How Do I Research Prospects?

Posted 2025-12-09 17:15:01

Prospecting isn’t just about sending messages — it’s about sending messages that matter. The biggest difference between spam and effective outreach is research. When you understand who you’re contacting, what they care about, and why your solution may help, you instantly stand out from the dozens (or hundreds) of generic messages they ignore daily.

Great prospect research doesn’t require hours.
It requires structure, consistency, and knowing what to look for.

This article breaks down exactly how to research prospects, step-by-step:

What research actually means in sales
Why research matters
What information to collect
The fastest research framework
How to research using LinkedIn
How to research using company sites
How to research using industry tools
How to personalize based on what you find
Mistakes to avoid
A research workflow you can use every day

Let’s get into it.

1. What Prospect Research Really Means

Prospect research is the process of learning enough about a potential customer to:

Personalize your outreach
Understand what they might need
Avoid wasting their time
Tailor your message
Increase your chances of booking a meeting

Here’s what research is NOT:

❌ Stalking
❌ Reading every post they’ve ever written
❌ Spending 30 minutes per prospect
❌ Gathering random data you don’t use

Here’s what research IS:

✔️ Identifying their role and responsibilities
✔️ Understanding their challenges
✔️ Finding relevant events or insights
✔️ Using that information to write a thoughtful message

Your job is not to become an expert on the person — just to find the details that matter.

2. Why Research Matters (The Unfair Advantage)

Prospects respond when they feel:

Understood
Relevant
Not spammed
Respected
Curious
Interested

You can achieve all of that with even 60–120 seconds of good research.

Research improves:

Response rate
Meeting acceptance
Message quality
Confidence on the call
Your overall pipeline quality

When prospects feel like you know them, outreach becomes a conversation — not a pitch.

3. The Three Types of Prospect Research

You only need to research prospects on three levels:

A. Individual Research (Who Are They?)

Examples of what to find:

Their job title
Their actual responsibilities
What they’ve posted recently
Skills and interests
Career background
Pain points common to their role
What tools they use
Whether they’ve engaged with something you shared

B. Company Research (Where Do They Work?)

Examples of what to find:

Company size
Industry
Funding stage
Hiring patterns
Tech stack
Recent news
Competitors
Market position

C. Trigger Events (Why Now?)

Trigger events are the most powerful form of research because they create timing, and timing creates urgency.

Powerful triggers include:

New funding
Hiring sprees
Layoffs
New leadership
Product launch
Expanding teams
Mergers/acquisitions
Going upmarket/downmarket
Major news or announcements

Trigger-based outreach gets responses because prospects are already thinking about change.

4. The FAST Framework for Prospect Research

Use this simple 4-step framework to research prospects in under 2 minutes.

F — Firmographics
Industry, company size, location, funding, growth stage.

A — Activity
Their posts, interviews, comments, or press statements.

S — Signals
Trigger events like hiring, new roles, expansion, or restructuring.

T — Tools
Tech stack, software used, or systems in place today.

This framework keeps your research focused and useful.

5. How to Research Prospects on LinkedIn

LinkedIn is the #1 research tool in modern B2B selling.
Here’s exactly what to check:

Step 1: Check Their Headline & About Section

This tells you what they actually do — not just their title.

Look for:

Personal priorities
Role-specific keywords
Current responsibilities
How they describe their work

Step 2: Scroll Their Activity

This is where the gold is.

Look for:

Posts they created
Posts they commented on
Posts they reacted to
People they follow

Patterns reveal what they care about.

Step 3: Look at Experience & Skills

This helps you understand:

Their background
Areas of expertise
Tools they use
Whether they are decision-makers

Step 4: Look at “People Also Viewed”

This shows titles similar to theirs — useful for building bigger lists of ICP prospects.

Step 5: Explore Their Company Page

You’ll find:

Headcount changes
Hiring trends
New announcements
Team structure

This helps you craft a relevant message.

6. How to Research Prospects Using Company Websites

Visit:

Homepage
About page
Careers page
Press/news page
Product pages

Things to look for:

Who their customers are
What problems they solve
How they position themselves
Whether they’re expanding
What jobs they’re hiring for

Hiring pages are especially important — they reveal pain points.

Example:

If a company is hiring 4 new customer success managers, it means:

They’re growing
They need more support capacity
They may need onboarding tools, automation, or retention solutions

This gives you an instant angle for personalization.

7. Industry-Level Research (Fast & Simple)

You don’t need to become an industry expert — just know the basics.

Research:

Common challenges
Industry trends
Competitors
Regulations
Market pressures
Relevant technologies

Sources:

Google News
Industry blogs
Analyst reports
Events/conferences
YouTube interviews

This helps you speak the prospect’s language — huge credibility boost.

8. Tools You Can Use for Prospect Research

Here are common tools reps and founders use (all allowed for minors as educational/business tools):

General Research Tools

Google
LinkedIn
YouTube (interviews, demos)
Twitter/X

Company Intelligence

Crunchbase
BuiltWith
G2
Glassdoor (culture insights)
Company blogs

Role-Based Research

LinkedIn Activity
Podcasts
Articles
Conference talks
Webinars

News Alerts

Google Alerts
LinkedIn News
Industry newsletters

Tools help, but structure matters more.

9. How to Use Your Research in Your Outreach

Research is useless unless you apply it.
Here’s how to use it effectively:

Personalization Formula #1 — “Observation + Relevance + Value”

Example:

“I saw you’re expanding the data team — often, teams at this stage struggle with onboarding analysts quickly. We’ve helped similar companies cut that time by 30%. Worth sharing examples?”

Personalization Formula #2 — “Role Insight + Problem + Question”

Example:

“As a RevOps lead, you probably deal with messy CRM data daily. Curious — are you solving that in-house or exploring tools this quarter?”

Personalization Formula #3 — “Trigger Event + Impact + Offer”

Example:

“Congrats on the Series A. Teams usually start investing in customer retention around this stage. Want me to send a few frameworks that help with early churn?”

10. 10 Prospect Research Mistakes to Avoid

❌ Reading every detail and wasting time
❌ Bringing up personal info (family, hobbies — off limits)
❌ Over-personalizing to the point of awkwardness
❌ Using irrelevant data
❌ Not checking company changes before pitching
❌ Confusing the job title with the actual role
❌ Treating every prospect the same
❌ Sending scripts without customization
❌ Pitching before confirming relevance
❌ Researching without documenting what you find

You need useful research — not excessive research.