[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":124},["ShallowReactive",2],{"lesson-/academy/sdr/how-to-build-a-prospect-list":3},{"path":4,"data":5,"html":63,"toc":64,"prev":77,"next":83,"track":87},"/academy/sdr/how-to-build-a-prospect-list",{"title":6,"description":7,"primaryQuery":8,"secondaryQueries":9,"module":13,"order":14,"tier":15,"intent":16,"asset":17,"publishedAt":20,"author":21,"reviewedAt":22,"relatedTool":23,"challenge":24,"exercise":60},"How to Build a Prospect List From Scratch (Template + Columns)","A prospect list is your working set of accounts and named contacts that fit your ICP, with columns for research and outreach status. This page gives you the exact spreadsheet template — columns pre-built, a priority formula, and the filter that separates a list worth calling from a list that wastes your day.","how to build a prospect list",[10,11,12],"how to find leads for sales","how to build a b2b prospect list","how to build a lead list for outreach",3,2,"B","transactional",{"type":18,"title":19},"template","Prospect list spreadsheet template — columns, filters, and the priority formula","2026-09-10","closers","2026-09-24",null,{"type":25,"id":26,"brief":27,"buckets":28,"items":31},"sort","m3-l2-prospect-list","Ten accounts from a CRM export. Which belong on your prospect list because they fit the ICP and show a reason to reach out now, and which should you drop before you spend outreach on them?",[29,30],"Keep on the prospect list","Drop — doesn't fit",[32,35,38,40,42,45,48,51,54,57],{"key":33,"text":34},0,"A competitor's recent lost customer who just hired a sales leader",{"key":36,"text":37},1,"A Fortune 500 giant with an 18-month procurement cycle that sells to startups",{"key":14,"text":39},"A 4-person startup with no sales team and no revenue",{"key":13,"text":41},"Series B SaaS company, 200 employees, VP of Sales just hired, uses a competitor's tool",{"key":43,"text":44},4,"A 10,000-person conglomerate where no division matches your ICP",{"key":46,"text":47},5,"An industry that fits, but no reachable decision-maker and zero public activity in a year",{"key":49,"text":50},6,"Mid-market company in your ICP industry that just raised a Series C to scale its sales team",{"key":52,"text":53},7,"Target-size company that just posted a job your product solves for",{"key":55,"text":56},8,"A mid-market company in your ICP industry, but signed a 3-year contract with your main competitor",{"key":58,"text":59},9,"A company in your exact ICP that just announced a compliance deadline your product covers",{"prompt":61,"successCriteria":62},"Sort the ten accounts above into 'keep on the prospect list' and 'drop', then write one sentence naming the single filter that decides most of them.","You can name the filter without hedging: does the account fit the ICP AND show a reason to reach out now — not just size or industry.","\u003Cp>A prospect list is your working set of accounts and named contacts that fit the \u003Ca href=\"/glossary/icp/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">ICP\u003C/a> — not a random download, but a spreadsheet you actually work. It is the raw material of every \u003Ca href=\"/glossary/touch/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">touch\u003C/a>, \u003Ca href=\"/glossary/sequence/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">sequence\u003C/a>, and \u003Ca href=\"/glossary/cadence/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">cadence\u003C/a> you run. While the \u003Ca href=\"/glossary/bdr/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">BDR\u003C/a> builds lists of net-new accounts to open, the \u003Ca href=\"/glossary/sdr/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">SDR\u003C/a> builds lists within the accounts the company already works. Both use the same columns and the same filter: it fits the ICP, and there's a reason to reach out now.\u003C/p>\n\u003Ch2 id=\"the-columns-your-list-needs\">The columns your list needs\u003C/h2>\n\u003Cp>Here is the asset — the template, column by column:\u003C/p>\n\u003Cp>\u003Cstrong>Account columns:\u003C/strong> Company name · Industry · Employee count · Revenue band (if known) · Fit score (1–5 against your ICP) · Trigger or reason to reach out now.\u003C/p>\n\u003Cp>\u003Cstrong>Contact columns:\u003C/strong> First name · Last name · Title · LinkedIn URL · Email · Phone · How you found them (referral, event, tool) · Decision-maker? (Y/N).\u003C/p>\n\u003Cp>\u003Cstrong>Outreach columns:\u003C/strong> Channel (email / call / LinkedIn) · First touch date · Touches sent · Last reply date · Status (new / contacted / replied / meeting booked / dead) · Notes.\u003C/p>\n\u003Cp>\u003Cstrong>The priority formula.\u003C/strong> Add a column \u003Ccode>Priority = Fit score × Trigger (0 or 1) × Recency\u003C/code>. Rank the list by it and work the top every day. A perfect fit with no trigger is a someday account; a fit with a trigger is a this-week account.\u003C/p>\n\u003Ch2 id=\"the-filter-fit-and-a-reason-to-reach-out-now\">The filter: fit AND a reason to reach out now\u003C/h2>\n\u003Cp>The one filter that separates a good list from a time-sink is two-part: \u003Cstrong>does the account fit your ICP, and is there a reason to reach out now?\u003C/strong> Size and industry alone are not fit — a huge conglomerate with no matching division is still irrelevant, and a perfect fit locked into a three-year competitor contract is not a near-term prospect. The accounts worth your time clear both gates, which is exactly what the sort challenge above tests.\u003C/p>\n\u003Ch2 id=\"the-trap-the-list-that-feels-productive\">The trap: the list that feels productive\u003C/h2>\n\u003Cp>Downloading 5,000 accounts feels like progress and produces nothing. A good list is small, ranked, and worked daily. Build it in the shape above, keep the columns honest, and you convert a market into accounts you can actually reach — the whole difference between prospecting and hoping. If a name doesn't clear fit AND trigger, it doesn't earn a \u003Ca href=\"/glossary/touch/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">touch\u003C/a>.\u003C/p>\n\u003Ch2 id=\"start-here\">Start here\u003C/h2>\n\u003Cp>Your list is built. The sharper your filter, the better the list — next, \u003Ca href=\"/academy/sdr/what-is-an-ideal-customer-profile/\">what an ideal customer profile actually is\u003C/a>, and how to define yours so your list only ever contains accounts worth reaching.\u003C/p>\n",[65,68,71,74],{"id":66,"text":67},"the-columns-your-list-needs","The columns your list needs",{"id":69,"text":70},"the-filter-fit-and-a-reason-to-reach-out-now","The filter: fit AND a reason to reach out now",{"id":72,"text":73},"the-trap-the-list-that-feels-productive","The trap: the list that feels productive",{"id":75,"text":76},"start-here","Start here",{"path":78,"title":79,"description":80,"module":13,"order":36,"kind":81,"practiceCall":23,"core":82},"/academy/sdr/what-is-prospecting-in-sales","What Is Prospecting in Sales? Definition + the Process","Prospecting is the work of finding and reaching out to potential buyers before they find you — research, list building, and first contact that fills the top of the pipeline. This page defines prospecting and walks the exact five-step process from market to booked meeting.","order",true,{"path":84,"title":85,"description":86,"module":13,"order":13,"kind":81,"practiceCall":23,"core":82},"/academy/sdr/what-is-an-ideal-customer-profile","What Is an Ideal Customer Profile (ICP)? + One-Page Worksheet","An ICP (ideal customer profile) is the type of company that buys fastest and stays longest — defined by industry, size, revenue, and the problem you solve. This page gives you a one-page worksheet to define yours, plus the fit test that separates a real ICP from a vague description.",{"slug":88,"title":89,"shortTitle":90,"crumb":91,"path":92,"positioning":93,"totalLessons":94,"modules":95},"sdr","Certified Sales Development Representative (CSDR)","SDR/BDR Certification","SDR Certification","/academy/sdr","The free certification for getting your first sales job — no degree, no experience, no upsell.",58,[96,99,102,105,109,112,115,118,121],{"id":36,"name":97,"lessonCount":49,"description":98},"The Role","What an SDR actually does, whether it’s for you, and the sales career path it opens — 6 core lessons.",{"id":14,"name":100,"lessonCount":13,"description":101},"Getting In With No Experience","Land your first sales job with no experience or degree — a 30-day plan — 3 core lessons.",{"id":13,"name":103,"lessonCount":55,"description":104},"Prospecting and Research","Find the right accounts and contacts to reach — 8 lessons.",{"id":43,"name":106,"lessonCount":107,"description":108},"Cold Calling",11,"Make cold calls without freezing up — 11 core lessons.",{"id":46,"name":110,"lessonCount":55,"description":111},"Cold Email and LinkedIn","Write cold emails and LinkedIn messages that get replies — 8 core lessons.",{"id":49,"name":113,"lessonCount":46,"description":114},"Conversations: Discovery and Qualification","Run discovery calls and qualify real buyers — 5 core lessons.",{"id":52,"name":116,"lessonCount":13,"description":117},"The Tool Stack","The tools that run an SDR’s daily workflow — 3 core lessons.",{"id":55,"name":119,"lessonCount":49,"description":120},"Money: Comp, Commission and Quota","SDR salary, OTE, commission and quotas — 6 lessons.",{"id":58,"name":122,"lessonCount":55,"description":123},"Getting Hired","Resume, interview answers, offer negotiation, and the certification assessment — 8 lessons.",1792888519105]