# B2B Prospecting Reference

For when the user sells to non-SaaS B2B — services, agencies, manufacturers, mid-market and enterprise companies, professional services firms.

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## ICP Signals That Matter (B2B branch)

### Firmographic signals

- **Industry / vertical** — NAICS or SIC codes if precision matters
- **Company size** — headcount band, revenue band, location count
- **Geography** — relevant for time zones, regulations, on-site requirements
- **Business model** — service vs product vs distribution; B2B vs B2B2C
- **Ownership** — independent, PE-backed, public, family-owned — affects buying motion

### Buying signals

- **Trigger events**: new C-level hire, recent acquisition or divestiture, IPO/funding, opening a new location, recent rebrand, expansion announcement
- **Vendor signals**: posting RFPs publicly, switching costs in last quarterly report, contract renewal windows
- **Operational signals**: recent layoffs (cost pressure) or rapid hiring (capacity pressure)
- **News mentions**: launching new initiative, entering new market, regulatory change forcing action
- **PR / press**: anything that signals "this company is changing right now"

### Decay signals

- Multiple bankruptcies or PE-stripped operations
- Negative growth + cost-cutting headlines
- Ownership stagnation (small family-owned, no growth incentive)
- Buyer turnover (3+ Marketing Directors in 2 years)

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## Discovery Sources (B2B branch)

### Tier 1 — primary discovery

- **Apollo**: best general B2B firmographic + contact discovery
- **ZoomInfo**: enterprise B2B + intent signals (mid-market+)
- **LinkedIn Sales Navigator**: industry + role + signal search; the gold standard for decision-maker mapping (manual)
- **Clay**: when you need custom waterfall lookups (e.g., enrich Apollo records with Hunter + Clearbit)

### Tier 2 — industry-specific directories

- **Crunchbase / Pitchbook**: funded businesses
- **D&B Hoovers**: large traditional B2B firmographics
- **State / national business registries**: for verified incorporation data
- **Industry association membership rosters**: trade groups often publish member lists
- **Trade show exhibitor lists**: signals active participation in a vertical
- **Procurement databases** (Procore for construction, e.g.): vertical-specific signals

### Tier 3 — trigger event monitoring

- **Google Alerts / Feedly**: trigger keywords ("acquired," "hires," "expansion," "raises," "announces")
- **PR Newswire / Business Wire**: company-controlled announcements
- **SEC filings** (public companies): material change disclosures
- **State filings**: new entity formation, dissolution

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## Qualification Checklist (B2B branch)

- [ ] Industry / vertical matches ICP (use a recognized classification if possible)
- [ ] Company size within range (employees or revenue)
- [ ] Geography fits
- [ ] At least one trigger event in last 90–180 days
- [ ] Decision-maker role exists (CEO, COO, VP Operations, Director of X — match buyer profile)
- [ ] Email contact verifiable (named role > info@ catchall)
- [ ] Source URLs captured for firmographic claims
- [ ] No disqualifiers (closed, acquired-paused, multi-bankrupt, off-ICP)

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## Output Columns (B2B branch)

Recommended CSV columns:

```csv
score,company,domain,industry,naics_code,size_band,revenue_band,country,city,trigger_event,trigger_date,contact_name,contact_title,contact_email,email_status,linkedin_url,source_urls,why_prospect,confidence,verified_date,notes
```

For chat table, condense to: Score | Company | Industry | Size | Trigger | Contact | Email status | Confidence.

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## Top Outreach Targets Selection (B2B)

Prioritize for the top 3–5 hot leads:

1. **Trigger event recency** — 30 days beats 6 months
2. **Trigger event specificity** — new CMO hire in your buyer's role beats "company in the news"
3. **Decision-maker access** — named contact with verified email + LinkedIn beats role-only
4. **Vertical fit precision** — exact NAICS match beats "adjacent industry"

Each top target rationale names the trigger and decision-maker: "Hired new VP of Marketing 14 days ago; verified email; mid-market manufacturer matching ICP."

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## Common Mistakes (B2B)

1. **Treating B2B like SaaS** — funding rounds matter less; PE ownership and acquisition activity matter more.
2. **Trying to verify private company revenue precisely** — most public databases approximate. Use size bands, not point estimates.
3. **Ignoring procurement complexity** at enterprise scale — your prospect contact list may not include the actual approver.
4. **Cold-emailing executive assistants** — they're not the buyer and they will flag your outreach as spam.
5. **Source URL hygiene** — without source lineage, you can't defend a contact under GDPR DSAR or CAN-SPAM challenge.
6. **Stopping at one source** — Apollo can be 60% accurate on small businesses. Cross-verify with LinkedIn or the business website.