Part III · The data · Chapter 7
Building the list
Databases, LinkedIn searches and scraping: what each is good for, and the quality bar a list must clear.
11 min read
Every outbound system starts with a list of companies and people. The quality of that list caps everything after it: the best copy and the best timing can't fix a list of the wrong companies or dead email addresses. This chapter covers where lists come from, and the quality bar a list must clear before anyone spends money enriching it.
What you'll take away
- 01The three main ways to source companies and people, and what each is good at.
- 02The trade-off between coverage and accuracy, and how combining sources helps.
- 03How to search precisely, including boolean searches.
- 04A written quality bar every list must meet.
Three ways to find companies
| Source | Good for | Weak at |
|---|---|---|
| Contact and company databases | Fast, filterable, includes contact details | Out-of-date records; niche or small companies; disagreements between providers |
| Professional networks such as LinkedIn | Current job titles and very precise people searches | Exporting at scale; terms of service limit automation |
| Scraping and public records | Niche markets no database covers well: directories, registries, member lists, review sites | Needs cleaning and matching; check each site's terms |
Most good lists combine at least two. A database gives breadth, a professional network checks titles are current, and a niche source finds the companies the big databases miss.
Coverage versus accuracy
Large databases cover a lot but contain stale records: people who left, companies that shrank, emails that bounce. Hand research is accurate but doesn't scale. The practical answer is layering: start broad, then narrow and verify, spending more effort on the accounts that matter most.
Searching precisely
Job titles are messy: "Head of People", "HR Director" and "VP Talent" can all be the same buyer. Boolean searches, supported by most people-search tools, let you capture the variants and exclude the noise.
("head of people" OR "HR director" OR "people director" OR "VP people" OR "chief people officer")
NOT (assistant OR intern OR recruiter OR coordinator)- Start from the titles in your won deals, not the titles you imagine.
- Exclude junior and adjacent roles explicitly.
- Check a sample of results by hand. If more than a few are wrong, tighten the search.
- Save searches with a name and date so lists can be rebuilt and compared.
A quality bar for every list
Write down, once, the standard a list must meet before enrichment or sending. For example:
| Check | Example bar |
|---|---|
| Fits the ICP | Every account passes the hard filters; anti-ICP removed |
| No duplicates | One row per company domain; one row per person |
| Not already engaged | Existing customers, open deals and recently contacted people removed |
| Current | Company still trading; person still in the role (checked in the last 90 days) |
| Contactable | Email verified as deliverable, or marked as needing another source |
| Traceable | Each row records where it came from and when |
A list that hasn't met the bar isn't a list yet; it's raw material.
Treat the list as a product
Good lists are rebuilt, not reused forever. Keep the search definitions, sources and filters in one place so you can refresh the list monthly and see what changed. Record per source how many records passed the quality bar. Over time that tells you which sources are worth paying for.
Try it
Plan a list
You need a list of independent veterinary practices in the UK with at least three vets, and the practice owner or practice manager at each. A large database returns 2,300 practices, many of them belonging to big chains.
Describe your sources, filters, quality bar and how you'd find the right person.
Write your answer down first, then reveal the worked answerWorked answer
Sources: the database for breadth; the professional regulator's public register of practices for completeness; practice websites to check independence and vet count.
Filters: remove practices owned by the large groups, which publish their sites, and keep practices with at least three vets listed on their website or register entry.
Quality bar: one row per practice website; trading status checked; existing customers removed; a verified email or a direct phone number.
Person: search for "practice owner" OR "practice manager" OR "clinical director" at each practice; where nobody appears, the website's team page often names them. A strong answer removes the chain-owned practices first, because they buy centrally.