ObjectiveConfirm you are writing to real people about a current event, and let the contact data decide which model this account runs on.
Model assignment — check this first
Two variables set the model. Both are checked here, before anything is sent.
- Is the direct dial verified? Not "is there a number" — is it a direct line to the person, confirmed against ZoomInfo's last-verified date and cross-checked in Sales Navigator?
- Is the contact a senior operational or technical decision-maker? Someone who can hold a qualifying conversation, not just receive one.
Both yes → Model 2. Anything else → Model 1. A day-1 cold dial into a switchboard is not a cheaper Model 2; it is a slower Model 1 with a worse first impression.
Then verify the account
- Both stakeholders exist and are in role. ZoomInfo lags on departures; Sales Navigator catches it.
- The trigger is still current. Intel older than about six weeks needs re-checking before you open on it.
- The source is primary. The company's own release, a filing, or a regulator's database beats an aggregator. You may have to name it on the first call.
- Employee band and revenue are recorded. You need them for the modelled range, and there is no time to go looking later.
- Both numbers are captured — primary direct line and any secondary or mobile. The day-7 attempt and the day-9 session both depend on there being a second route on the record.
Industry check
Read the Industry field and adapt the vocabulary before drafting. The four-part test is constant across sectors; only the language for the qualifying work changes. Do not carry phrasing across from a different sector's account — it is the clearest tell that a message is generic.
Why-now checkConfirm the legislative hook you intend to use is current for this cycle, and that it plausibly applies to a company of this size and filing profile. If the hook is thin for this account, drop it rather than stretching it.
No verifiable trigger, no sequence. If the intel doesn't survive this check, send the row back to research. A stale or wrong trigger is worse than no outreach.
ObjectiveClose phase 1 so the account cannot stall silently, and make sure someone is on the hook for the response clock.
Checklist
- Assign a named owner. Unowned accounts stall at phase 2.
- Name the SLA backup. The response clock attaches to the account, not the person — if the owner is out, someone else answers within the standard.
- Record which model this account is on and why, so the 30-day read can be segmented properly.
- Log every contact from the Decision-Maker column, flagged financial or technical, with both numbers against each.
- Set the phase-2 task date. Day 4 at the latest.
- Record the trigger and its date in a queryable field for the 90-day re-approach.
- Note whether LinkedIn is in play for this account.
Stage: Prospecting · Sub-stage: Intro Email Sent. Move to Ongoing Follow-up once phase 2 opens, and to Demo Set only when a time is actually in the diary.
ObjectiveSilence from the primary contact is usually a verdict on their inbox, not on the offer. Multithreading is how you find out which.
Same day as the multithread email
Mapping and sending happen together on day 8. Splitting them across two days is how phase 3 quietly slips — the map gets made and the email waits for a slot that never comes. Validate the contact, draft, and send in the same sitting.
Work from the row
The Account Penetration Plan column already states who to approach first and second, and why. Follow it — the right entry point varies by account.
Who to add
- Technical owner — the person who runs the function doing the qualifying work. Often the most engaged reader, because the four-part test describes their week.
- Operational owner — whoever owns the cost centre that work sits in.
- The reverse route — if your primary was technical, finance is now second, and vice versa.
Rules
- Two additional contacts maximum. Three or more at once reads as a spray.
- Never mention that a colleague hasn't replied. It travels, and it costs you both contacts.
- Change the angle for the reader, not just the name.
- Validate new contacts the same way as phase 1 before sending.
ObjectiveA deliberate gap where the modelled-range email used to sit in Model 1, used as a control point rather than another touch.
What to check
- Rolling opt-out and DNC rate across all accounts touched in the last two weeks. Above roughly 3%, extend phase 4 by two to three days on accounts still in flight.
- Has anything moved at the account? A new funding event, filing or leadership change since day 1 is a reason to re-open on fresh intel rather than push the close.
- Is the legislative hook still in date? If a window referenced at day 1 has since closed, do not repeat it in phase 5 — and drop the deadline reminder entirely rather than sending a stale date.
- Is phase 5 proportionate for this account? Five further touches before the close is right for an engaged-but-quiet account. For one that has shown no signal at all across four phases, thin it using the drop order rather than running it in full.
Why the gap existsMoving the modelled range to day 12 in Model 1 freed this slot. It was left empty on purpose. Filling it with another touch would undo the pressure relief the change created — and the phase-4 window is exactly where the opt-out risk concentrates.
ObjectiveEarn a reply on the strength of the trigger and a current, dated reason to deal with it now. Not to explain the credit, and not to book a meeting in one step.
Follow the five-part spine
- Trigger. The specific sourced event and what it funds or enables. First, and unmistakably about this company.
- Hypothesis. Why that event implies qualifying activity, hedged. "May qualify," never "you qualify."
- Legislative hook. The current rule change that makes this a live question rather than a standing one.
- Why now. One sentence on the dated reason not to defer — an election window, an amended-return period, or their own extension deadline.
- CTA. One ask, time-boxed, easy to decline.
Build it from
- Intel / Trigger
- Opens the email. The proof of research, and it must be first.
- Industry
- Sets the vocabulary for the activity list. Their words for their work.
- Why We Selected Them
- Becomes the hypothesis sentence.
- Target Fit
- Decides which legislative angle fits — retroactive relief reads differently to a small company than to a large one.
The quality bar
- The opening line could not have been written about any other company. If it could, the email fails.
- The why-now line is one sentence. Urgency at length reads as pressure.
- Pre-empt the silent objection. Companies that have never claimed assume they are ineligible; say the opposite explicitly.
- No attachment. The asset is the phase-2 touch.
- Readable on a phone without scrolling twice.
Why-now, stated safelyAttach the urgency to the legislation, not to them. "The window on amended returns for earlier years closes" is a fact about the rules. "Your window is closing" is a claim about their tax position we have no basis for. Confirm the current dates with the technical team before the sequence launches.
Do not send the workbook draft unread. Drafts written days earlier can carry the wrong contact name, a superseded trigger, or a legislative reference that has since gone stale.
ObjectiveLand the trigger in ten seconds, give one current reason for calling now, ask one open question, then stop. You are buying thirty more seconds.
Only run this where the direct dial is verified and the contact is a senior operational or technical decision-maker. If either is missing, the account belongs on Model 1 — dialling a switchboard on day 1 spends SDR time at the worst odds in the sequence.
The five beats
- Name and firm. Plainly. No "how are you today."
- The trigger, specific. Named event, named programme.
- The hypothesis. One sentence connecting their activity to the credit.
- The why-now. One clause on the rule change or deadline that makes this current.
- One open question. Then silence.
Rules
- Never open with a closed permission question you can be refused on before the trigger lands.
- Have the account's discovery questions in front of you. If the call opens up, those are what you ask next.
- One voicemail per sequence, under twenty seconds, on the first unanswered dial only.
- Gatekeeper is a routing opportunity, not a failed call.
- If they ask how you got the number, name the public source immediately.
Log the disposition on the call: answered, voicemail, gatekeeper, or wrong number. Only one means keep dialling; one means the record goes back to research and the model assignment was wrong.
ObjectiveEstablish the connection so later messages arrive in their inbox rather than as an InMail from a stranger. The invite is not the pitch.
Rules for the invite
- Always include a note, trimmed to the 300-character limit.
- Reference the same trigger as the email. The two touches must read as one person, not two systems.
- No pitch, no ask, no link, no legislative detail. The hook belongs in the email, not the invite — there isn't room to state it accurately.
- Acceptance without a reply is still signal. Note it.
- One invite per account per phase.
No Sales Navigator access? Switch LinkedIn to Skip at the top of the cadence. The sequence stands up on email and phone alone — you lose a signal channel, not the path to a meeting.
ObjectiveFirst live attempt while the opener is still fresh. Thirty seconds of attention and one qualifying answer — not the pitch call.
Why it sits in phase 1
Two days after the email is the sweet spot: long enough that it has been read or buried, short enough that "I wrote to you on Monday" is still a live reference. Waiting until day 4 loses that. Model 2 dials on day 1 because the dial is its opener; Model 1 dials on day 3 because the email has to land first.
How to open
- Name, firm, and that you wrote earlier this week, naming the day. That reference is Model 1's whole advantage over a cold dial.
- Then the trigger, the why-now in a single clause, and one open question.
- Keep the activity list to the two or three items that apply here. A generic list of five undoes what the email bought.
Have in front of you
- Discovery Questions
- Written against this company's work. If the call opens up, these are your next move.
- Intel / Trigger
- State it from memory, don't read it.
- Source
- In case they ask where you got their details.
- Both numbers
- Primary and secondary, captured at validation. You will need the second one at day 7.
The four common turns
- "We already claim it" — one narrowing question on scope, never on the accountant.
- "We're pre-revenue" — the offset may be available subject to revenue history and company age; the review establishes it.
- "Send me something" — agree, then get a slot.
- "Not interested" — one probe: timing, or structural non-fit?
This is the sequence's one voicemail. Under twenty seconds, on this dial only. Every later attempt rings out without a message.
ObjectiveAttempt two on the same number, at a different hour of day, with a different angle. You are testing the time slot as much as the message.
Change one variable
If the first dial was late morning, try early — before 9:30 — or late afternoon after 4:30. Senior people answer their own phones at the edges of the day when whoever screens their calls isn't there. Dialling the same number at the same hour twice tells you nothing new and reads as automation.
The angle
Move from "have you looked at this" to something specific and mechanical. Ask where the qualifying spend actually sits in their books: development work booked as general operating cost never gets tested against the four-part criteria, and the claim comes in materially light. The question is credible, hard to deflect, and signals you are not reading a script.
Rules
- Reference the prior touches in one clause, not two sentences.
- No voicemail. One message per sequence, and it was left on the first dial.
- If it opens up, move straight to the account's discovery questions.
- Log the disposition on the call. Two misses on this number is what triggers the day-7 alternate route.
ObjectiveSame person, different route. Two misses on the main number is evidence about the number, not about their interest — so change the road rather than driving it again.
Routes, in order of preference
- Secondary direct line or mobile from the contact record, if one was captured at validation.
- Switchboard, asking to be put through by name. Slower, but a transferred call presents differently from a cold direct dial and often gets picked up.
- A colleague's line in the same function, asking to be redirected. Treat whoever answers as a routing conversation, not a pitch.
Rules
- Three attempts on one number is the ceiling. After two misses on the primary and one on the alternate, stop dialling this contact until phase 3 and let the written touches work.
- No voicemail on any of these. A second message inside a week reads as pressure and shows up in the opt-out rate.
- Update the record if the alternate number turns out to be wrong or dead. That is a data fix, not a failed call.
- If the switchboard names a different owner for tax strategy, that name goes on the row and may change the phase-3 plan.
If all three attempts fail and the model was Model 2, the assignment was wrong. Note it — the dial-verification check at validation is what should have caught it, and that feeds the 30-day read on assignment accuracy.
ObjectiveOnce connected, restate the hypothesis in three short lines and offer an easy way to say no.
Composition rules
- Three short paragraphs at most. LinkedIn truncates and nobody expands.
- No attachment, no link on the first message.
- Different words from the email. Identical phrasing across channels exposes the sequence.
- Close with the easy out. It raises reply rate, including the useful nos.
- If the connection wasn't accepted, skip this touch. Don't InMail.
Skipping LinkedIn? The phase-2 collateral email carries this content. Nothing downstream depends on it landing.
ObjectiveHand over the asset and remove the need for a call to get value. Reply rate rises when the next step costs them nothing.
Which asset
- Whitepaper
- Default. Finance-side contact, or the conversation hasn't started. Answers "does this apply to us."
- Capabilities overview
- They have accepted the premise and are asking what working together looks like. Answers "what does this cost us in time."
- Both
- Only when asked for, or when a second email would be an imposition.
Composition rules
- Point to specific pages, and say why those pages for this company.
- Offer to answer in writing — it removes the barrier they are actually avoiding.
- Reply in thread, keeping the trigger research visible above your signature.
- Close with a clean exit so a no can arrive cheaply.
ObjectiveReach the technical or operational owner on an engineering angle rather than a tax angle, and ask only that they describe their own work.
Why this works when the finance thread stalls
You remove what made the first email easy to defer. The technical reader isn't being asked to make a tax decision, evaluate a vendor, or spend budget — only to talk about work they are fluent in. That is a far cheaper yes.
Composition rules
- New thread, new subject. Do not forward or CC the stalled thread.
- Open on their function. Name what they own and why that makes them the right person.
- Lead with the four-part test in their sector's language, using the translation in the messaging section. Failed attempts count — the line that most often gets a reply.
- Keep the legislative hook light here. A technical owner cares about what qualifies; the deadline argument belongs in the finance thread.
- Explicitly disclaim the tax burden. "I'm not asking you to own a tax conversation."
Never reference the unanswered thread. No "I reached out to your colleague and haven't heard back." It reads as escalation by guilt and it travels internally.
ObjectiveOne concerted session working both numbers for the primary contact, before the account's centre of gravity shifts to stakeholder two. This is the last real push on the person you started with.
How to run the session
- Primary number first, then the secondary, in the same sitting. Not two separate tasks on two days — the point is to catch them wherever they are right now.
- Leave a gap of at least an hour between the two numbers. Back-to-back rings from the same caller on two lines is the fastest way to be marked as a nuisance.
- Change the hour again from both previous attempts. By now you should have tried morning, afternoon and one edge of the day.
What to say if it connects
Do not lead with persistence. They do not know or care how many times you have called. Open on the trigger, reference that you have sent a couple of notes, and go straight to the qualifying question — this is a first real conversation for them, however many attempts it took you.
If it misses again
Stop dialling this contact. The account is not dead, but this route is. Phase 3 continues through stakeholder two, and the primary comes back into play only at the phase-5 final dial or if they reply in the meantime.
Log both attempts separately with the number used. Connect rate by number type is what tells us whether the contact data or the timing is the problem — and it feeds the dial-verification rule at assignment.
ObjectiveGet the technical owner talking about their own work. Either answer they give is useful.
Order matters — LinkedIn first, then this
The connection request goes out earlier the same day and this dial follows it, ideally by a few hours. A senior person who has just seen your name and photo in a connection request is measurably more likely to take the call than one hearing it cold. If the invite has not been sent, send it before you dial.
How to open
Flag immediately that this is a technical question rather than a sales call, give the four criteria in their sector's engineering language, and say that from the outside their work appears to clear all four. Ask whether documentation and cost booking sit with them or with finance.
Then run the account's own questions
The Discovery Questions column holds questions written against this company's programmes. Use them as written — they are more specific than anything you will improvise, and specificity is the reason this account was hand-sourced.
Either answer moves you forward
- "That's me" — you have your qualifier. Book fifteen minutes on technical scope.
- "That's finance" — ask for the name and permission to reference the conversation. A warm internal referral beats another cold email.
ObjectiveOpen a second connection at the account, on the function rather than on the stalled relationship — and warm the name before the dial that follows it the same day.
Send this first, then dial. The invite goes out in the morning and the phone call follows a few hours later. Someone who has just seen your name in a connection request takes a cold call differently from someone who has not. If LinkedIn is switched off for this account, dial anyway — you lose the warming effect, not the touch.
- Reference the function, never the colleague.
- Check Sales Navigator for a shared connection or group first. Acceptance rates roughly double on a warm path.
- One invite per account per phase.
- Tie the note to the technical angle used in the email.
Skipping LinkedIn? The multithread email and dial carry this phase alone. LinkedIn adds acceptance signal, not the message.
ObjectiveStop chasing and put the qualification case in writing, with the current rule change attached, so replying costs nothing and reading it is worth their time even if they never respond.
Build it from
- Why We Selected Them
- Already the argument, in plain English. Turn it into the substance.
- Intel / Trigger
- Anchors the activity list in their real programmes.
- Target Fit
- Decides which legislative angle applies and how the benefit is framed.
The five things it has to cover
- What qualifies at this company specifically — their programmes, in their sector's vocabulary, including that failed attempts count.
- The rule change. What moved recently and why that makes the question live rather than perennial.
- Why now. The dated element — an election or amended-return window, or their own extension deadline. One short paragraph, not a countdown.
- Why companies miss it — the credit is assessed on activity, not on a budget line labelled R&D.
- What engagement involves — scope, quantify, substantiate, support under examination. Their CPA relationship is unaffected.
The addition in this revisionEarlier versions of this email argued that the credit exists and that they probably qualify. That is a standing argument, true every year, and easy to defer. The rule-change and deadline paragraphs are what turn it into a this-quarter question — but only if they are accurate. Verify before sending.
Open by naming what you are doing. "Rather than chase you again, here's the substance." It buys goodwill and it is honest about the touch count.
ObjectiveAsk an executive for a brief qualification conversation — explicitly not a sales process — and make declining cheap.
What makes an escalation land
- Transparency
- Say you have spoken to their team, and name who. They find out anyway.
- No blame
- Nothing has gone wrong lower down. This protects your other contacts.
- Named ask
- "A brief qualification conversation, not an extended sales process." Use those words.
- Easy no
- Offering to close the file the same day makes fifteen minutes feel cheap.
- Timing
- One line on why this cycle rather than next — the strongest executive-level argument, because timing is what an executive controls.
Rules
- Shorter than every other email in the sequence.
- End by asking for a redirect if it isn't theirs. That question converts more often than the meeting request.
- Use the Account Penetration Plan to decide who "executive" means. It is not automatically the CEO.
One escalation per account. Going above someone twice destroys the relationship with your original contacts and rarely produces the meeting.
ObjectiveTwenty seconds of context, one closed question, then stop. You are asking for a yes-or-no decision, not attention.
Structure
- Name, firm, explicit promise of brevity.
- What you do, that you have spoken to their team, and that from the outside there appears to be a material claim not being made.
- The closed question: is fifteen minutes worth diarising, or should the file close?
- Then stop. Do not fill the pause.
Handling the brush-off
- "Talk to finance" — agree, then ask permission to say they asked you to pick it back up.
- "Send me something" — one page, and ask which question it should answer.
- "Not now" — one probe on timing versus structure, then set the sub-stage.
No voicemail on the executive dial. An unanswered exec call followed by a message reads as pursuit.
ObjectiveOne reminder at executive level, mirroring the escalation email's exact language so the two read as one person.
- Two lines. No more. The ask, and the offer to be redirected.
- Mirror the email's phrasing exactly. Variation reads as sequences.
- Never send before the escalation email.
- No document, no calendar link.
Skipping LinkedIn? Move the day-17 dial forward to day 15 to keep phase-4 pressure even.
ObjectiveMake it concrete. Move from "does this apply" to "is this worth an hour of finance's time," using a range built from data already on the row.
A/B variableThis email sits at day 12 in Model 1 and day 18 in Model 2. Reps already send range information early once a prospect engages, so we are testing whether it works earlier in the sequence too. Compare reply rate to this email, meetings attributable to it, and any movement in the opt-out rate.
Build it from
- Target Fit
- Headcount drives the qualifying wage base; revenue indicates which route may apply.
- Industry
- Sets the compensation benchmark. Engineering pay varies widely by sector.
- Why We Selected Them
- Justifies which functions you counted in the base.
Non-negotiable rules
- A range, never a single figure. One number reads as a quote.
- State the assumptions inside the email — headcount basis, benchmark, which credits are applied. Not in a footnote.
- Say plainly it is an estimate from public data, not a quote, and that the real figure could land either way.
- Do not assert which route applies. Payroll offset versus income tax depends on eligibility conditions the review establishes.
- No sourced headcount means no numbers. Skip to the close instead.
The highest-risk email in the sequence. An over-confident figure that later proves wrong costs credibility exactly where you had earned it. Frame it as analysis, not as an offer.
ObjectiveOpen phase 5 by giving them something they did not have before. This is the last email that can still change their mind, so it has to carry new information rather than repeat the case.
What counts as new
- A pattern from comparable companies — what similar businesses in their sector typically find has been under-scoped. Describe the pattern, never name a client.
- A mechanism they are unlikely to know — that failed attempts qualify, that certain contractor costs may partially count, that supervision and support time attaches to the qualifying activity.
- A second look at their own trigger — a detail in the intel you have not used yet, read through the four-part test.
Composition rules
- Never write "just following up" or "circling back." If the only content is that you are still here, do not send it.
- Shorter than the value case. One idea, three or four sentences.
- No new ask. The CTA is the same fifteen minutes; do not escalate the request because the sequence is ending.
- Reply in thread so the earlier research stays visible.
This is the first touch to drop if the rolling opt-out rate is running above the 3% guardrail. It carries the least urgency of the phase-5 sequence.
ObjectiveState the dated element once, plainly, before the file closes — so that if timing is the real obstacle, they have the date in front of them rather than a vague sense that this is worth doing eventually.
Rules, and they are strict
- Verify the date is still current before sending. If the window referenced at day 1 has already closed, do not send this email at all — go straight to the close.
- State it as a fact about the legislation, not about them. "The election window for earlier years closes on [date]" is accurate. "Your window closes" is a claim about their tax position we cannot make.
- One paragraph. A deadline restated at length reads as pressure and produces opt-outs rather than replies.
- Pair it with an easy exit. "If the timing genuinely doesn't work, tell me and I'll close this out" — the exit is what keeps the deadline from feeling like a squeeze.
- No countdown language. No "only X days left," no urgency styling, no repeated sends.
Why this touch existsEverything before it argued that the credit is available. This is the only touch that argues the timing matters, and for a finance contact working on an extended return it is often the one that lands. It only works if the date is real and current — a stale deadline undoes every piece of credibility the research bought.
Never invent or approximate the date. Confirm with the technical team, or omit the specific and describe the window in general terms instead.
ObjectiveOne last live attempt, but to a different person. Silence from the primary may mean the offer is wrong for the account — or it may simply mean you picked the wrong route in. This is how you find out before closing.
Who to dial
- Stakeholder two, if the phase-3 dial never connected. Most common choice.
- The executive, if the phase-4 dial went unanswered and the escalation email was never opened.
- A name a gatekeeper gave you earlier in the sequence that you have not yet used.
Treat it as a first conversation, not a last one
- Never reference the primary's silence. For this person, this is touch one. Open on the trigger and the hypothesis as you would on day 1.
- Do not mention that the file is closing. That is our internal process and it reads as pressure to someone hearing from us for the first time.
- Have the account's discovery questions ready. If it connects, you are back in Scenario 3 and the sequence reopens for that contact.
- No voicemail. By this point any further message is pursuit.
If this call connects and goes well, open a fresh sequence at phase 1 against that contact rather than dragging them into the closing days of someone else's. Set the sub-stage to Ongoing Follow-up and record the new owner.
ObjectiveOne question that closes both ways. You are converting ambiguity into a usable answer, not rescuing the account.
- Say plainly it is the last call and the file closes this week.
- No pitch, no new information. Anything new restarts a conversation you are ending.
- Ask whether there is any interest at all, or whether you should close it out.
- Anything that isn't a no is an opening — take the smallest next step they will agree to, diarised against a real event.
If it goes to voicemail, leave nothing. The day-25 email closes it in writing.
ObjectiveLeave the connection intact for the next trigger. One line, no ask, explicitly no reply needed.
The email thread is closing but the connection persists. This costs nothing, removes any residual sense of pursuit, and means that when the next raise, clearance or filing cycle lands you are already connected and can open with a message rather than a cold invite. Name the future trigger you will be watching for — it makes the reconnect feel planned rather than opportunistic.
Skipping LinkedIn? Drop this touch. The day-25 email already carries the reconnect language.
ObjectiveClose the file leaving the specific opportunity on record, the reconnect set as a default rather than a request, and the door open for a redirect.
The four jobs this email does
- Acknowledge
- Name timing as the reason, not their interest. It gives them a face-saving read of the silence.
- Restate
- Put the specific opportunity in writing one last time. This is the paragraph that gets forwarded internally months later.
- Reconnect
- State that you will reconnect next quarter. Set it as the default.
- Redirect
- "Unless there's someone else I should be coordinating with." The highest-yield sentence in the sequence.
Also include
- The lookback position, so they know the current year's work doesn't simply vanish if they do nothing now.
- The specific future events that would make this worth revisiting, taken from the intel rather than listed generically.
- If a rule window referenced earlier has since closed, say so accurately rather than repeating it.
Disposition: stage Lost, sub-stage Unreachable for no response, Not Interested where they told you, Ineligible where they genuinely don't qualify, DNC where they asked to be removed. Tag the trigger event for the 90-day re-approach.
No second sequence back to back. The 90-day gap protects domain reputation and keeps the next approach credible.
ObjectiveDistinguish a real reply from the three things that look like one — and start the SLA clock the moment it is real.
Not a reply
- Out-of-office. Suppress and resume on the return date plus one. Capture any delegate named — that is a free extra contact.
- Hard bounce. The email leg has failed silently. Back to research for a data fix.
- Wrong contact, right company. Ask for the referral in the same reply, then re-enter at phase 1 against the new name.
A real reply
The account leaves the standing cadence immediately and the response SLA applies. A meeting request or inbound call is the hot tier; a question or "send me something" is same business day. A reply that waits 48 hours for a response is a reply you have wasted.
If the owner cannot meet the clock, the named SLA backup answers. The standard attaches to the account, not the person.
ObjectiveConvert a reply into a diarised time. Acknowledge, hand over the asset, ask for the slot, all in one message.
- Thank them in one clause. Do not spend a paragraph on it.
- Send the asset and point to the two sections that matter for this company, saying why those two.
- Propose a specific day rather than asking for availability.
- Do not re-pitch. They replied; the pitch worked.
Sub-stage: Ongoing Follow-up now, Demo Set only when a time is in the diary.
ObjectiveDecide which framing the next call uses. Either way you are dialling — only the reason changes.
Why one day
The asset was requested, or near enough. Interest is at its peak for the whole sequence at that moment and decays fast. Waiting three days turns a warm asset into a cold one.
The two framings
- Replied with a time — Scenario 1. You are calling to run discovery and book the review.
- Silence — Scenario 4. You are calling about something they asked for. Say so explicitly.
ObjectiveEstablish three facts and book the feasibility review before you hang up. Do not re-pitch — this was already won.
Establish
- Which activities — what the teams actually spent time on this year, especially where the outcome wasn't certain at the start. Use the account's own discovery questions.
- Tax position — enough to know which route the review should examine. Do not conclude which one applies.
- Open years — what has been filed, whether a credit was claimed, and whether any earlier years remain open.
Close
Book the feasibility review with the delivery team while you are still on the line, and send the invite before you hang up. A session agreed verbally and scheduled later is a session that slips.
Sub-stage: Demo Set on booking, Demo Completed after it runs.
ObjectiveFollow up on something they asked for. This is a reason to call, not a chase, and the difference has to be audible in the first sentence.
- State that they had asked for the material and you wanted to check it arrived and whether anything raised a question.
- Pause. Let them answer before continuing.
- Offer to walk them through the section most people ask about, as it applies to their work, in about ten minutes.
Never open this call with an apology for following up. You are doing what you said you would do.
ObjectiveConvert interest into a diarised slot the same day, under the hot SLA tier.
- Send a short confirmation offering two concrete slots rather than asking for availability. Choosing between two is faster than proposing one.
- Then call to lock one in rather than waiting for a reply.
- State what the call covers, how long it takes, and that no preparation is needed on their side.
Sub-stage: Demo Set once the invite is accepted.
ObjectiveExplain the call in writing, offer to answer in writing instead, and return the account to the cadence without restarting it.
- Say you were following up on the material rather than chasing a decision. That distinction matters and they will read it.
- Offer to answer any question by email, no call needed.
- Alternatively invite a time, working around their calendar.
Return to the next scheduled touch, not to phase 1. Restarting doubles the touch count against a contact who has already gone quiet once — and pushes the opt-out rate the wrong way.
ObjectiveGet the reason before you close. The reason determines the disposition and whether the account is ever worth reopening.
Thank them for answering rather than leaving it hanging, then ask one question: is it timing, or is the credit not relevant to how the company is structured? No second angle after a stated no.
Sub-stage by answer: timing → Ongoing Follow-up with a diarised date · structural non-fit → Ineligible · flat refusal → Not Interested · asked to be removed → DNC, within the hour, across every channel.
Log the reason, not just the outcome. "Not interested" with no reason guarantees the account gets re-sourced next quarter.
ObjectiveLet the opener sit long enough to be seen, then dial while the trigger is still current.
Why the gap
Phase 1 closes on day 3 and the first dial lands on day 4 — long enough that the email has been read or buried, short enough that the trigger is still recent. Dialling on day 2 reads as automated; dialling in week two loses the reference.
What the gap buys you
The call opens on a true statement — you wrote earlier in the week — rather than an awkward same-day double touch. If the LinkedIn invite was accepted in between, you open warmer than a pure cold dial.
Four dispositions, not two
Answered, voicemail, gatekeeper, wrong number. Only one means keep dialling; one means the record goes back to research and the model assignment was based on bad data.
ObjectiveRoute the account correctly. "No answer" bundles four outcomes that need different handling.
- Answered — Scenario 3. Run the account's opener and discovery questions.
- Voicemail or rang out — Scenario 2. One message, one same-day email, back into the cadence.
- Gatekeeper — not a failed call. Ask who owns tax strategy or works with the CPA, and record the name.
- Wrong number — a data problem. Send the record back rather than burning three more dials, and re-check the model assignment.
Log the disposition on the call, not at end of day. The four-way split is what makes connect rate meaningful in the 30-day model comparison.
ObjectiveCover the unanswered dial in writing the same day, then return the account to the cadence without restarting it.
- Acknowledge the double touch briefly — one clause, not an apology.
- Give the short version of the hypothesis, anchored to their specific programmes.
- Offer both routes out: a time that suits, or a clean no.
Then the account goes back into the standing cadence at the next scheduled touch. No restart, no extra voicemail.
ObjectiveRe-enter at the next scheduled touch, not at the beginning.
What does not reset the clock
An unanswered call. If the day-4 dial went to voicemail, the next touch is the phase-2 collateral email — not a fresh phase 1.
What does reset it
Only a new trigger event: a fresh raise, a clearance, a leadership change, a step up in headcount, or a new filing cycle. Research surfaces those and updates the row.
After day 25, stop. Close with a 90-day nurture flag. Running a second sequence back to back is how domains get burned and how a workable account becomes permanently unworkable.
ObjectiveUse the account's own opener and discovery questions to find out which of three outcomes you are in, before you keep talking.
The Cold-Call Opener and Discovery Questions columns were written against this company's programmes. Use them. The temptation mid-call is to fall back on generic qualifying questions, and that is exactly where a researched call collapses into a script.
Listen for the fork
- Interested — send the asset while still on the line and book the review.
- Not interested — one probe for the reason, then close properly.
- Needs time — wrap cleanly, send the value case and range, diarise a real date.
Do not keep presenting once you know which fork you are in. Continuing past the signal is how interested prospects become undecided ones.
ObjectiveSend the asset live and book the feasibility review before the call ends.
- Say you are sending it now, then walk them to the four-part test while they have it open.
- Give the four criteria in their sector's vocabulary, and say their work appears to clear all four on the face of it.
- Name what you cannot see from outside: how the work is documented and where the spend is booked. That gap is the reason for the review.
Book while you are on the phone. A session agreed verbally and scheduled afterwards is a session that slips.
ObjectiveGet the reason, thank them, close cleanly. No second angle on a stated no.
- Acknowledge that they were straight with you — it is more useful than silence and saying so costs nothing.
- One question: timing, or structurally not relevant?
- Confirm you are closing it out and note where your details are if the position changes.
Sub-stage: Not Interested for a decision · Ineligible where they genuinely do not qualify · DNC if they ask to be removed, actioned within the hour across phone, email and LinkedIn.
ObjectiveWrap the call without pressure, then leave something concrete behind that survives until the timing is right.
On the call
Accept it, and offer to put the specifics in writing — including a rough sense of scale at their headcount — so there is something to look at later. Explicitly attach no pressure.
Then send
- The value case, built from Why We Selected Them.
- The modelled range, with assumptions stated and framed as an estimate rather than a quote.
- A closing line that asks nothing of them now.
Anchor the return dateAsk what changes between now and then — a filing, a raise, a clearance, an extension deadline — and set the follow-up against that event rather than a vague month. If a rule window genuinely closes before their stated timeframe, say so as a fact about the legislation, not as pressure, and let them decide.
Sub-stage: Ongoing Follow-up, with the trigger event and date recorded.