Researching Prospects

Prospect Research System

Research and profile potential clients for effective outreach and meetings.

Research Framework

Quick Research (5-10 min)

For cold outreach or initial contact:

• LinkedIn profile basics
• Company overview
• Recent activity/posts
• Mutual connections
• Obvious pain points

Deep Research (30-60 min)

For important prospects or pre-meeting:

• Full LinkedIn analysis
• Company deep dive
• News and press mentions
• Social media presence
• Competitive landscape
• Personalization angles

Prospect Profile Template

PROSPECT PROFILE
================
Date Researched: [Date]
Research Level: Quick / Deep

CONTACT INFO
------------
Name: [Full Name]
Title: [Current Title]
Company: [Company Name]
Email: [Email if found]
Phone: [Phone if found]
LinkedIn: [LinkedIn URL]
Twitter: [Twitter handle]
Location: [City, State]

COMPANY INFO
------------
Company: [Name]
Website: [URL]
Industry: [Industry]
Size: [Employee count]
Founded: [Year]
Funding: [If applicable]
Revenue: [If known/estimated]

BACKGROUND
----------
Career Path:
- [Current Role] at [Company] ([Years])
- [Previous Role] at [Company] ([Years])
- [Previous Role] at [Company] ([Years])

Education:
- [Degree] from [School]

Notable:
- [Achievement, award, speaking, etc.]
- [Publication, podcast, etc.]

COMPANY SITUATION
-----------------
What they do:
[Brief description]

Recent news/developments:
- [News item]
- [News item]

Potential challenges:
- [Inferred challenge]
- [Inferred challenge]

Tech stack (if relevant):
- [Technologies used]

SOCIAL PRESENCE
---------------
LinkedIn activity:
- Posting frequency: [Active/Occasional/Rare]
- Topics they discuss: [Themes]
- Recent post: [Brief summary]

Twitter activity:
- [Summary if active]

CONNECTIONS
-----------
Mutual connections:
- [Name] - [Relationship]
- [Name] - [Relationship]

Potential intro paths:
- [How to get introduced]

PERSONALIZATION ANGLES
----------------------
1. [Specific hook based on research]
2. [Shared interest or connection]
3. [Recent achievement to reference]

PAIN POINTS (Inferred)
----------------------
Based on their role/company:
- [Likely challenge 1]
- [Likely challenge 2]
- [Likely challenge 3]

HOW WE CAN HELP
---------------
Relevant services:
- [Service] → [How it addresses their situation]
- [Service] → [How it addresses their situation]

OUTREACH STRATEGY
-----------------
Best approach: [Cold email / LinkedIn / Referral intro / etc.]
Timing: [Any timing considerations]
Angle: [Primary value proposition to lead with]

NOTES
-----
[Any other relevant observations]

Research Sources

LinkedIn (Primary)

LINKEDIN RESEARCH CHECKLIST
===========================
□ Current role and tenure
□ Career progression
□ Education
□ Skills and endorsements
□ Recommendations (given and received)
□ Activity (posts, comments, articles)
□ Groups they're in
□ Interests/causes
□ Mutual connections
□ Company page info

What to look for:

• Job changes (new role = budget/initiative)
• Posts about challenges or goals
• Engagement with competitors' content
• Speaking engagements or articles
• Recommendations that reveal priorities

Company Website

WEBSITE RESEARCH CHECKLIST
==========================
□ About page (mission, values, team)
□ Leadership/team page
□ Products/services offered
□ Blog (topics, frequency, authors)
□ Careers page (what they're hiring for)
□ Press/news section
□ Case studies/testimonials
□ Tech stack clues (view source, BuiltWith)

News & Media

SOURCES TO CHECK
================
□ Google News search: "[Company name]"
□ Google News search: "[Person name]"
□ Industry publications
□ Press releases
□ Podcast appearances
□ Conference speaking
□ Awards and recognition

Social Media

PLATFORMS TO CHECK
==================
□ Twitter/X - Active? Topics? Engagement?
□ Instagram - Personal brand? Company presence?
□ YouTube - Any videos featuring them?
□ TikTok - Company presence? Personal?
□ Facebook - Company page activity

Financial/Business Data

FOR COMPANIES
=============
□ Crunchbase (funding, investors)
□ LinkedIn company page (size, growth)
□ Glassdoor (reviews, culture clues)
□ G2/Capterra (if software - reviews)
□ BBB (if relevant)
□ SEC filings (if public)

Research Tools (Free)

General Research

• Google: "[Name]" "[Company]"
• Google News: Recent mentions
• LinkedIn: Profile and activity
• Twitter/X: Posts and engagement

Company Intelligence

• Crunchbase (free tier): Funding, investors, news
• BuiltWith: Tech stack detection
• SimilarWeb (free tier): Traffic estimates
• LinkedIn Company Page: Size, growth, jobs

Contact Finding

• Hunter.io (free tier): Email patterns
• RocketReach (limited free): Contact info
• LinkedIn: Direct connection

Competitive Intel

• G2/Capterra: Software reviews
• Glassdoor: Company culture
• Google Alerts: Set up monitoring

Industry-Specific Research

Tech/SaaS Companies

Additional research:
□ Product Hunt launch
□ GitHub presence
□ Stack Overflow mentions
□ Developer blog
□ API documentation
□ Integration partners

Local Businesses

Additional research:
□ Google Business Profile
□ Yelp reviews
□ Local news mentions
□ Chamber of Commerce
□ BBB rating
□ Social media local engagement

Professional Services

Additional research:
□ Industry certifications
□ Speaking engagements
□ Published articles/whitepapers
□ Professional associations
□ Client testimonials

Healthcare/Regulated

Additional research:
□ Licensing verification
□ Industry compliance
□ Professional associations
□ Published research
□ Conference presentations

Prospect Scoring

Lead Quality Score

SCORING CRITERIA (1-5 each)
===========================

Fit Score:
□ Right industry/vertical: __/5
□ Right company size: __/5
□ Right role/decision maker: __/5
□ Budget indicators: __/5
Fit Subtotal: __/20

Interest Indicators:
□ Recent relevant activity: __/5
□ Engaged with similar content: __/5
□ Job posting signals: __/5
□ Tech stack alignment: __/5
Interest Subtotal: __/20

Accessibility:
□ Mutual connections: __/5
□ Active on social: __/5
□ Contact info available: __/5
□ Referral available: __/5
Accessibility Subtotal: __/20

TOTAL SCORE: __/60

Tier:
50-60: Hot lead - prioritize
35-49: Warm lead - pursue
20-34: Cool lead - nurture
<20: Low priority

Outreach Personalization

Opening Line Templates

Based on recent post:

"I saw your post about [topic] - really resonated,
especially the point about [specific detail]."

Based on company news:

"Congratulations on [recent achievement/news].
That must be an exciting time for [Company]."

Based on role change:

"Noticed you recently took on [new role] at [Company].
The first 90 days in a new position can be intense."

Based on mutual connection:

"[Mutual connection] and I were chatting about [topic],
and your name came up as someone doing interesting work in [area]."

Based on shared background:

"Fellow [school/company/location] person here -
always great to connect with others from [shared background]."

Pain Point Triggers

Batch Research Workflow

For Outreach Campaigns

1. BUILD LIST
   - Define ideal customer profile
   - Source prospects from LinkedIn/lists
   - Initial filtering (title, company size)

2. QUICK SCORE
   - 2-min scan per prospect
   - Score fit and accessibility
   - Prioritize top 20%

3. DEEP RESEARCH (Top Prospects)
   - Full profile on priority prospects
   - Find personalization angles
   - Identify best outreach approach

4. PERSONALIZE
   - Custom opening line per prospect
   - Relevant value prop
   - Clear call to action

5. TRACK
   - Log research in CRM/sheet
   - Note last contacted
   - Set follow-up reminders

Quick Commands

"Research [Name] at [Company]" → Full prospect profile

"Quick research on [Company]" → Company overview and key people

"Find personalization for [Name]" → Outreach hooks based on research

"Score prospect [Name] at [Company]" → Lead quality assessment

"Prep for meeting with [Name]" → Deep research + meeting brief