Neon Bandits, a Boston-based sock brand, was established in 2015 by siblings Sammy and Dan Cohen. The entrepreneurial duo identified a market need for versatile socks suitable for both workout and casual wear. Although the brand maintains its own Shopify website and exclusive sock range, the majority of their business — over 90% since 2017 — has been conducted via wholesale (B2B) channels.
The Challenges
As a small business, Neon Bandits found that achieving a positive ROI through E-Commerce channels was difficult when considering the cost of acquisition, opting to focus on selling through wholesale channels instead.
“We started selling our socks to CrossFit gyms. Initially, they ordered by the dozen, but gradually their orders increased to two dozen, then four dozen, and so on and so forth” explained Dan Cohen.
After a year of selling their existing styles, they transitioned into creating custom socks due to persistent demand.
“The gyms loved our sock quality and frequently requested custom designs. Recognizing an opportunity, we expanded this offering to other small businesses in and beyond the fitness industry” Cohen noted.
Pivoting to traditional sales tactics, Neon Bandits began cold outreach via emails and phone calls to targeted businesses. Despite the process being time-consuming and having low response rates, Cohen confirmed, “We gained traction in specific niche industries, including breweries.”
Their typical account discovery process involved:
- Googling businesses (like breweries or gyms) in specific locations
- Visiting the businesses’ websites and social media accounts for verification
- Searching for an email address or phone number for outreach
- Conducting outreach, often through generic contact information, limiting personalization
Cohen described the process as a hit-or-miss, citing the difficulties in reaching some strategic accounts due to unreliable contact information:
“A lot of times the email addresses we found were not accurate, turning the process into a volume game. We aimed to send out 50 emails a day, hoping for a 3% response rate.”
As a brand primarily dependent on its wholesale business, account discovery is crucial. When Oversee discovered Neon Bandits in January 2023 and introduced them to its platform, Cohen felt that the product was tailor-made for their specific needs.
“When Alex reached out to introduce Oversee, it seemed almost custom-designed for Neon Bandits’ challenges. We scheduled a call, and I was sold within the first two minutes of our conversation.”
Onboarding with Oversee
“Getting started on Oversee was seamless. Within minutes, we had integrated our Shopify and Faire account and were already using Oversee. The product was self-explanatory and intuitive” Dan Cohen recounted.
“In my full-time job in the E-Commerce software industry, I’ve interacted with numerous software solutions over the years. Yet, Oversee stands out as one of the easiest platforms I’ve ever used to get started.”
Neon Bandits faced significant challenges in obtaining accurate contact information for specific target accounts. Immediately utilizing Oversee’s “Discover” feature, they found the contact details of two long-sought Boston fitness studios within minutes.
“The simplicity of the Discover feature allowed us to retrieve the contact details of our target accounts swiftly. After sending personalized notes, I received responses from both within hours, leading to scheduled calls,” Dan shared.
Remarkably, within a month of using Oversee, Neon Bandits secured both accounts.
Results to Date
The tangible outcomes of Neon Bandits’ utilization of Oversee extend beyond securing the two initially targeted accounts. Dan Cohen reported:“In just a few short months of using Oversee, we have generated over $10,000 in new business, with even more on the horizon. For a side hustle like Neon Bandits, $10,000 signifies a significant growth.”Oversee has not only boosted Neon Bandits’ revenue but also enhanced their efficiency and time management.“Before Oversee, our average response rate for cold email outreach was around 3%. With Oversee’s accurate contact information, we’ve seen that rate rise to 8%. Thanks to Oversee, we now spend less time prospecting and more time crafting personalized emails, which is substantially boosting our results”
Looking Ahead
As Oversee evolves, enhancing its features, Dan Cohen shares his enthusiasm to continue to grow with Oversee:
“We’ve achieved significant success with Oversee, and it’s still early days for this exceptional product. I’m excited to see the evolution of Oversee and how it will enable thousands of brands to expand their B2B wholesale business.”
