D2 GROUP / RESEARCH PILOT

B2B Sales Research Pilot: evaluate five accounts before a monthly engagement

A research pilot should reduce the buyer's uncertainty about research quality—not substitute for an outreach campaign. D2 and the client agree the scope, evidence requirements, contact expectations and review window before any research is commissioned. Pilot availability and fees are agreed, not assumed.

Direct answer Inspect the example

Published & reviewed: 25 October 2026 · D2 GROUP B2B Research

Direct answer

How should a B2B Sales Research pilot be evaluated?

A useful B2B Sales Research pilot is a controlled assessment of a small set of researched companies against an approved ICP, exclusion list and quality rubric. Five accounts are reviewed for company fit, dated evidence, relevant business context, buyer route, contact verification and disclosed gaps. The client accepts, holds or rejects each dossier with a reason. A successful research assessment is not evidence of meetings booked or revenue generated.

D2 does not label an exported contact list as a pilot. The output is an explainable account dossier, with sources and limits, and a defined decision about whether continued monthly research is worth purchasing.

Not a customer case

Illustrative pilot evaluation record

All companies and events below are fictional structural examples, not researched prospects, verified contact records, client cases or Sales outcomes.

Account: Fictional company Delta Manufacturing — example only
Reason selected: Hypothetical production expansion; requires a dated source and confirmed relevance to the seller's offer
Buyer/contact status: Plant operations role identified as a hypothesis; named individual and verified email remain UNKNOWN
Client disposition: HOLD — useful sector fit, but contact requirement not yet met

From pilot request to a decision

01
Confirm a written intake
Approve Target, Exclusion, Buyer, Timing and Sales Reality. D2 confirms feasibility before promising a pilot or any specific contact coverage.
02
Agree the five-account rubric
Define acceptance levels and the sample mix. Confirm duplicates and already-known customers upfront so a valid account is not incorrectly scored as novel.
03
Research and self-QA
Build dossiers with traceable source dates, buyer-route analysis, evidence-versus-inference separation and open gaps. Do not treat signals as buying intent.
04
Review and decide
The client marks ACCEPT, HOLD or REJECT with reasons. D2 reconciles defects and recommends either a revised scope, a monthly engagement or no purchase.

EVIDENCE / INFERENCE / GAP

Pilot scorecard: evidence, not impressions

Apply the same pass/hold/reject questions to every dossier. Track disagreement between D2's research and the client's internal knowledge.

Gate or category	Supporting evidence	Disposition
ICP eligibility	Company identity, size/sector fit, exclusion screening and dated source	PASS if mandatory gates are evidenced; HOLD if unresolved; REJECT if clearly excluded.
Research usefulness	Why-selected rationale, signal/event evidence, buyer function and timing caveats	PASS when the explanation changes a concrete Sales decision; HOLD when the source is insufficient.
Contact readiness	Named buyer or functional route, contact type, email source and verification status	PASS only at agreed quality level; report direct-email gaps explicitly rather than guessing.

Read related guidance

Relevant next research decisions

Frequently asked questions

Is the five-account pilot always free?

No. Pilot availability, fee, scope and review obligations must be confirmed in a written brief. This page does not constitute a standing free-trial offer.

Can an account be useful without a direct buyer email?

Only if the client has agreed that quality tier. If verified direct email is a mandatory gate, missing contact data remains HOLD or a recorded GAP.

What happens after the evaluation?

The parties review reasons for accepted and rejected records, agree any changes and separately decide whether to purchase a limited-volume monthly research scope.

Review criteria

Minimum criteria for a credible pilot

The client has signed off the exact ICP, exclusions and what constitutes an accepted account.
Each company has a distinct identity and a documented duplicate/customer-state check.
Every claimed observable signal includes traceable evidence and a date.
Named contacts, general inboxes, inferred buyer roles and missing emails are labeled differently.
The review captures client decisions, reasons and correction requests without promising meetings.

YOUR NEXT RESEARCH DECISION

Follow the next question before commissioning research.

These related pages explain scope, evidence, QA and monthly engagement. Observed business signals are not confirmed purchase intent, and accepted research is not a booked meeting.

Have an ICP and exclusions? Discuss a scoped research brief without uploading confidential CRM data to a public form.

Discuss your research scope

SCOPE / ACCEPTANCE

Define the pilot question before requesting research

Share your offer, target companies, exclusions, expected buyer functions and acceptance requirements. D2 can discuss feasibility and provide an appropriately scoped proposal.

Discuss a research pilot brief

This page explains a research method and illustrative fields; it is not an outcome guarantee, quote or permission to send outreach.

RESEARCH / FIELD SCOPE

Four items to approve before research starts

An unbounded free sample creates ambiguous expectations. A meaningful pilot sets the seller's goal, research gates, review mechanics and commercial boundary first.

Seller goal and ICP

Record the offer being sold, primary markets, buyer function, company size or operating criteria, and explicit hard exclusions. 'Any growing business' is not an actionable ICP.

Coverage and sample design

Agree the number and mix of accounts. A five-account sample can expose different research difficulties but cannot establish representative market-wide accuracy or guaranteed prospect volumes.

Evidence and contact standard

Specify minimum source recency, signal relevance, buyer-role expectations, whether a verified direct email is required, and how missing details appear as GAP rather than fabricated facts.

Review and commercials

Agree where dossiers are presented, who provides feedback, how corrections are handled, the decision date and whether the pilot carries a fee. No undisclosed automatic subscription follows.