About – Prospect IQ

The Power of Intelligent Conversions

Twenty years ago, the founders of ProspectIQ began to explore and experiment with a new sales paradigm. Their pain-staking work culminated with today’s technology innovations of xSellsior, IQ Connect, IQ Perfect Pitch, IQ Coach, IQ Nurture and the AccelerateIQ platform, where companies can now leverage AI-powered software to generate outbound leads at scale.

A History in Tech Development

After a storied career in academia, Dr. Joan Scherer, a computer scientist with a PhD and two masters, joined the fabled Bell Labs, the birthplace of information theory. As a pioneer among women in technology, Dr. Scherer worked on what would eventually become the UNIX operating system.

Following her time with Bell Labs, she founded with her son Donald, CrossBorder Solutions; a company that leveraged AI technology to automate corporate tax accounting. As a tech innovator, Cross Border Solutions was also Webex’s initial beta test partner and one of the first companies to sell over the internet using web conferencing. The Company also deployed one of the first dedicated SDR teams.

To facilitate this non-traditional sales approach, Dr. Scherer also architected a specialized outbound sales enablement system which automated the outbound calling process. The success of this invention was a key driver in the acquisition of CrossBorder Solutions by Thomson Reuters in 2007.

A New Methodology

After the sale of the Company, both Joan and Donald continued to optimize the outbound sales tech methodology. This cumulated in the best-selling book Assembly Required which detailed how companies could use an outbound sales model to drive outsized results. Donald worked with numerous companies to implement this unique Assembly system, many of which became unicorns.

Outsized Results

ExactEra.com, a fintech company backed by Insight Partners and other leading VC/PE funds, employed the Assembly methodology to become one of the fastest-growing start-ups of its time. At its height, the Company was able to book over 6,000 first appointments per year using the methodology. ExactEra.com, remains a global leader in its space, with over $200M raised to date. Donald Scherer, left as CEO in 2022 to launch ProspectIQ.