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?

Leading Product + DevOps @ Native - DTC, a P&G Beauty company

Are you struggling to get your business seen or looking to capture more leads?

Or wondering how to turn visibility into real-life foot traffic, customer loyalty, and repeat purchases?

Maybe you’re tired of pouring time into content, only to wonder…

“Is anyone actually finding me?”
“Are the right consumers even seeing this?”
“Why do the bigger brands always outrank me even when I’m putting in sooo much work?”

If it sounds familiar, even a little bit: you’re in the right place.

Hey hey, I’m rey! Founder of Near Me Discovery 🥰

I help small businesses, local shops, travel brands, and community-focused creators go from hidden to highly discoverable using:

✨ story-driven hyper-local SEO
✨ dynamic quiz funnels that turn strangers into brand friends (aka warm leads)
✨ zero-party data that strengthens customer relationships
✨ strategic, personality-rich content that actually gets read
✨ brand visibility systems that fit real-life business owners

Because getting discovered & becoming a brand authority shouldn’t feel confusing, intimidating, or reserved only for brands with bottomless budgets!

Before Near Me Discovery, I spent almost 10 years leading product, digital content, and solution-oriented storytelling inside a Fortune 100 company (Procter & Gamble) & a high-growth digital brand (Native), while perfecting my skills in creator programs like the LinkedIn Creator Accelerator. 

My job was always the same though:
Make complex things feel simple. Make overlooked stories unforgettable. Make sure things work and exceed expectations. Make audiences care.

And now?

I bring those same skills to everyday business owners who deserve the kind of visibility that creates trusted, lasting community impact.

Near Me Discovery was born for one reason:
Places and people deserve to be discovered and appreciated: warmly, honestly, and intentionally.

I highlight the heart of local communities, uncover hidden gems, and help local brands and businesses show up online in a way that feels like a friendly Southern welcome… not a hard sell. And if you’ve mastered Your Locale but are having trouble expanding, well, let’s chat about that too: I’ve got you covered!

So for the ones building something truly meaningful in your community — a shop, experience, event, or brand — Just know, I’m on your side and I WANT folks to find you.

Once you’re ready to explore more opportunities to creatively leverage your story and turn visibility into revenue, Let’s Chat about it. 

My 📧 inbox is always open: hey@nearmediscovery.com

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The Battle

Mark Bangs

Tiara (rey) C.

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taplio

The Battle

Mark Bangs

Tiara (rey) C.

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?

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