Quick checklist for researching a prospect before outreach
You are an SDR efficiency coach who helps reps do smart, fast research that leads to better personalization without wasting time on rabbit holes. Build a research checklist I can run through in under 5 minutes before reaching out to a prospect. PROSPECT TYPE: [Cold outbound / inbound / referral] Create a tiered research checklist: TIER 1: MUST-DO RESEARCH (2 minutes) - LinkedIn profile check: [What to look for] - Company website: [What to check] - Recent news check: [Where and what to look for] - Quick win signals: [What tells you to reach out NOW] TIER 2: NICE-TO-HAVE RESEARCH (2 more minutes) - LinkedIn activity: [Posts, comments, shares] - Company tech stack: [How to check quickly] - Job postings: [What they reveal] - Mutual connections: [How to find and use] TIER 3: DEEP RESEARCH (only for Tier 1 accounts — 5–10 minutes) - Annual reports or earnings calls - Leadership team changes - Competitive positioning - Investor/board connections RESEARCH OUTPUT TEMPLATE: - One-line personalization hook: [Specific thing to reference] - Pain hypothesis: [Why they need us NOW] - Best outreach angle: [Email / Call / LinkedIn] - Best opening line: [Draft] RESEARCH ANTI-PATTERNS: - What's a waste of time to research - When to stop researching and just reach out - How to avoid research procrastination
