From 4 tactics to 1 architecture: why Gradient acquires WonderSales

By Joost Jongbloed, CEO of Gradient  ·  Published on 13-07-2026

NEWS

Gradient is acquiring WonderSales. Outbound becomes part of the B2B growth system.

Arrived here via our press release? Welcome. The headline: Gradient is acquiring outbound specialist WonderSales. What sits underneath is bigger than one deal. It's the next step in how we build B2B growth — not as a set of loose tactics, but as one integrated system where marketing, sales and service operate together.

This page isn't a press-release rerun. Here you'll read what changes, why now, and what it means for how a B2B organisation still grows in 2026.

THE MARKET

The old commercial machine is stuttering. And it's happening everywhere at once.

Winning new customers is getting more expensive and harder. Acquisition costs rise, buyers do their own research before any sales conversation starts, and AI is degrading standalone campaigns into disposables. The reflex — more campaigns, more tools, more people — mostly accelerates the fragmentation.

We see the same pattern across almost every sector we work in: strategy lives in decks, sales and marketing operate in parallel lanes, dashboards fill faster than decisions are made, and pipeline hangs on a handful of individuals. More effort rarely yields more growth. What does work is a system underneath — an architecture where every component is built around the way customers actually buy.

THE VISION

Growth stops being a matter of luck. It becomes a matter of architecture.

Gradient is the B2B Growth Architecture firm. We design and build the commercial system in which strategy, marketing, sales and service operate as one — with HubSpot as the backbone and growth as the outcome. Not more campaigns. Not more tools. An architecture that makes pipeline and revenue reproducible.

The five pillars we build with: Strategy at the centre, surrounded by Content, RevOps, Media and Performance. What was missing in that system until today was one capability: outbound acquisition at modern, AI-driven scale. That's exactly the gap this acquisition closes.

WHY WONDERSALES

An outbound engine built for how buyers actually buy today.

WonderSales, founded by Nick Zwaan and Maurits Wondergem, builds commercial machines that systematically convert leads into customers. They combine go-to-market engineering with a modern automation stack — including Clay for data and enrichment and Lemlist for multichannel outbound — to generate scalable, high-quality pipeline without depending on paid advertising.

WonderSales and Gradient share the same conviction: commercial growth is not a matter of luck, but of a systematic approach. Different angles, the same diagnosis. Only together does that diagnosis also come with a single answer.

WHY NOW

Classic outbound is broken. AI outbound without a system is too.

Classic cold outreach — 200 emails a day, one template, bulk-personalisation — is over. Buyers recognise it in two seconds and block your brand. But the opposite move — AI outbound as a standalone tactic, disconnected from positioning, content and RevOps — doesn't land either. Volume without narrative stays volume. Narrative without distribution is a monologue in an empty room.

What does work is an outbound process anchored in sharp positioning, fed by owned content, executed on a modern automation stack, and measured in the same funnel as marketing and sales. That's exactly where the combination lands: WonderSales' outbound engine, amplified by Gradient's strategy, content, media, performance and RevOps capabilities, with HubSpot as the central system.

THE 7 MOTIONS

Outbound isn't one thing. It's motion-dependent.

Across more than 250 growth systems we've codified seven go-to-market motions — the repeatable ways in which B2B companies grow. Each has its own commercial engine, and therefore its own outbound DNA:

• Founder-led — outbound by the founder personally, hyper-personal, network-driven.
• Sales-led — a reproducible outbound engine at the core of acquisition, with AEs and SDRs on the same playbook.
• Marketing-led — outbound serving inbound: signals from content and advertising activate targeted outreach.
• Marketing-led sales — outbound completes the marketing-to-sales handoff; account-based experiences across the funnel.
• Product-led (PLG) — outbound activates self-serve users at the moment of value realisation.
• Product-led sales — outbound lands the enterprise deal the product itself has warmed up.
• Partner-led — outbound via the partner channel, with co-selling and shared signals.

An outbound tactic that works in Sales-led doesn't automatically work in Product-led. That's why we treat outbound as a motion-dependent component — not as a generic service. WonderSales brings the outbound engineering in-house; Gradient determines the shape it takes based on the client's motion.

WHAT CHANGES

From four disconnected services to one integrated system.

The WonderSales brand fully integrates into Gradient. Nick Zwaan and Maurits Wondergem join as senior specialists and lead the go-to-market engineering practice. Clients from both companies will now be served from one integrated growth system — no more disconnected projects, one architecture.

Post-integration, Gradient has more than 30 specialists and serves more than 60 B2B clients. Concretely, that shifts four things for the market:

• One architect for the whole system. Strategy, content, media, performance, RevOps and outbound under one accountability — instead of four agencies bumping into each other on the client's calendar.
• HubSpot as the central system. Every tactic — including outbound — lands on the same data layer, with measured correlation between campaigns, sequences, conversations and revenue.
• Motion-driven deployment. Outbound is configured based on the client's motion, not on standard playbooks.
• Speed as a design principle. In an economy where B2B growth becomes a zero-sum game, whoever moves impact fastest wins. Our integration is built around that.

THE RATIONALE

“B2B growth is now a zero-sum game.”

Our CEO Joost Jongbloed sums up the logic behind the step:

“Economies as a whole are no longer growing strongly due to deglobalisation. For our clients that often means taking their growth from the competition. Speed is critical here: creating direct growth impact for the client. With WonderSales on board, and their impressive expertise in AI-driven outbound and go-to-market engineering, we can now offer that speed.”

— Joost Jongbloed, CEO of Gradient

CCO Peter Koonen explains the consequence for clients:

“By combining forces, clients build structural pipeline through a modern mix of outreach, content, campaigns and technology, measured and steered in one system rather than as disconnected projects.”

— Peter Koonen, CCO of Gradient

And the WonderSales founders see the synergy the same way:

“Outbound only really works well within a broader defined strategy and in concert with other growth tactics. That's exactly where the synergy with Gradient sits. Together we can support clients much more completely.”

— Nick Zwaan and Maurits Wondergem, founders of WonderSales

WHAT THIS MEANS FOR YOU

Growth gets designed — not hoped for.

If you're arriving here with one of the questions we hear most right now — “Where's our growth ceiling?”, “Why are our campaigns yielding less?”, “How do we build outbound without damaging our brand?”, “How do we get sales and marketing on one system?” — this is the shortest path to an answer: meet the combined team.

Not a courtesy demo. A conversation where we look at your motion, diagnose your growth ceiling, and pinpoint where the first 90 days will create the most impact.

Frequently asked questions about the acquisition and the combined proposition

Why is Gradient acquiring WonderSales?

Gradient is building the leading B2B Growth Architecture firm in the Netherlands: a single partner that runs marketing, sales and service as one commercial growth system. Outbound was the missing piece of that system. WonderSales brings proven expertise in modern, AI-driven outbound and go-to-market engineering. The combination gives clients a complete, integrated growth system instead of disconnected tactics.

Will the WonderSales brand continue to exist?

No. The WonderSales brand is fully integrated into Gradient. Founders Nick Zwaan and Maurits Wondergem join as senior specialists and lead the go-to-market engineering practice within Gradient.

What changes for existing clients?

Existing clients from both companies will now be served from one integrated growth system where activities are directly connected. That means one point of contact for strategy, marketing, sales, service and outbound, with HubSpot as the central data layer and measurable correlation between all activities.

What is Gradient Growth Architecture?

Growth Architecture is Gradient's approach to designing and building the commercial system of B2B companies as one whole — with strategy at the centre and Content, RevOps, Media, Performance and Outbound as pillars around it. HubSpot forms the backbone. The goal: pipeline and revenue become reproducible, no longer dependent on individual campaigns or individuals.

How does outbound relate to Gradient's 7 growth motions?

Outbound is motion-dependent. In each of the seven motions (Founder-led, Sales-led, Marketing-led, Marketing-led sales, Product-led, Product-led sales, Partner-led), outbound plays a different role, with different cadence and different tooling. Gradient determines outbound deployment based on the client's motion — not on a standard playbook.

Why now?

Three forces at once. One: acquisition costs are rising structurally and standalone campaigns are yielding less. Two: buyers do their own research before sales enters the picture, which is why classic outbound no longer works. Three: AI is degrading standalone outreach tactics into disposables — what does work is outbound anchored in positioning, content and RevOps. That's precisely where the combination lands.

What is go-to-market engineering?

Go-to-market engineering is the systematic design and construction of a company's commercial engine: from ICP definition and data enrichment to outreach sequences, measurement and optimisation — treated as an engineering discipline rather than a loose marketing or sales activity. WonderSales elevated this discipline to a professional level and now brings it inside Gradient.

Sources: Gartner (2025) — 77% of B2B buyers prefer no sales contact during orientation · Semrush Zero-Click Study Q1 2026 · CPB — autonomous growth roughly halved (2.1% vs. long-term 3.4%) · internal Gradient observations across 250+ growth systems.

Gradient is the B2B Growth Architecture firm that helps companies design and build growth instead of leaving it to chance. We turn disconnected marketing, sales and service into one integrated growth system: growth strategy, performance marketing, content and organic, demand generation, outbound, RevOps and media planning in one approach, with HubSpot as the backbone.

WonderSales specialised in go-to-market engineering, AI-assisted outbound and commercial automation. Since [date] fully part of Gradient.

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