Prospecting

Signal / Other / 31 July 2026

The Companies House data trap: stale records cost UK B2B sales teams real pipeline

Companies House data underpins most UK B2B prospecting tools (Cognism, Apollo, ZoomInfo, internal data warehouses). The data is authoritative for incorporation, registered office, accounts filing, and PSC. It is NOT authoritative for headcount, revenue, growth, or trading status; those are buyer-self-disclosed via filing extensions or never updated. Sales teams running prospecting against Companies House-derived data without understanding this distinction routinely target unqualified prospects.

Snapshot / SaaS / 29 July 2026

The UK B2B outbound channel mix in 2026

UK B2B outbound channel mix has shifted materially from 2022 to 2026: LinkedIn first, phone returning, cold email lower-volume but more personalised, direct mail seeing a small revival in enterprise. The relative effectiveness ranks have inverted from the 2022 hierarchy.

LinkedIn-after-connection is the highest-response channel for senior IC and above. Phone returns to relevance for senior-buyer outreach. Cold email at scale is the lowest-effectiveness channel. Direct mail is back at enterprise tier as a differentiator. The mix that converts is multi-channel, lower volume, higher per-prospect investment.

Explained / SaaS / 26 May 2026

BANT-lite for inbound qualification: the structure that holds up

Inbound qualification has a structural problem: the lead self-identified, so the temptation is to treat attention as the gate and pass to AE. The result is meeting volumes that look good and conversion rates that quietly collapse. BANT-lite is the SDR-side filter that holds up - four short questions, fast enough not to lose the lead.

BANT-lite belongs at the inbound triage layer. SDR runs it in 10-15 minutes; pass to AE only when all four answers are present. The AE then runs MEDDPICC. The two structures complement; they do not substitute.

Explained / SaaS / 20 May 2026

Outbound sequence design that actually works in UK B2B in 2026

The 2022-vintage 14-touch high-volume cadence has stopped working. Email deliverability tightening, buyer fatigue, and PECR enforcement have made it net-negative for most UK SaaS teams. The strongest UK B2B outbound in 2026 is 5-7 touches over 14-21 days, multi-channel, with one or two touches genuinely personalised. A practitioner walkthrough plus the compliance considerations.

Cut sequence length from 14 to 6-7 touches. Move 30-50 percent of touch volume to LinkedIn (connect-then-message) and phone. Make at least one email genuinely personalised (5-10 minutes per prospect). Volume drops, response rates rise, deliverability improves. Total qualified-meeting count typically goes up over 90 days.

Explained / Other / 12 May 2026

Cold email under PECR regulation 22: what UK B2B teams can and cannot send

Regulation 22 of PECR governs UK B2B email outreach. The corporate-subscriber exemption makes most B2B cold email lawful under PECR, but UK GDPR still engages on every named individual recipient. Sole traders and unincorporated partnerships outside Scotland are individual subscribers and require prior consent. Four common failure modes plus a pre-send checklist.

Regulation 22's corporate-subscriber exemption gets you out of PECR for cold B2B email; UK GDPR is what remains. Sole traders, unincorporated partnerships outside Scotland, and personal-domain addresses are individual subscribers and need prior consent. Broker-collected consent does not transfer.

Explained / Other / 1 May 2026

PECR for UK outbound sales in 2026: what you can and cannot do

A practitioner's guide to the four UK rule sources that govern B2B outbound calling and email in 2026, what changed under the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025, and the trap rules sales operations teams keep getting fined for.

Email to a UK limited company is allowed under PECR's corporate subscriber exemption, but the named contact at that company is still personal data and triggers UK GDPR; phone calls always require TPS screening and consent for automated dialling.

Signal / Other / 29 April 2026

DUAA stage three lands: legitimate interest is now a recognised lawful basis for direct marketing

Stage three of the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 commenced through late 2025 and early 2026, formally establishing direct marketing as a 'recognised legitimate interest' under UK GDPR. The change reduces the documentation burden for B2B prospect lists; it does not amend PECR.