01
Why this trigger works
A new executive arrives with a mandate, political capital and a grace period. Nothing that is currently broken is their fault, and everything they change in the first six months is 'the new direction' rather than a reversal. That combination makes them the most purchase-capable person in the building.
They are also, briefly, willing to take cold calls — because they need external reference points, fast, and their internal network at the company is three weeks old.
02
How to spot the signal
- LinkedIn 'started a new position' updates on target accounts — set alerts per account, not per title.
- Company press releases and 'we're delighted to welcome' posts.
- Team pages and leadership pages changing.
- A departure followed by an interim: the interim period tells you a permanent hire is coming.
- Where they came from — their previous stack and vendors predict what they will bring with them.
03
The timing window
Day 0–30: onboarding and listening. Calls land but decisions don't. Day 30–120: the diagnosis is written, the plan is being socialised and budget is being reshaped. This is the window. Day 120+: their plan is locked and you are now selling against their own strategy.
- Best single moment: around day 45, once they have opinions but before the plan is signed off.
- If you miss it, the next opening is the quarter their first initiative underperforms.
04
Who to call
Call the new executive directly. This is one of the rare triggers where going straight to the top is correct — they have no gatekeeper habits established yet and their assistant may not be filtering aggressively in the first month.
- Primary: the new leader.
- Secondary: their direct reports who now need to justify existing tooling and vendors.
- Useful: the person who was doing the job on an interim basis — they know what is about to change.
05
The cold call script
Opening — new executive, ~day 45
Hi [Name], [Your name] from [Company]. You're about six weeks into the [role] job — is now a terrible moment for ninety seconds?
Ninety seconds.
Every leader I speak to at this point is writing the same document: what's actually broken, and what they'll change first. I work with [function] leaders on [specific area]. I don't know yet whether it's on your list — but if [common problem in their function] is, I've watched three people in your seat solve it in very different ways and I can save you the trial and error.
It's on the list.
What did they hire you to change? I'd rather talk about that than pitch you.
'What were you hired to change?' is the highest-yield question in B2B cold calling. New executives almost always answer it, because they have rehearsed the answer for interviews.
Skip the trial and error
We'll tell you which trigger your market actually answers.
Fifteen minutes, free, no deck. We review your target list, your message and your calling approach, and tell you plainly what we'd change first.
06
Voicemail and follow-up
Voicemail — 20 seconds
[Name], [Your name] at [Company]. You're new in seat, so this is a peer-reference call rather than a pitch — I've seen three [function] leaders tackle [problem] in the first hundred days. Worth comparing notes. [Number]. I'll try Thursday.
- Follow up with something genuinely useful: a teardown, a benchmark, a peer's approach.
- Never send a capability deck in the first touch to a new leader.
- Re-touch at day 90 with 'now that the plan is written' framing.
07
Discovery questions that work
- What were you brought in to change?
- What surprised you most in the first month?
- What's staying, and what's on the chopping block?
- Which of your inherited contracts are up for renewal this year?
- What does a win in your first two quarters look like to your CEO?
08
Common objections and responses
"I've only just started."
"Exactly why I called — you can still ask naive questions internally. Fifteen minutes now is cheaper than a rebuild in month six."
"We already use [incumbent]."
"Inherited or chosen? If you inherited it, I'd want to know what it's actually delivering before renewal — that's the conversation I'm offering."
"I'm still assessing."
"Then I'll make myself useful to the assessment rather than sell into it. What are you measuring the current setup against?"
"Come back in six months."
"I will. Before then — is the [area] decision one you'll make in the plan, or after it? If it's in the plan, six months is too late for both of us."
09
Mistakes to avoid
- Congratulating them on the new role and nothing else.
- Pitching product before understanding their mandate.
- Assuming they will keep the incumbent — assume the opposite.
- Calling in week one, before they have opinions.
- Treating a lateral internal promotion the same as an external hire; external hires change far more.
10
Turning the conversation into a meeting
The close
You said you were hired to fix [their words]. Fifteen minutes next week — I'll bring how two other [function] leaders approached exactly that in their first hundred days, including what they'd do differently. No deck.
Peter Chen
Founder, MeetingAccepted
Peter runs outbound calling programmes for B2B teams — writing the positioning, dialling the accounts and handing over conversations that are worth a diary slot.
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