The sales process · Prospecting
Finding the company is easy, finding a number that a human answers is the job.
Sourcing is where the rows on your prospect sheet actually come from, and how each one is checked before a salesperson wastes a call on it. It covers the places you look, the order you look in, and the small verification pass that separates a live contact from a name on a website.
In one paragraph
Sourcing is where the rows on your prospect sheet actually come from, and how each one is checked before a salesperson wastes a call on it. It covers the places you look, the order you look in, and the small verification pass that separates a live contact from a name on a website.
The previous step fixed the columns. This one fills them, and it is slower and more boring than anyone expects. A company name takes a minute to find. The mobile number of the person who signs the order can take twenty, and sometimes it cannot be found at all.
Indian contact data goes stale faster than the directories admit. A listing was accurate when the firm paid for it in 2021. The office has since moved off Mysore Road, the proprietor's son now runs purchasing, and the landline rings at a desk nobody sits at. None of that is visible from the listing.
So sourcing is two jobs, not one. Finding candidate rows, then proving each row is real. Skip the second and you have handed your caller a list that fails in front of them, which is the fastest way to make a new salesperson stop dialling.
Where this sits
Stage 3 of 10, prospecting. Building the list of companies worth approaching, and deciding which of them to spend time on.
- The stage before
- Customer research
- The stage after
- Lead generation
If you want this done for you
Half the numbers in your database do not connect anymore.
The work
What this step is actually like.
“Start inside your own office”
Old quotations that never closed, enquiries that went cold, visitors who signed the register at a trade fair, the WhatsApp groups your service engineer is already in. These rows cost nothing and carry a reason for the call built in. Almost nobody does this before going outside, which is why the cheapest source is usually the last one tried.
“Then the public sources, in order of effort”
Maps for anything with a shopfront or a shed. Trade association and exhibitor lists for manufacturers. IndiaMART and JustDial for who is actively selling. Company filings for the director's name. LinkedIn to put a face and a current job title against that name. The company's own site last, because it tells you what they sell, not who buys.
“The switchboard problem, and WhatsApp”
A landline that reaches a receptionist trained to take messages is not a contact. Work around it rather than through it. Message the number on WhatsApp and see whether it delivers. Ask your own service team who they speak to at that plant. Or ring at a quarter to nine, when the owner answers his own phone. For most small Indian firms, WhatsApp is the channel that actually reaches a person.
“A word on buying a database”
A list somebody sold you was sold to others first, and the rows worth having were worked before it reached you. If you buy one anyway, treat it as raw material and verify it before it touches a salesperson. A number you bought is also not a number that agreed to hear from you, and your own lawyer, not the data seller, is the person to ask about that.
What we do
What you end up with.
The artefacts this step produces, what each one is for, and how you know it is finished.
The verification pass
Three checks per row before it goes to a caller. Does the firm still trade and still do this work. Does the number reach a human. Is the named person still in that job.
Result: A caller's first ten dials reach ten real companies.
The source log
One line per source: what it was, the date you pulled from it, how many rows it gave, and how many survived verification. Two minutes of admin per source.
Result: Next quarter you go back to what worked and skip what did not.
The contact record itself
Name, role, direct number, WhatsApp number where they differ, email, and the date the row was last touched. The date matters more than owners think.
Result: Anyone can see at a glance which rows have gone stale.
A refresh rhythm
A standing habit of re-checking the oldest rows, with dead entries archived rather than deleted so nobody sources them again next year.
Result: The sheet stops quietly rotting between campaigns.
Why us
Why owners pick GullySales over an agency.
Marketing and sales, as one job
Most agencies stop at the enquiry. We also fix what happens after it: the reply, the follow-up, the quote and the CRM.
The person on the first call does the work
No account managers in between. You are never handed to someone you have not met.
A baseline before anything starts
Your numbers are written down on day one, so every monthly report compares against something honest.
The fee in writing, split three ways
Our time, your media spend and production on separate lines. You always see what goes to us.
No lock-in, no guarantees we cannot keep
Three to six months at a time. We never promise a ranking or a lead count, because nobody controls those.
One office, and we say so
Nagarbhavi, Bengaluru. We work across India by call and WhatsApp and travel when a session needs to be in person.
#257, 3rd floor, Sri Nanjundeshwara Complex, Nagarbhavi 8th Block, Outer Ring Road. How we work.
The offer
Start with a free audit of how you sell.
It is useful on its own, whether or not you hire us.
What you receive
- A 90-minute call with the person who will do the work
- A written, scored report on the six places orders leak, within a few working days
- Every fix ranked by what it returns and what it costs
- The one thing to do first, and why
- An honest line on whether you need outside help at all
- If you do, the scope and the fee in writing
No invoice. No obligation. No sales script.
FAQ
Questions owners ask before they call.
Not here? More answers, or ask on WhatsApp.
How do we check a number without wasting a sales call on it?
How long does sourcing two hundred verified rows take?
Should we keep this in-house or pay someone?
What happens to rows we cannot verify?
How much does it cost?
How long is the contract?
Who will actually do the work?
What do you need from us?
What if we are not happy with the work?
Where to go next
The work that carries this step further.
The rest of prospecting
Or read the whole sales process in order.