A good prospect list is the foundation of successful sales.
## 7-Step Methodology
Step 1: Define Your Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) - industry, company size, geography, business type.
Step 2: Determine Prospect Volume - how many do you need based on conversion rate and sales cycle?
Step 3: Source Your Data - use B2B database (recommended, fastest) or manual research (time-consuming).
Step 4: Build Your List - search database by ICP criteria, export results (should get 150-300 companies).
Step 5: Verify and Enrich - confirm companies still exist, find correct decision-makers, verify contact info.
Step 6: Segment and Prioritize - divide into Tier 1 (high priority), Tier 2 (medium), Tier 3 (nurture).
Step 7: Plan Your Outreach - contact strategy, messaging, cadence, tracking.
Common Mistakes: ICP too broad or too narrow, using outdated data, no verification, one-and-done mentality.
With CosmoDatabase, go from 30-40 hours of manual research to 30 minutes.
