If you’re in B2B sales, you know the drill: your reps burn hours dialing numbers that never pick up. Lists are bloated with “decision makers” who haven’t answered a cold call since 2017. It’s a waste of time, morale, and budget. This guide is for anyone tired of chasing ghosts—and ready to actually talk to prospects who might care.
Below, I’ll show you exactly how to use Phonereadyleads to separate the real, high-intent prospects from the ones who’ll never call you back. I’ll also give you the honest lowdown on what’s worth doing, what’s not, and how to avoid the common traps.
Why Phone Connect Rates Matter More Than You Think
If you’re still measuring your prospecting by “dials per day,” you’re missing the point. What matters isn’t how many calls you make—it’s how many real conversations you have. Phonereadyleads isn’t magic, but it does one thing better than most: it tells you which leads are likely to answer the phone. That’s it. And that’s a big deal.
Here’s why connect rates should be your North Star: - You get to pipeline faster. No more spending half your day leaving voicemails. - Morale goes up. Reps who actually talk to humans don’t quit as fast. - Your CRM data gets cleaner. No more chasing “leads” who are basically spam traps.
Let’s get into how to actually use this thing.
Step 1: Clean Your Lead List First (Don’t Skip This)
Before you even think about uploading leads to Phonereadyleads, do some spring cleaning. The tool can’t fix bad data—and it won’t magically find the right contact at a company.
What to do: - Scrub for duplicates. Remove any leads with the same name, company, or phone number. Don’t trust your CRM’s “merge” feature blindly; it misses stuff. - Check for role relevance. If someone’s job title hasn’t been relevant since Flash websites, cut them. - Validate phone numbers. Use free tools or a quick Google search to weed out obviously fake or generic company numbers.
Pro tip: If you’re still buying lists from shady vendors, stop. Garbage in, garbage out.
Step 2: Upload Leads to Phonereadyleads
Once you’ve got a clean list, it’s time to feed it in. Phonereadyleads is built to handle CSVs, so export your leads from wherever you store them—HubSpot, Salesforce, a spreadsheet, whatever.
Key things to pay attention to: - Map your fields correctly. Make sure columns like “First Name,” “Phone Number,” and “Company” line up with what Phonereadyleads expects. If you mess this up, you’ll get garbage results. - Don’t overload it. Start with a few hundred leads, not your entire database. This lets you test things before going big. - Skip leads with only mainline numbers. Direct dials work best. The product can score mainlines, but the results aren’t as strong.
If you’re nervous about uploading sensitive data, anonymize it (replace names with initials), but know that the better your data, the better the output.
Step 3: Let Phonereadyleads Do Its Thing
Phonereadyleads scores your leads based on how likely they are to answer the phone—using real call outcomes from their system, not just guesswork. It’s not magic, but it is data-driven.
Here’s what actually happens: - Your leads get matched against a big dataset of phone connect attempts. - Each lead gets a connect score (usually on a scale like “Ready,” “Maybe,” “Not Ready”). - You get a list back, ranked by who’s most likely to pick up.
What to ignore: Don’t get sucked into chasing every “Maybe.” Focus on the “Ready” leads first. The rest are just noise for now.
Step 4: Prioritize Your Outreach—Don’t Just Call Down the List
Now you’ve got a ranked list. Don’t just have your team call from top to bottom. Be a little smarter about it.
Here’s how to work the list: - Call “Ready” leads during prime hours. Early mornings and late afternoons usually work best (think 8–10am and 4–6pm local time). - Batch your calls. Don’t have reps jumping between “Ready” and “Not Ready” leads. Keep the momentum going. - Track outcomes. If a “Ready” lead doesn’t pick up after three attempts at different times, bump them down the list and move on.
Pro tip: Have a system for reps to quickly mark outcomes (“Connected,” “Voicemail,” “Wrong Number”) so you can feed this back into your process.
Step 5: Iterate Based on Real Results, Not Hype
Here’s where most teams screw up: they treat the first Phonereadyleads run as gospel. Don’t do that. Use real-world feedback to improve your process.
What works: - Compare connect rates. Check how many conversations you’re actually having vs. before. If you’re not seeing a meaningful bump, revisit your data quality. - Ask reps for feedback. Are these actually the right people? Or just folks who pick up but don’t have buying power? - Keep updating your list. Leads go stale fast. Re-run lists regularly.
What doesn’t work: - Blindly trusting any tool, including this one. If something feels off, double-check your inputs and outcomes.
Step 6: Use the Data to Improve Other Channels
Don’t silo your phone data. If you find certain contacts answer the phone but never respond to email, that’s a signal.
How to put this to work: - Sync with your email outreach. Prioritize “Ready” leads for personalized emails right after a call attempt. - Flag leads with high phone response but low email response. Maybe they prefer calls—so stop spamming their inbox. - Share findings with marketing. Help them see which personas actually engage so they can stop wasting money on the wrong ads.
Pro tip: If you’re running paid ads, upload your “Ready” leads as a custom audience to see if you get higher engagement.
What to Ignore (and What to Watch Out For)
A few things that sound good on paper, but rarely matter as much as you think:
- Over-optimizing call scripts. If you’re not getting anyone on the line, the script doesn’t matter.
- Hunting for “secret” calling windows. There’s no universal best time—try a few slots and see what works for your audience.
- Chasing vanity metrics. Dials made, voicemails left, emails sent—none of these equal real conversations.
Watch out for: - Dirty data. It kills any tool’s effectiveness. Keep cleaning. - Reps cherry-picking leads. Make sure they follow the data, not just their gut.
Keep It Simple and Iterate
Prioritizing high-intent B2B prospects isn’t about fancy tools or chasing every new sales hack. Use Phonereadyleads to get your team talking to more humans, not just making more noise. Clean your data, start small, measure what matters—and tweak as you go. That’s how you build a process that actually works in the real world.
Now, go make some real connections.