How to do pre-call research
Buyers can tell instantly whether you did your homework. Ten focused minutes of research is the difference between a relevant conversation and a generic pitch.
The trap is over-researching. You need enough to be relevant and form a hypothesis, not a dossier.
Short answer
Do pre-call research by covering four things in about ten minutes: the company (what they do, recent news), the person (role, background, priorities), a trigger or reason to reach out now, and a hypothesis about their likely problem. The goal is enough relevance to earn trust, not a research project that eats your day.
Step by step
Research the company
Learn what they do, their size and stage, and any recent news: funding, launches, hires, expansions. Triggers are gold for relevance and timing.
Research the person
Check their role, tenure, background, and any public posts. What are they likely responsible for and measured on?
Find a reason to reach out now
Tie the call to a trigger or a specific observation. Relevance plus timing is what earns attention.
Form a hypothesis
Based on the above, guess the problem they likely face and the outcome they want. You will test it in the call, but a hypothesis makes your questions sharper.
Keep it to ten minutes
Over-research is procrastination in disguise. A tight checklist covering company, person, trigger, and hypothesis gives you 90 percent of the value in a fraction of the time, so you can prep for the next call and actually make it.
How Ardovo runs this
Ardovo turns this from a slide no one opens into how the work actually happens. The stages, exit criteria, and plays live in the deal object, and Rook flags any deal that skips a step, drafts the next artifact, and keeps the data honest, so reps arrive at every call prepared and relevant gets followed instead of forgotten.
Frequently asked questions
How much research should I do before a sales call?
About ten focused minutes covering the company, the person, a trigger to reach out now, and a hypothesis about their problem. That is enough to be genuinely relevant. More than that usually becomes procrastination that eats time better spent on more calls.
What should I look for in pre-call research?
Recent company news like funding, launches, or hires, the person's role and priorities, a specific reason the timing is right, and enough context to form a hypothesis about their likely problem. Relevance and timing are what earn a buyer's attention.
How do I use research without sounding like a stalker?
Reference public, professional signals naturally, like congratulating a launch or noting a role change, and use your research to ask better questions rather than to recite facts. The goal is relevance, not proving how much you dug up about them.