Two reactions: 1) Companies can rarely articulate the problems they're facing. They know the pain they're feeling, but not necessarily why. If they know the pr

Two reactions: 1) Companies can rarely articulate the problems they're facing. They know the pain they're feeling, but not necessarily why. If they know the problem, they're either a) working on a solution, b) thinking about it in a different way than you might be, and/or c) wrong. So get to the symptoms of the problem you're trying to solve, and see if those are big enough pain points. This also helps you focus on your value. If the pain point you're solving is low on my priority list or low-ROI, I'm not going to pay you to solve it. 2) You're not talking about sales, you're talking about market research. So the sales comments here are good, but the question I'll ask you is: "What value are you creating for your contacts?" You're asking people for their precious time and not offering anything in return. A hypothetical solution to their problem at some point in the future is not value. The only reason I take that call is the goodness of my heart (e.g., my friend introduced you and asked if I could help you... I'm doing them a favor, not you). What's their feedback worth? And what's the value of their time? You might have some success with a "paid" survey (Starbucks gift card, swag, etc.): your question then becomes right-sizing the benefit to the individual. A CEO doesn't care about your T-shirt.