The problem this solves
Phone remains the channel where deals actually move - a live conversation accomplishes in four minutes what a sequence needs three weeks to attempt - but a calling block is only as good as its list. SDRs handed company names without numbers spend the block hunting switchboards; handed stale numbers, they burn the hour on dead lines. The channel's reputation for grind is substantially a data problem wearing a motivation costume.
Direct dials are the scarcest field in go-to-market data, and pretending otherwise ruins calling programs. Some heads of marketing have a findable direct line; many do not, and a list that fills the gaps with main-office numbers dressed as dials sets the SDR up to fail one gatekeeper at a time. What a calling program actually needs is honesty: real dials where they exist, and an explicit flag - route this one through email or social instead - where they do not.
Order matters as much as accuracy. Fifty accounts is more than one block covers, and cold-call receptiveness tracks intent: the account actively researching the category takes the call differently than the one hearing the pitch cold. A list sorted by live intent puts the warmest conversations at the top of the block, where fresh SDR energy meets the best odds.
How the mission runs
- Resolve the marketing leaders. From your top-50 account list, the agent identifies the head of marketing at each - the actual current holder of the role, confirmed against live data rather than whatever title the list carried when it was built, however many months ago that was.
- Hunt direct phone numbers. Email Finder's contact-data reach is applied to phone discovery for each leader, capturing direct dials where they genuinely exist. No number is fabricated and no switchboard is disguised as a dial; a row either has a real direct line or it is honestly marked as not found.
- Rank the list by intent. Intent Data scores each account's current research activity, and the list is sorted warmest first. The SDR's first calls of the block go to companies demonstrably in motion on the category, which is where a live conversation converts attention into a meeting most often.
- Build the calling sheet in Google Sheets. The finished sheet lands in Google Sheets: contact, title, account, direct dial or not-found flag, intent rank, and a notes column ready for disposition logging. The not-found rows are grouped for rerouting to email-first plays, so the sheet drives two motions instead of hiding one.
The prompt
This is the exact objective the agent receives. Swap the obvious placeholders for your own domain, segment or channel and run it as-is from the console, Slack, or the API.
What comes back
A calling sheet in Google Sheets covering all 50 accounts: each marketing leader named and confirmed, direct dials where they exist, an explicit not-found flag where they do not, and the whole list sorted by live intent so the block starts warm. The not-found group doubles as tomorrow's email-first list, and the notes column makes the sheet the block's system of record.
Make it yours
- Refresh the intent sort weekly while keeping the same 50 accounts, so each calling block starts wherever the market moved.
- Extend to two contacts per account - the leader and their operations counterpart - doubling the paths to a live conversation.
- Ask for a short context line per account drawn from its intent topic, giving the SDR an opener stronger than the company name.
Frequently asked questions
What share of contacts typically have findable direct dials?
It varies widely by market and seniority, and the sheet reports your actual number instead of promising one. The honest flag is the feature: knowing that a subset has no dial today saves the block from switchboard roulette and routes those contacts to channels where they are reachable.
How current are the numbers?
Discovery runs at mission time against live contact data, so the sheet reflects what is findable now rather than an aging export. Phone data does decay, which is why re-running before each calling cycle beats maintaining one master list that quietly rots between quarters.
Why sort by intent instead of account size?
Because receptiveness beats prestige on the phone. A mid-size account actively researching your category takes the call in a way a flagship logo hearing it cold rarely does. Size still matters for prioritizing the pipeline overall; for ordering a calling block, warmth wins.