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 we 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 our 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.