Cold calling is usually framed as outdated, inefficient or something people tolerate only until they find a “real” career. Mohamed Noor’s story suggests the opposite.

In the latest episode of Unsung, host Will Maunder-Taylor speaks with Mohamed Noor, Business Development Manager at Sentry Doors, about how relentless outbound sales helped him build a career after moving from Kenya to the UK with no local network, no sales experience and no clear path into business development.

A few years after arriving in Britain, Noor had booked more than 600 meetings across UK manufacturing and construction through cold outreach, phone calls and persistence.

The episode explores not only how he learned outbound sales from scratch, but also why cold calling still works despite the dominance of email automation and LinkedIn prospecting.

Noor was born in Nairobi, Kenya and moved to the UK in 2021 after securing the opportunity to study a master’s degree in AI data science.

He explains that the move was driven by opportunity as much as ambition. While Kenya offered strong education, he says employment opportunities for young graduates remained limited, making it difficult for many educated young people to build long-term careers locally.

“This was a chance for me to not only better myself, but also to do better by my family,” Noor says, explaining that supporting his family became the biggest motivation behind both the move and his career decisions afterwards.

Despite his technical background, Noor found breaking into data science more difficult than expected. Entry-level roles often demanded years of experience, pushing him to explore alternative career paths while continuing his applications.

That search eventually led him into the world of outbound sales after discovering online content about SDR and tech sales careers. He joined a free online bootcamp and within weeks was interviewing for sales roles.

Noor’s first role placed him inside a British fire door manufacturer, prospecting construction firms across the UK.

The transition was dramatic. He moved from the reserved and technical world of data science into highly client-facing outbound sales, where his job involved cold calling project managers, estimators, quantity surveyors and construction directors who had never heard of him before.

“It was daunting,” Noor says, explaining that early on he constantly worried both about how prospects would react and whether he would know enough to answer their questions properly.

He also admits the first calls were uncomfortable.

“I got a few swear words thrown at me,” he says, although he quickly realised that most rejections were far less hostile than he had initially feared.

“The biggest lesson that I learned at the time,” Noor says, “you realise they’re just human beings as well.”

That shift in mindset made rejection easier to process. Most prospects were not hostile, simply busy, unavailable or already working with another supplier.

Noor believes that phone calls remain the most effective outbound sales channel.

While he also ran email and LinkedIn campaigns, he argues that direct conversation creates far more opportunity to understand a prospect in real time and build rapport immediately.

“With regards to emails and LinkedIn messages, I feel like you are at their mercy,” Noor says. “Whereas on a phone call, you can just ask them as many questions as you can.”

At his peak, Noor says he was making between 100 and 150 calls each week, typically booking five to six meetings weekly for the business development team. Some of those customers, he notes, are still active accounts today.

At the same time, he explains that his current process combines email and phone outreach together. Sending materials ahead of time and then following up with a call improves familiarity and response rates because prospects recognise both his name and the company before the conversation begins.

“Warming them up,” as he describes it, has become an important part of his prospecting process.

Noor presents outbound sales less as a talent and more as a discipline built around repetition, experimentation and resilience.

In his view, consistency matters more than natural confidence. Messaging improves over time, scripts evolve through repetition and rejection becomes easier once outreach becomes routine.

“Play around with it. Have fun with it,” Noor says. “Don’t be afraid to fail.”

That persistence helped him move beyond booking meetings into a broader business development role where he now closes deals ranging from £5,000 to £150,000 while still doing his own prospecting.

Looking back on his transition into sales, Noor argues that people should not enter outbound roles blindly, but should instead use the huge amount of free material now available online to understand both the practical skills and the mindset required.

“I think going in, knowing what you are getting into is very important,” he says. “But once you are happy with that decision, just go full for it.”