5 Ways to Find Better Leads and Automate Prospecting

Better data quality means more money in your pocket.

If you have 1,000 best-fit leads and a 70% data accuracy rate, you'll have 700 emails/dials go through which may result in something like 12 deals closed.

But even a 10% increase in data quality at the top of the funnel has a massive trickle-down effect. 100 more verified leads means more connects, more meetings booked, and more closed-won.

Here are five ways to use Apollo to find better leads, automate prospecting, and reach President's Club status.

What is sales prospecting?

Sales prospecting is the process of identifying potential customers, or prospects, and reaching out to them to see if they're a good fit for your product or service. Think of it as the first step in any sales process. It's not about closing the deal right away; it's about filling your pipeline with high-quality opportunities so your sales team can focus on what it does best: selling.

Why prospecting matters for revenue growth

Effective prospecting is the engine of revenue growth. Without a steady stream of qualified prospects, your sales pipeline dries up, and growth stalls. A strategic approach to prospecting ensures you're not just busy, but productive. It helps you focus your efforts on buyers who are most likely to convert, shortening the sales cycle and increasing your win rates. It's the difference between chasing every possible lead and strategically engaging the right ones.

Use filters to find your target buyers

Apollo has a database of over 265M+ contacts. This provides a huge opportunity to find your buyers, but you need to use filters to hone in on your target audience.

Here are some key filters in Apollo that will help you find the right contacts.

• Job title and industry: These are probably pretty self-explanatory, but you'll want to start with the basics like job title and industry to identify your target buyers.
• Date refreshed in Apollo: Using the date refreshed in the Apollo field, you can filter your search to only display records that have been updated recently. We suggest starting with the past 30 or 60 days. Every month 60M records get updated and 2M records get added to Apollo, so using this filter ensures you're using the most up-to-date information.
• Email status: Another way to ensure you're using the crème de la crème of data is with the email status filter. Using this filter allows you to search for verified leads only. Remember all the math we did at the beginning of this post? Narrowing your search down to verified leads paves the way to more closed deals.
• Years in current role: Individuals often look to make buying decisions 3-4 months into a new role. At that point, they are looking to make an impact and shape their stack. We recommend using this field to identify people who have been at their jobs for a year or less.
• Headcount growth: If an organization grows, they probably have budget and resources. If an organization is shrinking, they're probably not looking to buy shiny new tech. This filter can help you identify if your message will be relevant.

Pro-tip: Save your search as a persona. You can create different personas (Head of Engineering in EMEA, Marketing Ops Managers at SMBs, etc.) so that you can easily access up-to-date prospect lists, without having to enter your filters over and over again. This makes viewing and exporting your persona-based lists a breeze.

Want to get started building your personas in Apollo? Learn how here.

Act on signals like Apollo Buying Intent

We just talked about how you can find high-quality leads based on demographic and firmographic information, now it's time to layer in buying intent. Timing is everything, and Apollo Buying Intent helps you strike while the iron is hot.

Apollo Buying Intent looks across the internet and identifies the topics that companies are searching for.

You can use Apollo buying intent to monitor what topics your target accounts are interested in. For example, if you're in the CRM market, you can easily identify target accounts searching for CRM solutions.

You can view these intent scores directly in our Chrome Extension, and you can set up alerts, so you don't miss a thing.

Apollo provides a list of over 1,600 intent topics, so you'll be sure to find the options that best match your business.

Get new leads delivered straight to your inbox

You're rocking and rolling. You've built a targeted list and layered in buying intent signals.

What's next?

It's time to set up email notifications so that you get alerts any time new leads meet your search criteria.

Rather than logging into Apollo and refreshing your list, you'll know right away when new leads are available so you can prospect more efficiently.

When setting up subscription email alerts, you have a couple of options. You can select how often the email is sent.

You can also choose how your email is formatted, so you get the information in the layout that works best for you.

Get started setting up your email alerts today.

Automate prospecting workflows with Plays

To take your prospecting to the next level, it's time to set up Apollo Plays. Plays are workflows that help you automate your prospecting.

Before you can pass go and start building outbound plays, make sure you're set up for deliverability success. Here's a quick recap:

• Carefully select your domains
• Practice email warming
• Set up authentication (SPF, DKIM, and DMARC)
• Respect the rules of the sender platform
• Consider your email copy

Once that's all set, it's time to get started with Apollo plays.

Here's how:

1. Select your target type (people or companies) and choose a name and description for your play.

2. Select your play type. You can choose to run the play when a specific event occurs or on a set schedule.

3. Add filters or use a saved persona. As a reminder, having a saved persona makes this step much faster.

4. Set an action. For example, you can choose to add anyone who meets your list criteria to a specific sequence.

5. Activate and save!

With plays set up, you'll ensure more of your leads are entering timely and personalized sequences— all without you having to lift a finger.

Get our top sales Plays in our latest Academy course.

Add missing leads to your CRM with Data Health Center

The final piece to the puzzle in finding your best-fit leads?

Identifying who from your target market is missing from your CRM.

Using the Apollo Data Health Center you can easily compare the data in your CRM to the broader market, and identify what percentage of your ideal customers exist in your database.

For example, let's say you built a VP of Sales persona. Using the Apollo data health center, you can see the number of existing contacts who fit that persona, and how many contacts are missing from your CRM.

Once you've identified the gap, you can use Apollo Enrich to find more of your target audience, and close more deals.

Best practices for prospecting success

Having the right tools is only half the battle. To truly succeed, you need to pair technology with strategy. Keep these best practices in mind:

• Always personalize: Generic outreach doesn't work. Use the data you have to tailor your messaging to the prospect's specific role, industry, and pain points.
• Be consistent: Prospecting isn't a one-time task. Build a consistent daily or weekly routine to keep your pipeline full and avoid peaks and valleys.
• Test and measure: Don't assume you know what works. A/B test your email subject lines, messaging, and calls to action. Track your metrics to understand what resonates and double down on it.
• Focus on value: Your outreach should always highlight how you can solve the prospect's problem, not just what your product does.

Start prospecting smarter, not harder

Looking for the right leads doesn't have to be an exhausting, time-consuming search. By combining a strategic approach with powerful automation, you can stop digging through a sea of bad-fit leads and start focusing on conversations that convert. Apollo gives you the data, intent signals, and automation you need to build a predictable pipeline and crush your quota. Ready to see how it works? Get started with Apollo today.

Frequently asked questions about sales prospecting

What are the 5 P's of prospecting?

The 5 P's are a framework for effective prospecting: Purpose (know your 'why'), Preparation (do your research), Personalization (tailor your outreach), Perseverance (follow up consistently), and Practice (continuously refine your approach).

What's an example of a good sales prospect?

A good prospect is someone who fits your ideal customer profile (ICP) and has a problem your product can solve. For example, a VP of Sales at a fast-growing tech company who recently posted about needing to scale their outbound team could be a great prospect for Apollo.

How do I start prospecting if I'm new to sales?

Start by deeply understanding your ideal customer profile. Then, use a tool like Apollo to build a targeted list based on that profile. Focus on a single outreach channel, like email, and craft a simple, personalized message that focuses on a specific pain point.

How do you measure prospecting success?

Key metrics include the number of qualified opportunities added to the pipeline, meeting booking rate, email reply rate, and ultimately, the revenue generated from prospected leads. It's important to track both activity metrics and outcome metrics.

What's the difference between a lead and a prospect?

A lead is any potential customer you have contact information for, but they haven't been qualified yet. A prospect is a lead that has been qualified as a good fit for your product, meaning they match your ICP and have a potential need.