I'll cold call for you.

Try me out for £1,000.

30-50 conversations with your target market.

I'll provide the list, mobile numbers, and reporting.

All I need to know is the problems you solve, who you solve them for, and why they'd be motivated to solve them.

If it goes well, we keep working together.

If not, you walk away.

Mark Bangs

“Just pick up the phone to grow your business.”

It’s ok advice, but it misses most of what actually makes outbound work.

Before a single dial happens, you need to:

- Build a quality list without Sales Nav sprinkling in Yoga Instructors and Chemistry Professors

- Find reliable data that isn't full of wrong numbers

- Set up a CRM so you can stay on top of tasks

- Choose and configure a dialler so you're not manually calling everything

- Write and refine messaging that doesn't make you sound like a call centre in Bangalore

- Track follow ups (it takes us 4.2 dial attempts on avg to get a conversation with someone)

- Work the list consistently

That’s a big ask for a founder who’s already wearing five hats.

What usually happens is this:

A few good sessions, a few missed ones, and that non-negotiable “prospecting time” ends up being quietly removed from the calendar.

At that point, most revert back to relying on referrals or inbound,  neither of which are scaleable or consistent.

The truth is, cold calling works.

But it only works when it’s done systematically, every day, at volume, by people who live and breathe it.

That’s why founders outsource it.

Not because they can’t do it but because it's a ballache.

I book qualified meetings for founders and MDs 📞

Spoke with a company recently who said they don’t cold call as they know everyone in their market. 

Yet I routinely see their MD twerking on every teenager's post to get their super secret AI prompt or n8n workflow for lead gen.

Maybe he just didn't like me.

Or he’d spoken with Céan.

That’s more likely.

🚨 Comment "BRO" to boost my reach. 🚨

If your outbound sales efforts aren’t landing, it might not be your pitch or your people.

It might be your list.

If you’re calling people who don’t feel the pain you solve, or who aren’t motivated to fix it, you’re probably wasting time and money.

Before you invest in outsourcing or hiring salespeople, make sure you know your target market inside and out.

If you don’t, that’s fine.

Just recognise that your goal shifts from selling to learning.

Use outbound to validate your assumptions.

Every “no,” “maybe,” and “tell me more” gives you clues about your market.

The wrong list makes sales impossible.

The right list allows you to learn exactly what matters to your ICP, what questions/objections they're likely to raise, and ultimately what will motivate them to spend money with you.

LinkedIn engagement ≠ quality service

Instead of paying someone to do your outbound sales because their posts get loads of likes and comments, think about:

1. What are their clients saying about them?
(If anything)

2. How many will actually vouch for them?
(We can point to several)

3. What is their overall retention rate?
(Ours is 92.3%)

The "fractional SDR" space is getting more popular as people realise they can just post selfies on LinkedIn and work for themselves.

It's important to vet these people and ask what kind of results their clients are seeing.

If you've got monkeys dialling for you, don't be surprised if it ends up being a banana skin for your business (yeah I know, terrible...)

🙈

The list is the foundation of any outbound campaign.

If the list isn't right, everything else falls apart.

You can have great messaging delivered expertly, but it's all for nought you’re not speaking to the right people.

By “the right people,” I mean those who actually have the problem you solve, and who are motivated to solve it.

This is why clarity on your ICP isn’t optional.

If you’re not clear on who you help and why, you’re probably not ready to hire an outsourced sales agency.

And hiring internally could be disastrous.

That said, outbound can still play a role in finding that clarity.

If you have a working hypothesis of who your ICP is and what your value proposition might be, cold calling is the fastest way to test it.

Every conversation is a data point.

Every objection, question, or nugget of feedback helps you refine your message and/or targeting

By having live conversations you’ll very quickly know whether to pivot or double down.

I'd never do "brand partnership" posts.

Mainly cos I never get asked.

Researching prospects before cold calling can be a waste of time.

Hypothetical A:

+ 6 hours of dialling time
+ 5 mins of research per call
+ 2 min avg. call duration
= 51 dials (assuming you don't eat, drink, or pee)

15% connect rate = 8 connects
80% connect to conversation rate = 6 conversations

Hypothetical B:

+ 6 hours of dialling time
+ 2 min avg. call duration
= 180 dials

15% connect rate = 27 connects
65% connect to conversation rate = 18 conversations

So for all you hyper-personalisation "warm call" advocates, a genuine question:

Is the quality of your 6 conversations higher enough than my 18 conversations to justify having 1/3 as many?

Could it make more sense to build a list and go after it with a relevant message?

Aryaka

Channel Program Manager

Aryaka pioneered the concept of a cloud-first architecture for delivering SD-WAN, and also now SASE, as-a-service. Aryaka provides secure connectivity enabling organizations to work from anywhere in the world without compromising application performance through patented, integrated technology and services.

Sr. Manager Sales Business Development-Throttle 

Abnormal Security

Abnormal provides total protection against the widest range of attacks including phishing, malware, ransomware, social engineering, executive impersonation, supply chain compromise, internal account compromise, spam, and graymail.

Sr. Threat Prevention Expert

Anodot

Anodot applies AI to deliver autonomous analytics in real-time, across all data types, at enterprise scale. Unlike the manual limitations of traditional Business Intelligence, Anodot provides analysts mastery over their business with a self-service AI platform that runs continuously to eliminate blind spots, alert incidents, and investigate root causes. Anodot has nearly 100 customers in digital transformation industries like ecommerce, FinTech, AdTech, Telco, Gaming, including Microsoft, Lyft, Waze, and King.

Lead Business Development Representative

Operatix

Operatix is a Sales Acceleration company specialized in supporting B2B Software vendors to identify new revenue streams, increase qualified sales pipeline, and accelerate channel development across Europe and North America. Operatix has a wealth of experience in working with the biggest tech players worldwide as well as a multitude of emerging software vendors.

Sr. Mentor Business Development Representative

Palm Beach Tan

Palm Beach Tan, the nation's largest indoor tanning salon chain, in both market share & revenue, spans a vast network of more than 400 salons throughout 28 states. A 20-year track of success has positioned the brand as the leader of the multi-billion dollar indoor tanning industry.

Sr. Store Manager

LA Fitness

LA Fitness is a privately owned fitness club chain. LA Fitness has hundreds of health clubs gyms and millions of members across US and Canada. In an industry often equated with fad and fashion, LA Fitness has steadily increased its presence by focusing on the one lifelong benefit valued by everyone: good health.

Sr. Sales Representative

Bank of America

Bank of America is one of the world's largest financial institutions, serving individuals, small- and middle-market businesses and large corporations with a full range of banking, investing, asset management and other financial and risk management products and services. The company serves approximately 56 million U.S. consumer and small business relationships. It is among the world's leading wealth management companies and is a global leader in corporate and investment banking and trading.

Personal Banking Manager

Actively searching for my next role 🙏🏻

In both my professional and personal spheres, my unwavering dedication lies in uplifting others to achieve their full potential. Whether it's within the corridors of Aryaka or in my everyday interactions, I am driven by a profound commitment to supporting those around me, knowing that their success enriches our collective journey. Beyond fostering the growth of others, I am equally passionate about cultivating my own path of advancement and learning. 

I view success not as a solitary pursuit, but as a collaborative endeavor where every achievement serves as a stepping stone towards greater growth and innovation. With a tireless spirit of determination, I strive to create a ripple effect of empowerment and progress, both for myself and those I am privileged to work with and support.


🚨DISCLAIMER: All my algorithm content is anecdotal information, so it can’t count as unequivocal algorithm law. 

(Remember: nothing can. Social media platforms don’t publicize algorithm details, so we all have to rely on personal experience and personal research.)

taplio

The Battle

Mark Bangs

Bree Davila📈

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance ScoreMark Bangs's LinkedIn Performance

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

taplio

The Battle

Mark Bangs

Bree Davila📈

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Mark Bangs's LinkedIn Performance

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

Performance ScoreMark Bangs's LinkedIn Performance