B2B Prospecting Engine

Use when you have an ICP and need to turn it into an actual list of accounts and contacts to put into a sequence. Trigger phrases include "build me a prospect list", "who should we target", "turn this ICP into a list", "find accounts that match", "build a target account list", "how many contacts per account", "tier these accounts", "pull a list for the SDRs", "clean this list before we send", "right-size the list for sending", "multi-thread the buying committee". Workflow: translate ICP criteria into concrete firmographic/technographic/title filters, decide account-first vs contact-first, tier accounts (T1 manual / T2-3 scaled), set contacts-per-account, suppress against CRM, QA, and size to deliverability limits. Do NOT use for filling in or verifying missing data on a list you already have - use [[lead-enrichment]] instead. Do NOT use for prioritizing the list by timing/intent - use [[buying-signal-tracker]] instead. The button-clicking inside a specific tool lives in [[apollo-prospecting]].

Turns a raw or partial prospect list into a send-safe dataset by filling missing fields (work email, direct or mobile phone, title, firmographics, technographics) through a per-field provider waterfall, verifying every email, and stamping freshness. Use when someone says "enrich this list", "find the email for these people", "verify these emails before we send", "what do I do with catch-all domains", "this list is a year old, is it still good", "dedupe and clean this CSV", or "why is my bounce rate spiking". Do NOT use for selecting WHO to target and building the list itself - use prospect-list-builder. Do NOT use for tool-specific credit mechanics and filter syntax - use apollo-prospecting. Pair with cold-email-deliverability for the inbox-protection side of verification.

Use when you need to decide WHO IN YOUR ICP TO HIT NOW based on timing and trigger events rather than static fit - "who should I reach out to this week", "what's a good reason to reach out", "track buying signals", "find trigger events", "champion changed jobs", "they just raised a round", "new VP just started", "they're hiring for X", "they installed a competitor", "intent data spiked", "why now opener", "warm up our outbound", "score and prioritize accounts by signal". Workflow: enumerate the six signal categories (company triggers, people/job-change triggers, hiring reqs, technographics, third-party intent, first-party engagement), map each signal to a "why now" opening line and the play/sequence it should fire, then rank accounts with a fit×signal scoring matrix so you work the hottest first. Do NOT use for defining who fits in the abstract (firmographics, personas) - use [[icp-persona-builder]]; do NOT use for the tool mechanics of pulling/saving signals - use [[apollo-prospecting]].

Use when you need to design the cadence/sequence structure that moves a cold prospect to a booked meeting across multiple channels - the orchestration of touches, not the copy of any one message. Trigger phrases "design an outreach sequence", "build a cold cadence", "how many touches should my sequence have", "multi-channel sequence", "what's a good follow-up cadence", "set up day-by-day steps", "how long should my sequence be", "add LinkedIn and calls to my email sequence", "design a breakup email sequence", "what's the spacing between touches". Workflow chooses channels and mix, sets length and step spacing, defines bump/follow-up logic, matches personalization tier to account tier, wires the "why now" signal hook, varies the message angle across steps, and sets exit/branch criteria. Do NOT use for writing the words of a single email - use [[cold-email-craft]]. Do NOT use for who to put in the sequence - use [[prospect-list-builder]]. Do NOT use for building the sequence inside a tool - use [[apollo-prospecting]].

Sets up and protects cold-outbound sending infrastructure - dedicated lookalike domains, SPF/DKIM/DMARC authentication, 2-4 week mailbox warm-up, 30-50 sends/day per-mailbox caps, and continuous bounce/complaint monitoring, with a runnable DNS audit script. Use when someone says "my emails are going to spam", "set up cold email infrastructure", "warm up a new domain", "configure SPF DKIM DMARC", "how many cold emails can I send per day", or "my domain got blacklisted". Do NOT use for protecting an opted-in marketing or transactional program on your primary domain - use email-deliverability instead; do NOT use for writing the email copy - use cold-email-craft instead; do NOT use for designing the multi-step cadence - use outreach-sequence-designer instead; do NOT use for sizing the list - use prospect-list-builder instead.

Use when you need to turn outbound prospecting into a measurable, backsolvable funnel instead of guesswork - for quota planning, activity targets, funnel diagnosis, and A/B test sizing. Triggers include "how many emails do I need to send", "backsolve my quota", "what's a good reply rate", "how many meetings per 100 contacts", "my outbound isn't converting", "where is my funnel breaking", "is this A/B test significant", "how many contacts to hit pipeline target", "what activity do I need this week", and "what conversion rates should I expect for cold outbound". Workflow: define the canonical funnel, plug in your real (or benchmark) conversion rates, backsolve required weekly activity from a quota, diagnose which stage is broken, and size tests honestly. Do NOT use for writing the actual messages - use [[cold-email-craft]]; Do NOT use for designing the multi-step cadence itself - use [[outreach-sequence-designer]]; Do NOT use for fixing inbox placement - use [[cold-email-deliverability]].

Use when executing your B2B prospecting strategy inside Apollo.io specifically - turning an ICP into stacked Apollo search filters, building and tiering Apollo Lists, finding and verifying emails with credit discipline, tracking buying signals via Apollo filters and saved-search alerts, and running multi-step Apollo Sequences. Trigger on "Apollo", "Apollo.io", "set up Apollo filters", "Apollo saved search", "Apollo list", "Apollo sequence", "find emails in Apollo", "Apollo credits", "export from Apollo to my CRM", "Apollo Chrome extension", "Apollo intent data", "how do I prospect in Apollo". This skill assumes the strategy is already done in the methodology skills and shows how to operationalize it in Apollo. Do NOT use for designing the ICP itself - use [[icp-persona-builder]]. Do NOT use for writing the actual email copy - use [[cold-email-craft]]. Do NOT use for fixing domain authentication / SPF / DKIM / DMARC - use [[cold-email-deliverability]]. Do NOT use for reading funnel metrics conceptually - use [[prospecting-metrics]].

Write short, personalized B2B cold emails and follow-up copy - under 90 words, one ask, personalization in the first line - with good/bad contrast pairs to calibrate. Use when someone asks "write a cold email", "why is nobody replying to my outreach", "draft a follow-up sequence", "make this email shorter", or is starting founder-led outbound. Do NOT use for sending infrastructure, domains, SPF/DKIM/DMARC, warmup, or spam placement - use cold-email-deliverability instead; for multi-channel cadence architecture use outreach-sequence-designer; for building and verifying the list use prospect-list-builder.