Prospect Research Assistant – Prospect Dossier Generation

1. Overview

The Prospect Research Assistant gathers publicly available information for a given prospect and compiles a concise, professional dossier that can be handed to a Sales Development Representative (SDR). Each dossier provides a snapshot of the company, key decision‑makers, recent news, and relevant links—all in a format ready for outreach.

2. Business Value

• Accelerates Outreach: SDRs receive ready‑to‑use background information, reducing research time from hours to minutes.
• Improves Targeting: Accurate company and contact details improve connection rates.
• Ensures Consistency: All dossiers follow the same structure and tone, reinforcing brand professionalism.

3. Operational Context

• When to run: When a new list of prospective companies has been identified for a sales campaign and the SDR team needs a quick briefing on each.
• Who uses it: Sales Development Representatives (SDRs) and Sales Managers who need to prepare outreach scripts or email sequences.
• Frequency: Typically per campaign or whenever a fresh prospect list is imported.

4. Inputs

4.1 Prospect List

Type: List of prospects (one‑line entry per prospect). Details Provided:

Only one table is allowed per section; the table above enumerates the single‑level fields for the Prospect List.

4.2 Research Scope (optional)

If the user wants a custom set of data points, they may provide a list of desired fields. If omitted, the assistant uses the default field set (see Appendix C – Default Field Set).

4.3 Dossier Template (optional)

A plain‑text template describing the order of sections and style guidelines. If not supplied, the assistant follows the Standard Dossier Template in Appendix C.

5. Outputs

5.1 Prospect Dossiers

Contents: A series of structured dossiers—one per prospect. Each dossier contains the following sections in the order shown below.

Formatting Rules

• Tone of voice: Professional, concise, and neutral.
• Use bullet points for lists (e.g., key‑makers, news).
• No more than 200 words total per dossier (excluding source URLs).
• All URLs should be fully qualified (e.g., “https://”).

6. Detailed Plan & Execution Steps

1. Validate Input List

   • Confirm each entry has a Company Name. Flag any entry missing the name for manual review.
   • Verify the Website URL is a valid web address (starts with “http”).

2. Prepare Research Checklist (using default field set unless overridden)

   • Company Overview (website “About” page).
   • Industry classification (e.g., from LinkedIn or business directory).
   • Headquarters location (website footer or “Contact” page).
   • Employee count & revenue (public filings, business directories).
   • Key decision‑makers (LinkedIn company page, employee profiles).
   • Social media URLs (LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook).
   • Recent news (Google News search or company press page).

3. For Each Prospect

   a. Search the Company Website for the “About”, “Team”, or “Leadership” pages. Extract the overview, industry, location, and employee count. b. Search LinkedIn for the company profile and list up to three senior contacts. Record their names, titles, LinkedIn URLs, and any publicly listed email address. c. Search for Social Media by locating the LinkedIn page and any other social profiles on the website. Copy the URLs. d. Gather Recent News via a web search restricted to the past 90 days. Capture up to three headlines with a one‑sentence summary each. e. Collect Source URLs for every fact extracted (e.g., “https://www.acme.com/about”, “https://www.linkedin.com/company/acme”).

4. Populate the Dossier using the Standard Dossier Template (Appendix C).

   • Insert each field under its heading.
   • If a data point cannot be located, insert “Not publicly available” and note “No source available”.

5. Quality Check (see Section 7) – if any required field is missing, mark the dossier with a “Data Gap” tag and flag for manual review.

6. Compile All Dossiers into a single list in the order of the input list.

7. Finalize Output

   • Ensure formatting rules are adhered to.
   • Attach a Research Date (today’s date).

7. Validation & Quality Checks

• Name & URL Presence: Every dossier must have a non‑empty Company Name. If missing, abort the dossier and add it to a “Missing Information” list.
• Source Attribution: Every data point must have a source URL. If a source is missing, flag the item.
• Data Accuracy: Cross‑check employee counts and revenue across two sources; if they differ, choose the most recent source and note the discrepancy.
• Length Check: Ensure total characters (excluding source URLs) ≤ 200 words.
• Duplicate Check: If two entries share the same Company Name and Website, merge them and note “Merged duplicate”.

8. Special Rules / Edge Cases

• Missing Website: If no URL is provided, search using the company name plus “official website”. If no result, record “Website not found – manual search needed”.
• Multiple Decision‑Makers: List up to three; if more than three appear, choose the highest‑ranking (e.g., CEO, Founder, VP).
• No Public Contact: If no email is publicly visible, leave the email field blank but keep the LinkedIn URL.
• Conflicting Information: Record the source with the most recent timestamp and note “Conflicting data – source X selected”.
• Research Failure: If no data can be found for any field after a thorough search, set the entire dossier status to “Failed – Manual Review Required”.

9. Example

Input (Prospect List)

• Company Name: Acme Manufacturing

  • Website URL: https://www.acme.com

• Company Name: BrightTech Solutions

  • Website URL: https://www.brighttech.io

Output (Prospect Dossiers)

1. Acme Manufacturing

• Industry: Manufacturing – Industrial Equipment
• Location: Chicago, Illinois, USA
• Company Overview: Acme Manufacturing designs and builds custom industrial machinery for the automotive sector. It focuses on high‑precision CNC machines.
• Employees / Revenue: ~350 employees; $120 M revenue (2023).
• Key Decision‑Makers:
  1. John Smith – President & CEO – LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/johnsmith — Email: john.smith@acme.com
  2. Maria Garcia – VP of Sales – LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/mgarcia — Email: not publicly available
• Social Media:
  • LinkedIn Company: https://www.linkedin.com/company/acme-manufacturing
  • Twitter: https://twitter.com/AcmeMachinery
• Recent News Highlights:
  • “Acme wins $5 M contract to supply robotic arms for Tesla’s Gigafactory” (June 2025).
  • “Acme launches AI‑driven predictive maintenance system” (April 2025).
• Source URLs:
  • https://www.acme.com/about
  • https://www.linkedin.com/company/acme-manufacturing
  • https://news.google.com/.../acme-tesla-contract
• Research Date: 2025‑08‑11

2. BrightTech Solutions

• Industry: Software – Cloud‑Based SaaS Solutions
• Location: Austin, Texas, USA
• Company Overview: BrightTech provides a cloud‑based project‑management platform for small‑to‑medium‑size businesses, focusing on workflow automation and analytics.
• Employees / Revenue: 120 employees; $15 M revenue (2023).
• Key Decision‑Makers:
  1. Emily Liu – Co‑Founder & CEO – LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/eliu — Email: eliu@brighttech.io
  2. Carlos Perez – Chief Technology Officer – LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/cperez — Email: not publicly available
• Social Media:
  • LinkedIn Company: https://www.linkedin.com/company/brighttech‑solutions
  • Twitter: https://twitter.com/brighttech_saas
• Recent News Highlights:
  • “BrightTech raises $12 M Series A, led by Sequoia Capital” (May 2025).
  • “New integration with Slack announced” (July 2025).
• Source URLs:
  • https://brighttech.io/about
  • https://www.linkedin.com/company/brighttech‑solutions
  • https://news.google.com/.../brighttech‑series‑a
• Research Date: 2025‑08‑11

Appendix A – FAQ

Q1: What if the company’s website is in a language I don’t read? A: Mark the site as “Non‑English site – data limited” and list the source URL. If a translated version exists (e.g., an English landing page), use that.

Q2: What if a key‑maker’s email is behind a contact‑form? A: Record “Email not publicly available” and include the contact‑form URL as a source.

Q3: How many key decision‑makers are needed? A: Up to three. If fewer are found, list all available.

Q4: The company has multiple headquarters. Which should I list? A: Choose the “global” or “head‑office” location listed first on the website; if ambiguous, note both locations.

Q5: The revenue figure is a range (e.g., $10–15 M). A: Record the range as presented, and cite the source.

Q6: What if the same news article appears multiple times in searches? A: Include the article once; duplicate sources can be omitted.

Q7: How should I handle a prospect that is a non‑profit organization? A: Use the same format. For “Revenue” you may use “Annual Budget” if disclosed.

Q8: The company’s LinkedIn page is private. A: Mark “LinkedIn profile private” and record the company website as the source.

Q9: What if there are contradictory employee figures (e.g., 300 vs. 350)? A: Use the most recent figure and add a note: “Employee count varies: 300 (source A) vs. 350 (source B).”

Q10: How to handle duplicate entries in the input list? A: Merge duplicate entries, retain the most complete data, and flag the duplicate for the user.

Appendix B – Glossary

• Prospect: A potential customer or organization that a sales team intends to engage.
• Dossier: A concise, structured document containing key information about a prospect.
• SDR (Sales Development Rep): A sales professional focused on inbound/outbound lead qualification.
• Key Decision‑Maker (KDM): Senior person(s) who can influence or approve a purchase.
• Public Data: Any information freely accessible on the internet without login or paid subscription.
• LinkedIn: Professional networking platform used to locate employee profiles.
• Revenue: Annual total sales or income, as publicly reported.
• Employees: Approximate count of staff, based on company disclosures.
• Source URL: Web address where the information was found (e.g., a company’s “About” page).

Appendix C – Reference Materials

C‑1. Default Field Set (used if no custom list supplied)

C‑2. Standard Dossier Template

[Company Name]
- **Industry:** …
- **Location:** …
- **Company Overview:** …
- **Employees / Revenue:** …
- **Key Decision‑Makers:**
  1. [Name] – [Title] – LinkedIn: [URL] — Email: [email/Not publicly available]
  2. ...
- **Social Media:**
  - LinkedIn: [URL]
  - Twitter: [URL]
- **Recent News Highlights:**
  - “Headline” (Month Year) – brief summary.
  - ...
- **Source URLs:**
  - [URL1]
  - [URL2]
- **Research Date:** YYYY‑MM‑DD
- **Notes / Gaps:** [any missing data]

C‑3. Style Guide

• Tone: Professional, factual, neutral.
• Sentence Case: Use standard sentence case for headings and bullet points.
• Numbers: Write numbers as digits (e.g., “3 years”, “$15 M”).
• Abbreviations: Spell out the first instance (e.g., “Sales Development Representative (SDR)”).
• Bullets: Use hyphens for bullet points; indent sub‑bullets with two spaces.
• Links: Include full URL; do not shorten.

C‑4. Prohibited Items

• Do not include personal data that is not publicly available (e.g., personal phone numbers, private email addresses not listed publicly, or any data protected by GDPR/CCPA).
• Do not use proprietary databases or subscription‑only services.

C‑5. Common Sources

• Company website (about, team, press, investor relations).
• LinkedIn (company page, employee profiles).
• Google News (latest articles, press releases).
• Business directories (e.g., Crunchbase, Owler) – only if publicly accessible without login.

Additional Tips

• When in doubt, record the source even if the data is incomplete—this helps the SDR know where to verify later.
• Keep each dossier self‑contained: a reviewer should not need to look up anything beyond the listed source URLs.
• For large lists (50+ prospects), consider breaking the run into batches of 10 to avoid overwhelming the research step.
• Use a consistent date format (YYYY‑MM‑DD) throughout all dossiers.

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