How we booked 12 expert interviews inside global AdTech companies

Hey — I’m Rinat.

At Sally, we help 25+ B2B teams across the US and Europe turn outbound into a predictable, scalable motion. Every week, I share real-life campaign breakdowns — the systems that worked, and why.

When you’re entering a new market or shaping early go-to-market strategy, few things are as valuable as talking to the people behind the decisions. Customer development interviews help you refine positioning, understand buyer logic, and validate what actually drives action inside your target accounts.

In this case, we worked with an AdTech startup looking to map how large companies — media agencies and holding groups — run ad testing.

The tricky part:
There’s no consistent job title or department for these roles.
In some orgs, it’s Director of Client Strategy, in others — Insight Manager, VP of Client Development, Consumer Behaviour Researcher, or even Customer Success.

The same function can hide under 10 different titles — and none of them are obvious from the outside.

So we had to:
→ Map the companies manually
→ Validate the target list
→ Qualify every lead functionally, not by job title
→ And build a cold sequence that wouldn’t trigger a defensive “are you trying to steal my data?” reaction.

All booked through cold (we had no warm intros).
Here’s how we did it 👇

Step 1: Start from companies, not people

We kicked things off by generating a longlist of relevant companies using our internal targeting tool — built to deliver much more precise lists than tools like Clay or Apollo, especially in niche or structurally complex markets.

Instead of guessing which titles might work, we focused on organizations where we knew the function existed, even if its name varied wildly.

We sent that list back to the client for manual validation — “in / out.”
Only then did we go deeper: mapping departments, researching internal structures, and identifying people who were likely to sit close to creative measurement decisions.

Step 2: Compensation was built into the process

From the very first message, we made it clear we were offering compensation for time — either a $50 Amazon gift card or a charity donation.
In a few rare cases, where the profile was especially narrow (think: 2–3 relevant people across the entire region), we bumped it to $100.

That transparency helped reduce friction early and made the ask feel more reasonable. These weren’t sales calls — they were expert conversations, and we treated them as such.

Step 3: Filter for function, not for title

We added a short qualifying question to the first message.

That single sentence helped us avoid back-and-forth with the wrong people. If the answer was yes, we sent over a calendar link. If not, we thanked them and moved on.

Step 4: Rewrite the messaging from scratch

The original copy looked like it came from a competitor fishing for insights.
It read vague and overly technical, and didn’t clarify the intent of the conversation.

We rewrote the sequence around three core points:
→ We’re not asking for sensitive information
→ This is part of a structured industry study
→ We’re not trying to sell anything

That clarity paid off — reply rates improved, and we booked our first calls within a week of launching.

Step 5: Push — even if there’s no reply

We didn’t stop at one or two messages.
For leads who didn’t open or respond, we followed up multiple times — across channels where possible.

Each bump focused on the relevance of the topic and the value of their perspective. A lot of our best interviews came from these so-called “silent” leads.

The result

→ 12 interviews with senior researchers and strategists inside top AdTech corporations.

If you’re running early-stage outreach for discovery, custdev, or even high-level prospecting — and your ICP isn’t clearly defined yet, grab 30 min on my calendar and let’s talk.

📚 Want more context before we chat?
Explore case studies from fintech, SaaS, and enterprise teams — and see how structured outbound actually scales.