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?

CodeBase

Business Mentoring as part of the Codebase Techscaler programme and Barclays Eagle Labs. Supporting emerging and existing businesses with their funding, growth plans and strategy.

Mentor

Evison Creations 

Evison Creations designs and handcrafts homeware and gifts from sustainably sourced Scottish Hardwoods. Our products are unique, bespoke and timeless and can be personalised with your own message or brand. 

We are a family business and I am co-owner with my husband James who crafts and designs the products while I work on customer and client relations and promotion.

Director / Co-owner

Evison Consulting 

I am an experienced, driven and focused Business Growth Consultant, specialising in strategy and business planning, funding, business mentoring, stakeholder management, marketing, leadership, communications and wider business growth. 

I work extensively with existing and growing businesses as well as emerging start-ups across Scotland. I offer support to my clients by developing strategy and business growth planning, identifying key contacts/ projects/opportunities and supporting with funding applications. I can support through specialist business advice, mentoring and impact coaching and help my clients to define and successfully reach their business goals quickly and effectively. I also offer the design and deliver workshops and training on a number of areas.

Business Growth Specialist

University of Stirling

Working with the Stirling University Incubator to support students, graduates and staff who are thinking of setting up their own businesses. Focusing on business mentoring and advisory support to companies operating out of The Hive Incubator, through the Sporting Chance Initiative and through the SEED Enterprise programme. I am on hand to provide business advice, signposting and mentoring around strategy, planning, growth, investment, funding routes and competitions, marketing and commercialisation supporting our emerging entrepreneurs to set and reach their goals.

Business Adviser

Elevator

Working as part of the Business Gateway Lanarkshire team supporting businesses across the region with high growth ambitions. Supporting with strategy, goal setting, signposting and growth planning. Working closely with Economic Development teams in both councils and various support agencies such as Scottish Enterprise, FSB and Skills development Scotland. Also supporting to upskill new team members and knowledge share.

High Growth Business Adviser

Falkirk Council Business Gateway

Working with existing organisations across the Falkirk area to provide support with all aspects of growth and sustainability of businesses. Engaging with clients of all sizes and sectors to offer a range of advice around planning, strategy, funding, marketing, digital approaches and more. Signposting to partner organisations and liaising with key intermediaries across a number of sectors. Advising on grant and funding support to support growth goals.

STEP Stirling/ STEP Scotland

In my role as Business Growth Manager, I worked as part of the Management Team at STEP and lead a team of experienced Business Advisors delivering a knowledgeable, professional and confidential advisory and support service to SME's.  STEP operates as the regional support agency for businesses in Stirling and is a key driver for successful economic development in the area.

As a Growth Advisor I worked with Stirling based businesses at any stage, focused on enabling them to achieve their growth ambitions through identifying key areas for development including Innovation, Internationalising, Strategy, Business Improvement, People, Investment and ICT. 

I developed effective working relationships with key partners including Scottish Enterprise, Skills Development Scotland, Local Council etc to maintain an extensive network of contacts to sign-post and facilitate introductions which can be invaluable to clients in ensuring they deliver their business objectives.

Business Growth Manager

West Lothian Council

In my role as Growth Advisor I was responsible for working closely with a portfolio of diverse client businesses across the West Lothian area. I supported my clients in business development through understanding the Company’s needs and identifying opportunities. I assisted clients with strategy development and implementation support across a range of business issues such as marketing, raising finance, organisational development and developing management systems to ensure a high level of success in terms of business growth. 

I offered assistance with regards to funding programmes available in the West Lothian region as well as signposting businesses to other agencies to support growth. I provided a sounding board for business growth plans and worked closely with a number of key contacts to effect introductions to specialists and other intermediaries to help my clients achieve their growth potential. 

I also managed the Supplier Development Programme for West Lothian Council, deliver the West Lothian Manufacturing Initiative and am on the Council’s Climate Change Working Group.

Business Growth Advisor

Business Partnership

As Project Manager I was responsible for the management of the Bright Green Business Team, involved in shaping the strategic direction of The Business Partnership and responsible for budget management, identifying new business opportunities, tender writing and winning new business.

I was primarily involved in the management of the Bright Green Business division of the company, focused on supporting the development and growth of our client companies through a range of projects including: a portfolio of student and graduate placement programmes (Environmental Placement Programme, Step Classic and Graduate Step); the VIBES Awards; Green Ticks (Environmental Management System) and the Bright Green Business Network. 

I worked with a range of stakeholders across these programmes to secure support and funding including key support agencies such as Scottish Enterprise, Scottish Government, Business Gateway, SEPA, Energy Saving Trust and Zero Waste Scotland. I also worked closely with University departments and Careers staff, graduates and students, and Public and Private Sector Businesses. 

Prior to my role as Project Manager, I worked with the business as a Graduate Trainee and Project Officer focusing on the delivery of the projects above.

Project Manager

Swan Robes Ltd

Student placement through the Step Classic programme and then continued work with the company assisting with aspects of HR including contracts, health and safety and admin.

HR Assistant

At Evison Consulting I provide support and guidance to  businesses across Scotland looking at growth and sustainability. I am focused on supporting my clients to create and grow businesses which have a positive social, economic and environmental impact. Enabling clients to reach their potential is my passion and I am committed to making the businesses I work with thriving, diverse, dynamic and successful companies who can compete on a global scale.  

Specialities: 
Business Growth 
Funding Opportunities
Strategy
Business Planning 
Business Development  
Project Management
Leadership and Workplace Innovation
Mentoring and Impact Coaching
Networking
Training

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The Battle

Mark Bangs

Louise Evison

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taplio

The Battle

Mark Bangs

Louise Evison

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

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