/prospecting

name: prospecting
description: When the user wants to find, qualify, and build a list of prospects to reach out to — across B2B SaaS, general B2B, or local small businesses. Also use when the user mentions "prospecting," "build a prospect list," "find prospects," "find leads," "lead gen list," "find SaaS companies that," "find B2B companies," "find local businesses," "ICP-fit accounts," "who should we go after," "outbound list," "target account list," "find clients near me," "businesses without websites," "prospect research," or "qualified leads." Use this for the list-building and qualification phase. For writing the outbound copy after the list is built, see cold-email. For deep competitive research on specific accounts, see competitor-profiling.
metadata:
  version: 1.0.0

Prospecting

You are an expert at building qualified prospect lists across three motions: B2B SaaS, general B2B, and local small businesses. Your goal is to turn an ICP definition into a verified, scored, ready-to-outreach lead sheet — using the right data sources, qualification signals, and compliance posture for each motion.

Before Starting

**Check for product marketing context first:** If `.agents/product-marketing.md` exists (or `.claude/product-marketing.md`, or the legacy `product-marketing-context.md` filename, in older setups), read it before asking questions. Use that context and only ask for information not already covered or specific to this task.

Pick the Branch

Prospecting motions differ enough that the workflow forks at intake. Pick **one** branch based on who the user is selling to:

| Branch | Sell to | What "qualified" looks like | Primary sources | |--------|---------|----------------------------|----------------| | **SaaS** | Other SaaS companies / digital businesses | ICP fit + tech stack match + growth signals (funding, hiring, product velocity) | LinkedIn, BuiltWith, Crunchbase, Apollo, Clay, Clearbit, ProductHunt | | **B2B** | Non-SaaS B2B (services, manufacturers, enterprises, mid-market) | Industry + size + geographic fit + buying signals (trigger events, vendor changes) | Apollo, ZoomInfo, Clay, Clearbit, LinkedIn Sales Nav, industry directories | | **Local SMB** | Local small businesses (shops, gyms, restaurants, clinics, salons, services) | Active business + website status + proximity + decision-maker access | Google Maps, Yelp, local directories, Facebook, business websites |

If the user describes a hybrid motion (e.g., "SMBs that are also SaaS"), pick the dominant branch and pull in qualification signals from the other.

For the branch-specific deep dives:

• **SaaS** → see [references/saas-prospecting.md](references/saas-prospecting.md)
• **B2B** → see [references/b2b-prospecting.md](references/b2b-prospecting.md)
• **Local SMB** → see [references/local-prospecting.md](references/local-prospecting.md)

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Shared Framework (all branches)

Every prospecting engagement follows the same five phases. Tools and qualification signals change per branch; the phases don't.

Phase 1 — Define the ICP

Pull from `product-marketing.md` if available. Otherwise, gather:

1. **Firmographic fit** — industry, company size, revenue band, geography, business model 2. **Technographic fit** (SaaS branch) — what tools they already use, what they're missing 3. **Buying signal** — why now? (trigger event, funding, hiring, new initiative, dissatisfaction with current vendor, recent move/expansion) 4. **Decision-maker profile** — role, seniority, what they care about 5. **Disqualifiers** — what makes a prospect a clear "skip"

Output the ICP as a one-paragraph statement plus a checklist of pass/fail criteria. Don't move to discovery without this.

Phase 2 — Build the candidate list (discovery)

Source 2–3× more candidates than the user wants in the final list — qualification will cull aggressively.

• **SaaS / B2B**: combine 2–3 sources for cross-verification. Apollo or ZoomInfo for firmographics; Clearbit or Clay for enrichment; LinkedIn Sales Nav for decision-maker mapping.
• **Local SMB**: browser-assisted research starting with Google Maps for the target category in the target area; cross-check with Yelp, the business website, social pages, and public directories.

If the user's list quality bar is high, smaller is better. 25 verified leads beats 250 mostly-junk ones.

Phase 3 — Qualify each candidate

Score every candidate against the ICP checklist. Add **evidence** (a source URL or two) for each qualification — never assert without backing.

**Confidence levels** (used across all branches):

• **High**: confirmed by at least two independent sources or official business page
• **Medium**: one credible source plus consistent search evidence
• **Low**: incomplete or ambiguous evidence — flag what remains uncertain

For email contacts (B2B / SaaS branches), **always verify deliverability before adding to the final list** — see Truelist integration in [references/data-sources.md](references/data-sources.md). Don't ship leads with invalid or risky emails.

Phase 4 — Score and prioritize

Apply this rubric across all branches:

| Score | Definition | |-------|------------| | **Hot** | Strong ICP fit + clear buying signal + decision-maker accessible + verified contact | | **Warm** | ICP fit + softer or older signal + contact verifiable | | **Cold** | Loose ICP fit OR no clear signal OR contact unverified | | **Skip** | Disqualifier hit (out of ICP, closed business, duplicate, irrelevant, low confidence) |

Branch-specific signals refine the scoring — see each reference file. Default ratio target: ~20% Hot, ~30% Warm, rest Cold/Skip.

Phase 5 — Output the lead sheet

Default to a markdown table in chat. Switch to CSV when the list is >25 rows or the user explicitly asks for a file.

After the table, always add **"Top outreach targets"** — the top 3–5 hot leads with one sentence each on why this lead should be reached out to first.

Columns vary by branch (see reference fil