Sales 11x

---
name: sales-11x
description: "11x.ai platform help — AI digital workers for revenue operations: Alice (AI SDR for multi-channel outbound via email, LinkedIn, SMS, WhatsApp) and Mike/Julian (AI phone agent for inbound calls, 24/7 qualification, meeting booking). Use when Alice's outreach personalization feels generic, campaign reply rates are below expectations, CRM sync with Salesforce or HubSpot not working, wondering if 11x is worth the annual contract cost, phone agent not handling objections well, want to connect 11x to your stack via API, or evaluating 11x vs AiSDR vs Artisan vs Salesforge for AI SDR. Do NOT use for general outbound cadence design (use /sales-cadence) or general email deliverability strategy (use /sales-deliverability)."
argument-hint: "[describe your 11x.ai question — e.g., 'Alice messages sound too generic' or 'should I choose 11x or AiSDR']"
license: MIT
version: 1.0.0
tags: [sales, ai-sdr, outbound, cold-email, platform]
---

# 11x.ai Platform Help

## Step 1 — Gather context

If `references/learnings.md` exists, read it first for accumulated platform knowledge.

Ask the user:

1. **What do you need help with?**
   - A) Setting up Alice (AI SDR) for outbound campaigns
   - B) Improving Alice's personalization or reply rates
   - C) Setting up Mike/Julian (AI phone agent)
   - D) CRM integration (Salesforce, HubSpot, Zoho)
   - E) Understanding pricing, contracts, or ROI
   - F) Comparing 11x to other AI SDR tools
   - G) API or webhook integration
   - H) Something else — describe it

2. **Are you an existing customer or evaluating?**
   - A) Active customer — using Alice
   - B) Active customer — using Alice + Mike/Julian
   - C) In trial / proof of concept
   - D) Evaluating — comparing options

3. **What CRM do you use?** (Salesforce, HubSpot, Zoho, other)

**If the user's request already provides most of this context, skip directly to the relevant step.**

## Step 2 — Route or answer directly

| Need | Action |
|---|---|
| 11x-specific config, campaigns, integrations, pricing | Answer directly from Step 3 |
| General outbound cadence design (multi-platform) | Route: `/sales-cadence [question]` |
| Email deliverability strategy (SPF/DKIM/DMARC) | Route: `/sales-deliverability [question]` |
| Building prospect lists beyond 11x's database | Route: `/sales-prospect-list [question]` |
| Contact enrichment from other providers | Route: `/sales-enrich [question]` |
| Meeting scheduling beyond built-in booking | Route: `/sales-meeting-scheduler [question]` |
| Comparing AI SDR tools at a strategy level | Route: `/sales-cadence compare AI SDR platforms for my use case` |

## Step 3 — 11x platform reference

**Read `references/platform-guide.md`** for the full platform reference — capabilities, pricing, API surface, CRM integration, controversies, and comparison to competitors.

Answer the user's question using only the relevant section. Don't dump the full reference.

## Step 4 — Actionable guidance

Based on the user's specific question:

1. **Campaign setup** — configure Alice's ICP targeting, messaging context, channel mix
2. **Personalization** — improve AI Strategist inputs, provide better context signals
3. **Phone agent** — set up Mike/Julian, configure CRM push, tune qualification criteria
4. **Integration** — connect CRM via Ampersand OAuth, use API for custom workflows
5. **Evaluation** — honest comparison against alternatives with pricing context

If you discover a gotcha, workaround, or tip not covered in `references/learnings.md`, append it there.

## Gotchas

*Best-effort from research — review these, especially items about plan-gated features and integration gotchas that may be outdated.*

- **Annual contracts are mandatory and hard to exit.** 11x requires annual commitments (~$60K/yr minimum). Multiple users report inflexible cancellation terms and auto-renewal. Negotiate cancellation windows and performance guarantees before signing.
- **~$5,000/month for ~3,000 contacts is steep.** At ~$1.67/contact, 11x is 5-10x more expensive than AiSDR ($900/mo for similar volume). Ensure the higher automation level and phone agent justify the premium for your use case.
- **"Full autopilot" is overpromised.** Despite the positioning, Alice handles email and LinkedIn only — no phone, no deep research, no strategic selling. Multiple reviewers describe it as "40% of an SDR's job at 100% of the cost." Set expectations accordingly.
- **Phone agent quality is inconsistent.** Mike/Julian struggles with natural conversation, objection handling, and proper qualification according to user reports. Test thoroughly in a proof-of-concept before committing.
- **Personalization can be generic.** Users report Alice's outreach sometimes reads as templated despite "AI personalization." The AI Strategist needs rich context — company docs, value props, specific pain points — to produce quality output.
- **High churn rates reported.** Third-party reports suggest gross retention below 50%, meaning most customers cancel within a year. Request references from customers in your industry before committing.
- **Platform stability concerns.** Users report campaigns breaking, analytics not loading, and integrations failing. Ask about SLA guarantees and support response times.
- **No phone dialer for Alice.** Alice doesn't make calls — you need separate tools (Orum, Nooks, ConnectAndSell) at $200-500/mo extra for phone outreach.

- **Self-improving**: If you discover something not covered here, append it to `references/learnings.md` with today's date.

## Before recommending a specific platform skill

This skill covers a strategy domain across many platforms. **Before pointing the user to any specific platform skill** (any `/sales-{platform}` listed in `## Related skills`, e.g., `/sales-mailshake`, `/sales-klaviyo`, `/sales-apollo`), read that platform skill's actual `SKILL.md` first. The 1-line description in `## Related skills` is enough to *identify* a candidate — it's not enough to *commit* to it or to write a prompt that invokes it well.

**How to read it:**
- If `~/.claude/skills/{skill-name}/SKILL.md` exists locally, `Read` it.
- For `sales-*` skills, `WebFetch` directly from this repo: `https://raw.githubusercontent.com/sales-skills/sales/main/skills/{skill-name}/SKILL.md` — e.g., for `sales-mailshake`: `https://raw.githubusercontent.com/sales-skills/sales/main/skills/sales-mailshake/SKILL.md`.
- For non-`sales-*` skills (third-party), look up `{org}/{repo}` in `~/.claude/skills/sales-do/references/skill-sources.md` if installed and fetch the same `skills/{skill-name}/SKILL.md` path under that repo.

**After reading,** ground your recommendation in something concrete from the SKILL.md (its scope, a sub-flow, its `argument-hint` shape, or a "Do NOT use for..." negative trigger). Align any generated invocation with the platform skill's `argument-hint`. If the platform skill turns out not to fit the user's situation, swap to another or handle the question here directly rather than recommending a poor fit.

## Related skills

- `/sales-aisdr` — AiSDR platform help — AI-powered SDR, HubSpot-native, $900/mo entry
- `/sales-cadence` — Design multi-channel outbound cadences with timing, A/B testing, and content
- `/sales-deliverability` — Email deliverability — SPF/DKIM/DMARC, warmup, inbox placement
- `/sales-prospect-list` — Build targeted B2B prospect lists using multiple data sources
- `/sales-enrich` — Enrich contacts and companies with verified data from multiple providers
- `/sales-nooks` — Nooks platform help — AI parallel dialer, multi-channel sequencing, coaching
- `/sales-orum` — Orum platform help — AI parallel dialer, coaching suite
- `/sales-reply` — Reply.io platform help — multichannel sequences, Jason AI SDR
- `/sales-do` — Not sure which skill to use? The router matches any sales objective to the right skill. Install: `npx skills add sales-skills/sales --skill sales-do -a claude-code`

## Examples

### Example 1: Evaluate 11x vs cheaper alternatives
**User says**: "Is 11x worth $5K/month when AiSDR is $900? What am I actually getting for the extra cost?"
**Skill does**:
1. Reads platform guide for pricing comparison
2. Compares: 11x includes AI phone agent (Mike/Julian), 400M+ contact database, multi-channel (email+LinkedIn+SMS+WhatsApp) vs AiSDR's email+LinkedIn only at lower volume
3. Notes the controversy: high churn, generic personalization reports, annual lock-in
4. Recommends: if you need phone agent + high volume, 11x may justify the cost. If email+LinkedIn is enough, AiSDR at $900/mo or Salesforge Agent Frank at $499/mo are far better value.
**Result**: Honest cost-benefit analysis with clear recommendation

### Example 2: Improve Alice's outreach quality
**User says**: "Alice is sending emails but they sound super generic. How do I make them more personalized?"
**Skill does**:
1. Reviews AI Strategist configuration requirements
2. Recommends enriching context: company-specific value props, industry pain points, case studies, competitive differentiators
3. Suggests narrowing ICP targeting for higher-quality personalization
4. Sets realistic expectations: AI personalization has limits — review and refine output regularly
**Result**: Actionable checklist for improving Alice's message quality

### Example 3: Connect 11x to Salesforce
**User says**: "How do I set up the CRM integration between 11x and Salesforce?"
**Skill does**:
1. Reads platform guide for CRM integration details
2. Walks through Ampersand OAuth connection setup
3. Explains field mapping, required fields (Agent Identifier, E.164 phone format)
4. Notes: create a dedicated "11x user" in Salesforce for activity attribution
**Result**: Working Salesforce integration with proper field mapping

## Troubleshooting

### Alice's emails getting no replies
**Symptom**: High send volume but reply rate near zero
**Cause**: Generic personalization, targeting too broad, or insufficient AI Strategist context
**Solution**: Feed Alice more specific context — exact pain points, competitive wins, customer testimonials. Narrow ICP targeting to a tighter segment. Review the last 20 sent emails for quality — if they read as templates, the AI needs more differentiated input. Consider whether your price point and message-market fit are the issue, not the tool.

### CRM data not syncing back
**Symptom**: Activities from 11x not appearing in Salesforce/HubSpot
**Cause**: OAuth connection expired, field mapping mismatch, or permissions issue
**Solution**: Check the Ampersand connection status in integration settings. Verify the 11x user account has read/write permissions on Contact/Lead objects. Check CRM Request Logs in the 11x dashboard for error details. Re-authorize the OAuth connection if expired.

### Phone agent producing poor outcomes
**Symptom**: Mike/Julian answers calls but fails to qualify leads or book meetings
**Cause**: Insufficient training context, overly complex qualification criteria, or unrealistic expectations
**Solution**: Simplify the qualification script — reduce the number of questions the agent asks. Provide more background context about your product and common objections. Test with internal calls first before going live. Set realistic expectations: AI phone agents are best for simple qualification, not complex discovery calls.