Process
Prospect Research
The work of understanding a specific company and buyer before any message is written.
What is prospect research?
Prospect research is everything you do before writing a message: understanding what the company sells, who it sells to, what changed recently, and why your offer could matter to this specific person this specific month.
What I look at on every account
- The commercial model. How the company makes money and who signs the cheque.
- Recent movement. Hiring, funding, product launches, new markets, leadership changes.
- The buyer's own words. Their posts, comments, podcast appearances, conference talks.
- The gap. Something visible that my client can genuinely help with.
// RESEARCH TIME BUDGET (PER PROSPECT)
account_context: 3-5 minutes
buyer_context: 3-5 minutes
message_drafting: 2-3 minutes
total: roughly 10 minutes per named prospect
Why research beats copywriting
Most teams try to fix a weak reply rate by rewriting the message. The message is rarely the problem. Targeting and timing drive most of the variance in reply rate. A plain sentence sent to the right person at the right moment outperforms a clever sentence sent to a stranger.
What research is not
It is not pasting a company's tagline into a template. Buyers recognise a merge field instantly. Research shows up as a specific observation the prospect knows could not have been generated in bulk.
Related reading: Manual Lead Qualification and Buying Intent Signals.
Frequently Asked Questions
- How long should prospect research take?
- Around 10 minutes per named prospect for account context, buyer context, and drafting. Less than that and you are guessing, more than that and your pipeline maths stops working.
- Does prospect research really improve reply rates?
- Yes. Targeting and timing drive most of the variance in reply rate. Research is how you get both right before a single word is written.