When Groq needed immediate support to optimize their marketing operations, AK Operations stepped in with unparalleled speed, precision, and expertise, delivering one of the most impactful sales enablement and operations partnerships.
In record time, we identified gaps, implemented sophisticated solutions, and automated processes that saved their sales team hours weekly. From qualifying backlogged prospects to enhancing lead segmentation and routing between tools like Clay, Salesforce, and HubSpot, our execution was bar none. As Michael Gurton, our main POC noted:
Through this partnership, Groq achieved exceptional efficiency and scalability – putting them in a proactive position to handle any upcoming surge of interest. By automating prospect qualification and improving form submission accuracy, we not only resolved backlogs but also prepared Groq for full activation of their tech stack in 2025. These efforts ensured consistent communication with developers and enterprise prospects while laying the groundwork for advanced customizations in lead scoring and enrichment.
This story stands as a testament to AK Ops’ ability to jump in, understand needs, and execute flawlessly, positioning Groq to thrive in the competitive semiconductor market.
Outcomes:
- Streamlined Marketing Ops: Extreme efficiency improvement and reduced manual workload.
- Thousands of Submissions (and Counting) of Inbound Volume: Built custom segmentation and validation process within Hubspot to intercept tens of thousands of inbounds for automated categorization, dispositioning, assignment, marketing nurture enrollment, and activated users in record time.
- Backlog Resolution: Automated the qualification of backlogged prospects, saving the sales team dozens of hours weekly.
- Continuous Engagement: Delivered consistent, scalable communication to developers and enterprise prospects, maintaining Groq’s position as a trusted innovator in the semiconductor space.
- High-Impact Metrics: Slow launch of the program on domains and database prepared the readiness of Hubspot for full activation in 2025.
- Full Activation in 2025: At record pace, the AK Ops team deployed Clay into the tech stack to enhance form submission accuracy to exponentially improve the lead experience - sophisticated segmentation and assignment, enhanced and normalized form data, campaign routing for ongoing nurture, and pro-active capacity management.
With a robust foundation in place, Groq is well-positioned to scale its developer network further and explore advanced customizations in lead scoring and enrichment – minimizing form inputs but maximizing the accuracy of the assignment or segmentation. This partnership ensures Groq’s operations remain agile and scalable in their rapidly evolving market.
As Michael Gurton, our long-time POC at Groq, reflected on the impact of these efforts:
"AK Ops has completely operationalized our lead management in Hubspot. They’ve hopped in at lightning-fast speed to fill our gaps and implement thorough solutions impressively quickly. By automating the segmentation and routing to my sales team and picking up some of the volume themselves, I’ve recouped several hours a week. Most importantly, I have an extremely capable team behind me to execute and operate ongoing continuous optimization as we scale our GTM motion.”
Background:
Groq, a cutting-edge semiconductor company known for its revolutionary tensor streaming processor architecture, specializes in high-performance computing solutions for machine learning, artificial intelligence, and data-driven workloads. As Groq expanded its presence within the developer and enterprise communities, interest and demand surged rapidly. Following the acquisition of Definitive in March 2024, the influx of inbound inquiries skyrocketed, leaving Groq with the significant challenge of efficiently managing and qualifying over 100K leads.
Ensuring alignment between Salesforce (SFDC) and HubSpot (HS) while scaling its operations became critical. The company needed to organize its database, build the integration between the website and HubSpot, clean up form submission backlogs, and automate communication with developers and enterprise prospects—all while maintaining its innovative edge in a highly competitive industry.
Solution:
Groq partnered with AK Ops to design and implement an optimized inbound management and enrichment process. This solution leveraged Salesforce and HubSpot as a unified operational backbone. Now we’re launching the Clay integration for data enrichment and lead scoring of the backlog and incoming new leads. Our partnership initiatives include:
- Database Optimization and Hubspot Configuration:
Contacts from various entry points, such as website forms, developer tier sign-ups, and enterprise submissions, were segmented into categories and then either assigned to Groq sales teams or routed into Hubspot campaigns with tailored follow-up. - Backlog Cleanup:
We designed a HubSpot marketing program to proactively communicate to the marketable database about product developments, wait lists, and next steps. We slowly deployed these contacts into campaigns as we monitored the conversion rates soar – to balance the capacity of the team. These rates included 78% open rates and a 45% reply rate – ultimately, 33% of those replies turned into deals. - Automated Communication:
AK Operations operationalized consistent communication to Groq’s developer and enterprise audiences. Over 30K subscribers in The Groq Download, and 18K developers are kept informed with updates about product features, model deprecation, and other key developments while maintaining strong sending reputation, domain health, and email rates. - Watchlists for Sales Ready Assignments:
We built processes in Hubspot to enhance the contact and account data, ensuring that all contacts in HubSpot are properly validated and enriched for optimal follow-up. Watchlists were created to flag high-value opportunities for direct routing to sales or automated sequences. - Seamless Integration:
Salesforce and HubSpot were configured to sync seamlessly and bilaterally so the leadership team can track momentum in either system.
About Groq:
Groq was founded in 2016 with a mission to “drive the cost of compute to zero” building a fully integrated stack from the world’s first language processing unit (LPU) powering their systems known as GroqCloud™. The innovative solutions from Groq enable unmatched performance for AI applications and analytics workloads, making it a leader in high-performance computing. As Groq grows its developer network and enterprise outreach, the calibration of its operational processes is critical to maintaining its industry leadership.