If you sell B2B, the hardest step is finding who to talk to at all. Google Maps contains every business in your city with names, numbers and addresses — the problem is that copying it by hand is months of work. Mersal's lead generation tools cut that to minutes.
The Google Maps scraper
You enter a business type and area (say "restaurants in Maadi") and the system extracts the results. Two technical points matter:
- Beyond the 60-result cap: Google stops at 60 results per search; the system splits the search geographically to get past it.
- WhatsApp detection: it identifies which numbers actually have a WhatsApp account — which makes a large difference to reach.
Choosing the search term and the area
List quality is decided here, not later during cleanup. The rule: narrow beats broad.
- Use the business term as Maps writes it: "car service centre" returns far cleaner results than "garage".
- Split by district, not governorate: "pharmacies in Nasr City" is much cleaner than "pharmacies in Cairo", and you'll collect more in total.
- Run one search per synonym: "cafe", "coffee shop" and "coffeehouse" return partly different lists.
- Avoid generic terms: "company" or "office" returns an unrelated mixture.
Website scraper and enrichment
Beyond Maps, you can extract data from company websites and run an enrichment pass that fills in missing details like email address or business category.
That matters most in B2B when you need to reach a decision-maker by email rather than the shop's general number.
The Chrome extension
If you prefer working manually as you browse, the Mersal Maps Chrome extension works while you have Google Maps open: it extracts the results in front of you and sends them straight to the review queue in your account, with no copy-paste.
The review queue — the step nobody should skip
Extracted data does not go straight into your contacts. It lands in the Leads Hub first for review, normalisation and validation, and then you export the approved records into contacts.
Skip this and your list will contain landlines, duplicates, and businesses that closed — each one costing you sending credit and damaging your number's reputation.
What to remove during review
- Landlines: neither WhatsApp nor SMS will reach them. The "has WhatsApp" filter does this work for you.
- Closed businesses: Maps keeps closed places listed for a long time.
- Duplicate branches: a 12-branch chain usually shares one head-office number — keep one.
- Off-target results: a "restaurants" search drags in juice bars and supermarkets.
- Missing or malformed numbers: anything that fails normalisation should go, rather than being sent on a hope.
Expect to drop 20–30% of any list. If you're cutting less than that, you probably haven't reviewed it properly.
Legal and practical responsibility
Data being publicly available doesn't mean any use is permitted. The practice that protects your business:
- Send a short, clear first message that introduces you and why you're reaching out.
- Include an obvious way to stop, from the first message.
- If someone hasn't replied to two messages, stop. Persistence generates reports, and reports burn your number.
- Keep targeting narrow and relevant: a restaurant-equipment supplier contacting restaurants is logical and welcome.
The first message: what actually works
A cold message that works is short, shows you know who they are, and asks for one small thing.
A structure that performs:
- Identify yourself: "I'm {name} from {company}, we supply {thing} to restaurants in Maadi."
- Connect it to them: why this business specifically — their sector, area, size.
- Make a small ask: "Shall I send our price list?" converts far better than "Can we book a meeting?"
- Offer an exit: "If this isn't for you, reply STOP and I won't message again."
Send from a human name rather than a company name, and during business hours. A cold message at 9pm becomes a report.
A realistic workflow
- Extract 100 businesses in one specific sector and area.
- Review the queue and delete what doesn't fit — usually 20–30%.
- Export the rest into a new group named for the sector and area.
- Send one introductory message and follow replies from the chats screen.
Measuring it properly
The number that matters isn't messages sent — that's the easiest metric and the least useful. Track:
- Reply rate: 5–15% is healthy for a targeted cold message. Below 3% means the targeting or the message is wrong.
- Opt-out rate: above 5% is a warning that the list doesn't fit.
- Cost per reply: campaign credit ÷ replies. This is the figure that lets you compare sectors and areas.
Test one sector and one area at a time. Mix five sectors into one campaign and you'll never know which one worked.
Common mistakes
- Extracting 5,000 businesses and messaging them all in a day from a new number — a guaranteed ban.
- Skipping the review queue entirely.
- Sending the identical message to every sector.
- Following up four and five times until the recipient reports you.
- Not recording who said "not interested" — and messaging them again two months later.
Frequently asked questions
Is the data current? It's pulled from Maps at search time, so it's fresher than any pre-packaged list you can buy.
Can I export to Excel? Yes, export from the Leads Hub, or convert them into a Mersal contact group directly.
Should I use my main number for cold outreach? Preferably not. Dedicate a number to cold contact and keep your main number for existing customers.
