every year. What changed was when Nez & Pez entered the buyer's awareness. That shift moved them from late-stage competitors to early-stage advisors.

The Timing Edge Is the Only Edge That Scales

You can improve your copy. You can tighten your targeting. You can optimise your follow-up cadence. All of that helps at the margins. But the biggest lever in B2B sales is still when you show up, not what you say when you get there.

Nez & Pez didn't reinvent agency sales. They just stopped arriving late to the conversation. When you combine event signals, funding data, leadership changes, and social intent into one feed, that timing advantage becomes systematic. Not a lucky streak. A repeatable motion.

That's what Heddl makes possible. Not better cold outreach. Earlier, better-informed outreach that doesn't feel cold at all.

If your pipeline depends on relationships that form at events, you're already behind your competition by the time you shake hands. Heddl gives you the signal layer that surfaces those buying windows 10-18 weeks before the event. See how it works at heddl.app