1POT

Head of Sales

Research B4 Cold Calls??

I hear people shame cold callers for not researching their prospects before picking up the phone for a cold call.

I usually stay quiet mainly because I call BULL SHIT. I know the problems my ICP has regardless of what their logo looks like. I’m more interested in getting people live. 1 more live convo a day separates me from those fools who spend half their time “researching” prospects who will usually never answer the phone. I know your problem. I know if I may be able to help or not and I know how to set the meeting. So I dial as much as I can. And I’ve always been one of the best cold callers.

You feeling this or don’t agree?

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18 comments

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taylor

Executive

Strategic Account Executive

If you're a telemarketer, sure, make 100 more dials even. If you're in a strategic role, why would you make one more call when you can have one _better_ conversation with someone who can become an internal champion?

Research depends on your role. If you're Enterprise, Major, Strategic, etc., you will look like a cheap salesperson if you don't take 30 seconds to research. If you're SMB, MM, make another dial.

CaneWolf

Politicker

Call me what you want, just sign the damn contract

Agreed.

I think this really depends on what your solution is. If your close time is a few weeks or under and your TAM is potentially every SMB, maybe dialing everyone possible makes sense. But you could still be missing out on connections, previous experience with your product or competitors, etc.

When your market is smaller, your sale is months long, and your contracts are six+ figures, I think you only hurt yourself by not doing research.

kgotti

Opinionated

Key Account Executive

Agreed. My rule of thumb as a Major AE is having two sentences ready to go on why I am calling that person in particular.

Not something like I saw your title and my company helps people like you, but more along the lines of I know your company has x initiative and your group is responsible for y then move into a quick pitch

1POT

WR Lieutenant

Head of Sales

Agreed. Strategic role less about number of dials. This in reference to SDR or younger AE

MajorB

WR Lieutenant

I have a goal of dials per day, and I spend ~30 seconds researching each prospect. I pull up their LinkedIn page, find something relevant in their bio / about their company, and then hit go. If there isn't anything good, I hit go and see what happens.

What I'm not a fan of is calling someone & wasting theirs and my own time if my data is crap. Ya know, the person left the company three years ago, or is dead, or whatever.

SaaSsyB

Opinionated

SDR Manager

Yea, no.

I believe in research! I work in the strategic segment and every dial matters when you only have a few hundred accounts.

I feel like the whole dial, dial, dial and zero research concept is what has made SDR’s and AE’s burn out on the phones.

If you want sales people to just blindly cold call - out source the job.

Every call matters - just google and click on the news link - it takes a minute.

I have better conversations every time!

Kanyebut4sales

WR Lieutenant

Account Executive

For SMB ok, smile and dial but for anything worth its salt, do some research and figure out what you can actually do for them or if they need it

1POT

WR Lieutenant

Head of Sales

Eh. I don’t agree

Don_Ready

Politicker

This will always be a debate between quality and quantity. It boils down to opportunity cost and if you want more dials, or more focus on making impactful conversations. The real answer lies somewhere in between.

BigWillie

Account Executive

THIS. But always err on side of quantity if they are legit cold calls

1POT

WR Lieutenant

Head of Sales

I still feel like my convos can be impactful based on my expertise in my field and knowing their challenges. That said, if the account is really strategic I will take more time to research but that’s not the norm as a cold caller

Kole

Opinionated

Junior Account Executive

Some managers only care about the dials, others not as much. Personally I hybrid mine, I try to keep my dials up, but I will take a quick glance over their LI or ZoomInfo page to see if there's something that sticks out.

NorthernSalesGuru

Politicker

Manager, Outbound Sales

Life’s about balance...agree

champchamp

Arsonist

Certified Savage

I almost fully agree. I focus on common pain points and rather make one more call than waste hours researching for people that may not even pick up the phone.

I usually try to call all people from an account before moving to another so I research something about their company and bring it up during the call. That's one piece of research that I can use for 20-25 people.

1POT

WR Lieutenant

Head of Sales

Now I know why they call you champ

CuriousFox

WR Officer

🦊

You should research.

TheDragon

Good Citizen

CVO

Learn how to type faster and you can do both. I’ve looked up hundreds of people and their companies as I’ve been getting through the bs formalities about what the weather is like and how their day is going. To top that, you can use that information on the call to stroke their ego when you tell them about an article that you read about them/the company and ask how they got that accomplished done so well

RedLightning

Politicker

Mid-Market AE

When I sold SMB and made a ton of dials, I couldn't research my prospects. There wasn't much info on them in general. As you move up market or sell into other departments, there is more info available. With some research, you can figure out a good reason (in their mind) for your call, discover a conversational start piece, and more importantly stand out from the rest of the calls/emails they get.

It'll be the same conversation that you're looking to have, but it'll start more with "I saw you got funding for X and are using it to do Y - I'm calling because teams run into blah blah blah when they try Y"

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1POT

Research B4 Cold Calls??

18 comments

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