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Sales training and coaching · Prospecting and meeting-booking practice

Run a four-week test to learn whether you should start at the top or with users.

This entry test pits two routes into a company against each other: top down, which starts with the owner or another senior decision maker, and bottom up, which starts with the manager or hands-on user of the product. You split at least twenty comparable prospects into two groups, contact each differently, and count the meetings that reach the person who decides.

Tell us what you needor call +91 80958 58589

Scope, fee, reporting and term are agreed in writing after we have read your brief and spoken to you.

Editorial illustration for Outbound sales prospecting

In one paragraph

This entry test pits two routes into a company against each other: top down, which starts with the owner or another senior decision maker, and bottom up, which starts with the manager or hands-on user of the product. You split at least twenty comparable prospects into two groups, contact each differently, and count the meetings that reach the person who decides.

A CNC machine dealer in Rajkot calls owners directly, because the dealer is an owner and believes in talking to the top. The owners say, politely, 'send it to my production manager'. The production manager has no budget, forwards nothing and goes quiet. Three months of calls produce no meeting that includes the person who can sign.

The opposite is also common. A software seller starts with the junior accounts clerk who loves the demo, and then finds the proprietor's brother-in-law has chosen a different system. Neither entry point is right everywhere. It depends on your offer and on how the buyers' firms are run.

The test settles it with data from your own list. The sales head splits the prospects, the reps contact them, and the owner reviews the results after four weeks. It costs nothing but discipline.

It follows the list and the research brief, and decides how the first message and the decision maker map are written. In an Indian family firm the final say sits with a senior family member who never appears in a meeting, so test whether either route gets you to that person.

Where this sits

Topic 2 of 8 in sales training and coaching: prospecting and meeting-booking practice. Drills for finding good-fit prospects and getting meetings. Distinct from the sales-process sourcing and prospect-list pages: these are practice routines.

If you want this done for you

Reach the buyers who would fit but have never heard of you.

Read the outbound sales prospecting page

The work

What this is actually like.

  • “Compare like with like”

    Two groups of at least ten each, of similar size, trade and town. If group A is all Mumbai firms and group B is all small-town ones, the result tells you about cities, not entry points. Alternate names down the list to split them.

  • “Count meetings that reach the decider”

    A meeting with a user who says it looks nice is not a win. Log, for every meeting, whether the person who decides or controls the budget was in the room or spoke to you within a week. That is the only column that matters.

  • “Same message, different door”

    Keep the value proposition identical in both groups. If group A gets a short note about savings and group B gets a long technical one, you are testing messages. Write one core message and change only the greeting and the role.

  • “The senior person you cannot find”

    In a family-run firm the person who decides may hold no title. When a user meeting ends with 'I will have to ask bhaiya', write down who bhaiya is. Add a column for this, because it tells you what the real entry point is.

What we do

What you end up with.

The documents this topic produces, what each one is for, and how you know it is finished.

  1. The two prospect groups

    Twenty names or more, divided by alternating, with trade, size and town recorded so you can check the groups are alike.

    Result: Finished when each group has ten or more names and the same mix of towns.

  2. The outreach pair

    Two versions of the same message: one addressed to the owner or senior decision maker, one to the manager or user. Only the opening line differs.

    Result: Finished when a reader cannot tell which group is which except from the greeting.

  3. The results log

    For each prospect: group, date contacted, reply, meeting held, and whether the decision maker took part. A fifth column for who actually decided.

    Result: Finished when each prospect has an outcome after four weeks, including no reply.

  4. The comparison

    Reply rate, meeting rate, and decider-reached rate for each group, worked out by hand from the log.

    Result: Finished when the sales head can state which entry is ahead and by how many meetings.

  5. The default entry rule

    One line in your playbook: 'Start with ..., unless ...', and the outreach template changed to match.

    Result: Finished when new reps follow it without asking.

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 later 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 guarantees we cannot keep

    The term is agreed in writing and never a default twelve months. 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.

Your brief

Tell us what you need, and we will read it before we call.

Eight short steps about your business, what you want and who decides. Most questions are a tap, and you can skip any you would rather answer on the call.

Tell us what you needor call +91 80958 58589

FAQ

Questions owners ask before they call.

Not here? More answers, or ask on WhatsApp.

Tell us what you need
Is twenty prospects enough to decide?
It is enough to see a large difference, not a small one. If the groups are close, run a second round with a fresh list rather than guessing. A tie also tells you the entry point matters less than the message.
What if we sell to consumers?
The test still applies in a household. Decide whether to speak to the earning member or the one who will use the product, such as a mother or a college student, and count which route books visits.
Who in the team should do the outreach?
The same rep, or two with similar results on their other work. Otherwise the person's skill becomes the variable.
What if the senior person is unreachable?
Try the route in through an existing customer or a referral. A direct cold approach to a busy owner of a large firm fails more than it works, and a note from someone they trust works.
Do we repeat the test?
Yes, when you enter a new trade, change your offer or open a new town. Buying habits differ between a textile unit and a hospital.
How much does it cost?
There is no price list, because the work differs by business. The fee is scoped after we have read your brief and spoken to you, and put in writing before anything starts. For sales work it is mostly our time, with production only where scripts, decks or CRM setup need it.
How long is the contract?
The term is agreed in writing after we have spoken, along with the fee and the reporting. It is never a default twelve months, and renewal is decided on the numbers against the baseline recorded at the start.
How soon will we see results?
Fixes to reply time and follow-up are the quickest to show, because the enquiries already exist. Process, CRM and training changes show as the team uses them. Each one is tracked against the baseline.
Who will actually do the work?
The person you speak to before anything starts. We work from one office in Nagarbhavi, Bengaluru, with no account managers in between.
What do you need from us?
To start, last month's enquiries in any format and time with whoever handles them. After that, access to the accounts the work touches, such as the website, Google Business Profile or CRM.

Where to go next

The work that carries this topic further.

Services

The rest of prospecting and meeting-booking practice

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Your next practical step

Tell us what you are trying to grow, and we will read it before we call.

Eight short steps, mostly taps. Skip anything you would rather answer on the call.

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