Pre-Call Research
Goal: Spend 5 minutes per prospect to find personalized hooks that demonstrate insight.
Overview
Before every cold call, complete this 5-minute research checklist. The insights you gather become your opening hook - showing the prospect you did your homework and leading with value, not a pitch.
Research Tracker
Use the BDR Pre-Call Research Tracker to log all research before calls.
The tracker has automatic scoring - just fill in the dropdowns and it calculates qualification (CALL / RISK / SKIP) for you.
Tracker Structure
| Section | Columns | What to Fill |
|---|---|---|
| Basic Info | Date, Company, Contact | Manual entry |
| 📊 Meta Ads Library | Active Ads, Unique Creatives, Oldest Ad Age | Dropdowns + auto Pts |
| 🛒 Ecommerce | Photo Quality, Has Models?, SKU Count, Missing Content | Dropdowns + auto Pts |
| Results | Total, Qualification, Hook, Outcome, Notes | Auto-calculated + manual |
Step 1: Meta Ads Library (2 min)
How to Search
- Go to Meta Ads Library
- Search for the brand name in the search bar
- Click on the brand's page when it appears
- Review their active ads
Sort by "Impressions" to see their best-performing ads first. The URL will look like:
facebook.com/ads/library/?...&view_all_page_id=PAGE_ID
What to Record
| Field | How to Find It | Tracker Options |
|---|---|---|
| Active Ads | Count shown at top of results | <50 / >50 |
| Unique Creatives | Scroll through - count truly different images/videos (ignore text-only variants) | 1-5 / 6-15 / 20+ |
| Oldest Ad Age | Look for "Started running on [date]" - calculate days | <7 days / 7-30 days / 30+ days |
Scoring Logic
| Field | Scores 1 Point If | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Active Ads | <50 | They're advertising but not overwhelmed |
| Unique Creatives | 1-5 | Ad fatigue risk - using same images |
| Oldest Ad Age | 30+ days | Stale creative - not refreshing |
Step 2: Ecommerce Website (2 min)
Visit their website, especially product pages and homepage.
What to Record
| Field | How to Find It | Tracker Options |
|---|---|---|
| Photo Quality | Pro = consistent lighting, white backgrounds, multiple angles. Mixed = varies. Poor = inconsistent. | Pro / Mixed / Poor |
| Has Models? | Do product pages show models wearing/using products? | Y / N |
| SKU Count | Estimate from category pages (e.g., "Showing 1-48 of 250 products") | <20 / 20-50 / 50+ |
| Missing Content | What type of imagery is missing from their ecommerce? | Lifestyle / Models / Lifestyle + Models / UGC / Video / None |
Scoring Logic
| Field | Scores 1 Point If | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Photo Quality | Pro or Mixed | They have budget for production |
| Has Models? | N | Opportunity for us |
| SKU Count | 20-50 or 50+ | Enough products to benefit |
| Missing Content | Anything except None | Clear gap we can fill |
Step 3: LinkedIn Quick Check (1 min)
Find the contact on LinkedIn.
What to Note
- Role: Marketing Director, CMO, Ecommerce Lead?
- Time in role: New (learning) vs. established (has budget)?
- Recent posts: Any about marketing, ads, or content production?
Step 4: Auto-Qualification
The tracker automatically calculates qualification based on your inputs:
| Total Points | Qualification | Action |
|---|---|---|
| 5-7 | CALL (green) | Priority - call immediately |
| 3-4 | RISK (yellow) | Call if time permits |
| 0-2 | SKIP (red) | Deprioritize or skip |
Scoring Summary
Each criterion scores 0 or 1 point. Maximum 7 points:
| Criterion | 1 Point | 0 Points |
|---|---|---|
| Active Ads | <50 | >50 |
| Unique Creatives | 1-5 | 6-15 or 20+ |
| Oldest Ad Age | 30+ days | <7 days or 7-30 days |
| Photo Quality | Pro or Mixed | Poor |
| Has Models? | N | Y |
| SKU Count | 20-50 or 50+ | <20 |
| Missing Content | Any content type | None |
Step 5: Pick Your Hook
Based on your findings, select which opening hook to use:
| If You Found | Use Hook |
|---|---|
Unique Creatives 1-5 + Oldest Ad Age 30+ days | Hook 1 (Ad Fatigue) |
SKU Count 50+ + Unique Creatives 1-5 | Hook 2 (Volume Gap) |
Photo Quality Pro + same shots in ads | Hook 3 (Quality/Variety) |
Missing Content = Lifestyle or Models | Hook 4 (No Lifestyle) |
Record your chosen hook in the tracker before calling.
Time Budget
| Step | Time | If Running Late |
|---|---|---|
| Meta Ads Library | 2 min | Required - this is your main hook source |
| Ecommerce Website | 2 min | Can skim in 1 min if needed |
| 1 min | Optional - skip if short on time | |
| Total | 5 min | Minimum 3 min |
A personalized opening is 3x more effective than a generic pitch. The 5 minutes invested here is the difference between "Not interested" and "Tell me more."
Signature meaning
The signatures for the approval process of this document can be found in the verified commits at the repository for the QMS. As a reference, the team members who are expected to participate in this document and their roles in the approval process, as defined in Annex I Responsibility Matrix of the GP-001, are:
- Author: Team members involved
- Reviewer: JD-003, JD-004
- Approver: JD-001