The Complete Guide to Technographic Selling for SDRs

As an SDR, your job is to book meetings with people who are likely to buy. The traditional approach—blast generic messages to huge lists—is increasingly ineffective. Response rates are dropping, and prospects are tuning out mass outreach.

Technographic selling offers a different path: using technology data to find better prospects, personalize your outreach, and have more relevant conversations. This guide covers everything you need to know to implement it.

What Is Technographic Selling?

Technographic selling means using information about what technology a company uses to improve your sales approach. This includes:

• Finding prospects based on their technology stack
• Personalizing outreach by referencing technologies they use
• Qualifying leads based on technology fit
• Tailoring your pitch to their specific tools and workflows

Instead of “I saw your company online,” you can say “I noticed you’re running Shopify with Klaviyo—we’ve helped similar setups increase conversion by 20%.”

That specificity changes everything.

Why Technology Data Matters for SDRs

Better Targeting = Higher Response Rates

When you target companies using technologies that indicate fit, you’re starting with a qualified list. Instead of hoping some percentage of a generic list might be interested, you know every prospect has technology signals suggesting they could use your solution.

Personalization That Actually Resonates

Generic personalization (“I noticed you work at [Company]…”) doesn’t impress anyone. Technology personalization is different—it shows you’ve actually researched their business and understand their operations.

Stronger Discovery Calls

When you know their tech stack before the call, you can ask better questions. Instead of basic discovery, you can dive into specifics: “How is [Technology] working for you? What are you using for [related process]?”

Faster Qualification

Technology fit is often a strong indicator of overall fit. If your product requires certain integrations, you can filter for companies that have those technologies before you spend time reaching out.

The Technographic Selling Playbook

Step 1: Define Your Technology Criteria

Start by understanding which technologies indicate a good prospect:

Positive indicators (technologies your best customers use):

• What CRM do your best customers typically use?
• What marketing tools?
• What development frameworks?
• What indicates they have budget?

Negative indicators (technologies that suggest poor fit):

• Competitor products already in place?
• Technologies that conflict with your solution?
• Free tools that suggest budget constraints?

Opportunity indicators (technologies that create specific angles):

• Integration opportunities
• Complementary tools that suggest they’d value your solution
• Gaps in their stack you can fill

Step 2: Build Your Prospect Lists

Use a technology database to find companies matching your criteria:

1. Search for your target technology in TechLeads.fyi
2. Apply filters: geography, traffic, additional technologies
3. Export with contact enrichment to get decision-maker information

Build multiple lists for different outreach angles:

• List 1: Companies using Competitor X (displacement angle)
• List 2: Companies using Integration Partner Y (integration angle)
• List 3: Companies using complementary tools but missing related solutions (gap angle)

Step 3: Research Before Outreach

Before reaching out to any company, spend 2-3 minutes gathering context:

• Confirm their tech stack (use browser extension on their site)
• Check their LinkedIn company page for recent news
• Look for the right contact (titles that match your buyer persona)
• Note anything relevant for personalization

This research pays dividends in response rates.

Step 4: Craft Technology-Informed Outreach

Your messaging should reference their technology naturally. Here are templates by approach:

Integration Angle:

Hi [Name],

I noticed [Company] is using [Technology]. We integrate directly with [Technology], and companies using this combo typically see [specific result].

Worth a quick call to see if that could help your team?

Displacement Angle:

Hi [Name],

I saw you’re using [Competitor]. A lot of teams make the switch to us because [specific differentiator]—without losing [thing they’d worry about].

Would you be open to seeing how we compare? No pressure either way.

Gap Angle:

Hi [Name],

You’re clearly investing in your [area]—I saw [Company] is using [Tech 1] and [Tech 2]. Many teams with that setup add [your solution] to [specific benefit].

Is that something you’ve explored?

Step 5: Lead Your Discovery Calls with Context

When you get on a call, use your research:

• “I saw you’re using [Technology]—how’s that working for you?”
• “I noticed you have [Tech A] but not [Tech B]—is there a reason for that?”
• “A lot of [Technology] users tell me they struggle with [common pain point]—does that resonate?”

This demonstrates preparation and gets deeper conversations faster.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Being Creepy About It

There’s a difference between relevant personalization and making prospects feel surveilled. Keep technology references natural and business-relevant.

Good: “I noticed you’re using Shopify…”

Creepy: “I see you implemented Shopify on March 15th and also use Google Analytics with these specific events configured…”

Assuming Technology = Pain

Don’t assume because they use a technology, they hate it or want to replace it. Ask questions instead of making assumptions.

Ignoring Everything Else

Technology data is one input, not the only input. Still research the company, personalize beyond just tech, and be a human in your outreach.

Over-Filtering

Your criteria should be informed by data. If you filter too aggressively based on assumptions, you might miss good prospects. Test different criteria and track what actually converts.

Measuring Success

Track these metrics by technology segment:

• Response rate: Are technology-based lists getting better responses?
• Meeting booking rate: Are these responses converting to meetings?
• Meeting-to-opportunity rate: Are these meetings qualified?
• Win rate: Do deals from technology-based lists close better?

Over time, this data tells you which technology criteria produce the best customers.

Getting Started Today

You don’t need to overhaul your entire process. Start with one targeted list:

1. Pick your best technology indicator (the one technology your best customers use)
2. Build a list of 50-100 companies using that technology
3. Research each one (2-3 minutes each)
4. Send personalized outreach referencing their tech
5. Track results compared to your generic outreach

Most SDRs who try this see meaningful improvement in response rates within the first week.

Technographic selling isn’t magic—it’s just using available information more intelligently. The data is there. The question is whether you’ll use it.

Ready to build your first technology-based prospect list? Start with TechLeads.fyi.