How Relay Network Replaced Their Legacy Outbound Tools in 2.5 Weeks and Never Looked Back

The Challenge: The "Clunky" Legacy Dead-End

Relay Network has always been a "Call-Forward" organization, but their legacy sales engagement tools were treating the phone as an afterthought. For the operations team, the "new features" from legacy vendors felt like bolted-on distractions rather than fundamental improvements.

"Every new release from our previous platform felt very shoved into the platform," says Kelly Cornett, Director of Marketing Operations. "It was a box to check, but it didn't fit into our workstream. It wasn't making us stronger or faster; it was just a means to an end."

For the reps, the experience was "clunky." To get a lead into a sequence, they had to bounce between their CRM, an enrichment tool, and their sequencer. "It was a very physical step to move data," Cornett explains. "We couldn't easily grab a campaign and just push it over. We were running business as usual, but we weren't improving."

The Strategy: AI as a Workstream, Not a Side-Car

Relay didn't just want a new sequencer; they wanted a partner that built AI from the ground up to support a unified global team.

1. Consolidation for True Rep Focus

Relay’s primary goal was to eliminate the "Tool-Hopping Tax." By moving everything—prospecting, enrichment, and sequencing—into Nooks, they allowed reps to stay in a flow state.

• The "Single Spot" Advantage: "A goal of ours is to keep reps in one spot because focus matters," says Luke Gomez, Director of Demand Gen.  
• Multi-Channel Flow: "Now, they can do prospecting and put data all in one place," Cornett adds. "They bring data in with a few clicks instead of bringing it 'around the corner' from another database."

2. AI Signals: Resurfacing "Past Champions"

Relay uses Nooks to identify and prioritize their most valuable leads—Past Champions and high-intent targets.

• Account Insights: "The AI identifies past champions and 10-K report insights that give us the 'Why' for the outreach," says Gomez. "It allows the reps to go into a call or email much more prepared."
• Deep Account History: "Reps can look at account activity over several years and ask the AI, 'We talked to this team a while ago, should we pivot?'" says Cornett. "The strategy is finally accessible to them in a meaningful way."

3. AI Emails: Personalization via First-Party Data

The "Magic" at Relay happens when Nooks combines First-Party Data (what was actually said in previous calls) with Third-Party Signals to draft hyper-relevant emails.

• Confident Frameworks: "It gives the reps a framework to send emails confidently rather than coming up with it from scratch," says Gomez.
• Authentic Relevance: "By combining call data with signals, the emails are hyper-personalized and relevant to the prospect," Cornett explains. "It’s not about AI taking your job; it’s about AI handling the legwork so you can focus on the connection."

The Results: 2.5 Weeks to a "Status Quo" Transition

Relay Network hit the ground running in just over two weeks.

High-Velocity "In-Sourcing"

"We were able to turn things around really quickly," Cornett notes. "Traditionally, there is a massive learning curve. We just haven't experienced that. We’ve been getting the team in and they are moving."

Eliminating Tech Debt

"We consolidated products and ease the contract burden," says Cornett. "We’re getting more 'bang for our buck' because we’re actually utilizing every piece of the platform—the sequencing, the signals, and the dialer."

The Bottom Line

"If you don't modernize, you don't improve," concludes Cornett. "Nooks was built from the ground up using AI, and that's the differentiator. It’s making our reps more powerful in their message on the phone and more effective in their sequences."

"Unlike what we previously used, Nooks was built with AI at the core. It’s helped us get smarter with our outreach on a given day—not just at scale, but at a level of quality that makes every dial more effective."

— Luke Gomez, Director of Demand Gen, Relay Network