Who is the decision maker at a Singapore company?
The decision maker is the person who can say yes to your offer and release the budget. That depends on the company. In a small firm it is often the owner or a director. In a larger firm it is often the head of the department that would use what you sell.
Match the role to the offer before you look for a name. An accounting firm selling payroll software wants the finance manager or the owner. A pest control firm wants the facilities or operations manager at a building, or the owner of a restaurant or clinic. Writing this down in one line, such as 'owner or finance head at companies with 5 to 50 staff', gives you something to search against.
Where can you find a name and a title?
Start with the company's own website. Look at the About, Team or Contact pages, then at press releases and event speaker lists. A named person on the company's own page is a good first lead, which you can then confirm another way.
Next, check ACRA. ACRA sells a Business Profile through Bizfile, and its buying-information page says the profile includes basic entity details plus position holders, owners or partners. It also sells registers of directors, secretaries and other key people, and a People Profile that tracks one person's involvement across businesses. There is a small fee for each product, so check the current price on ACRA's page. A director on record is not always the person who handles your kind of purchase, but for owner-managed firms it is a sound starting point.
Professional networking profiles can confirm a job title and whether the person is still at the company. Treat them as a cross-check, because titles there may be out of date.
Can you just ask the front desk who to speak to?
Yes. Asking the person who answers is a normal way to confirm a name, and it costs one short call. Ask a plain question such as 'Who looks after your accounting software decisions?' rather than asking to be put through straight away. Note the name, the exact title and the best time to reach them.
Keep the question short and honest about why you are asking. If the front desk gives you a name, use it in the next call. If they decline, record that and move on. Do not try to guess extensions or work around the person who answers the phone.
Spread your attempts across different days. A person who is in meetings on Tuesday morning may be reachable on Thursday afternoon, so one unanswered call says little about whether the number is right.
What do the Do Not Call rules mean for B2B calls?
Calls to an organisation for the organisation's own business purposes are generally outside the Do Not Call (DNC) rules under the Personal Data Protection Act 2012. That protection is lost once the call is about the person's own needs, for example a personal insurance or investment offer made to a director on their business line.
Checks against the Registry are made through the DNC Registry Portal at dnc.gov.sg, and a check result is valid for 21 days. Some older pages still say 30 days. The PDPC Advisory Guidelines on the Do Not Call Provisions are the document to read for the detail. This is general information. If your case is borderline, ask a lawyer.
If someone asks not to be called again, record it and do not call them again.
How should you prepare a calling list before you start?
Build one row per company with the contact name, title, direct or main number, the source of the name and the date you confirmed it. A list with a named person and a reason for choosing that role gives the caller a better opening than a list of switchboard numbers.
If you decide to pay for calling rather than do it yourself, the list still has to come from you. Greetsby calls the people on a client's own list and books meetings into the client's calendar. The client approves the opening and the reason for the call before calls start, and checks the list against the DNC Registry before sending it. Each batch of numbers gets up to 4 attempts per person on different days, between 9.30am and 6.00pm.
Pricing is one flat amount per batch: S$1,800 for 1,000 numbers, S$3,600 for 2,000 and S$5,400 for 3,000, which is S$1.80 a number. It is paid before calls start, with no contract and no monthly fee. Greetsby does not guarantee a number of meetings, so the first batch shows what your own list produces. If you want to ask a question first, write to hello@greetsby.com.
Financial advisory work follows a separate rule. Under MAS Notice FAA-N02, only the financial adviser firm may appoint an introducer, so an individual representative cannot sign up. The firm must.
Questions
Is it better to call the owner or a manager?
At a small firm, call the owner or a director, because they often decide. At a larger firm, call the manager who runs the function you sell into, since they can recommend or approve the purchase.
Can I get a director's name from ACRA?
Yes. ACRA's Business Profile lists position holders, owners or partners, and ACRA also sells registers of directors and other key people. Each product has a small fee, so check the price on ACRA's website.
How often should I check my list against the DNC Registry?
A check result is valid for 21 days, so check again if your calling runs past that. Checks are made through the DNC Registry Portal at dnc.gov.sg.
How many times should I try the same person?
Four attempts on different days is a workable limit for a new list. Try different times of day within working hours before you stop.
Sources
- ACRA: Step 1, Understanding types of ACRA information products
- PDPC: Advisory Guidelines on the Do Not Call Provisions (1 February 2021)
- PDPC: Check numbers against Do Not Call (DNC) Registry
General information for businesses in Singapore, not legal advice.