Your prospect list is the foundation of your outbound success. Here's how to build one that actually converts.

Define Your Ideal Customer Profile (ICP)

Before finding prospects, know who you're looking for:

Company attributes:

  • Industry/vertical
  • Company size (employees, revenue)
  • Location/geography
  • Technology they use
  • Growth signals (hiring, funding)

Contact attributes:

  • Job titles/roles
  • Seniority level
  • Department
  • Decision-making authority

Where to Find Prospects

LinkedIn Sales Navigator

The gold standard for B2B prospecting.

  • Advanced search filters
  • Lead recommendations
  • InMail capabilities
  • $99/month but worth it

Company Databases

  • [ZoomInfo](https://www.zoominfo.com) - comprehensive but expensive
  • [Apollo.io](https://www.apollo.io) - great value, solid data
  • [Clearbit](https://clearbit.com) - excellent enrichment
  • [Hunter.io](https://hunter.io) - email finding

Manual Research

Sometimes the best prospects come from:

  • Industry events and conferences
  • Podcast guests in your space
  • Authors of relevant content
  • Award winners and press mentions

Your Own Network

  • Past customers and churned accounts
  • LinkedIn connections
  • Referrals from existing customers
  • Website visitors (with tools like Clearbit Reveal)

Organizing Your List

Essential fields:

  • First name, last name
  • Email address
  • Company name
  • Job title
  • LinkedIn URL
  • Source (where you found them)

Nice to have:

  • Phone number
  • Company size
  • Industry
  • Location
  • Personalization notes

Verifying Email Addresses

Never send to unverified emails. High bounce rates destroy deliverability.

Verification tools:

  • [NeverBounce](https://neverbounce.com)
  • [ZeroBounce](https://www.zerobounce.net)
  • [Hunter Email Verifier](https://hunter.io/email-verifier)

Aim for 95%+ validity before sending.

List Hygiene

Before every campaign:

  • Remove duplicates
  • Verify email addresses
  • Check for role-based emails (info@, sales@)
  • Remove competitors and existing customers

Ongoing:

  • Remove hard bounces immediately
  • Honor unsubscribes within 24 hours
  • Re-verify lists older than 3 months

Segmentation

Don't send the same message to everyone. Segment by:

  • Industry (different pain points)
  • Company size (different buying process)
  • Job title (different priorities)
  • Trigger events (funding, hiring, etc.)

Better segmentation = better personalization = higher response rates.

How Many Prospects Do You Need?

Work backwards from your goals:

  • Goal: 10 meetings/month
  • Expected meeting rate: 2%
  • Prospects needed: 500/month

Build a buffer - not every prospect will be reachable or relevant.