The prospecting workflow step by step
Prospecting without a process is chance: today you look for companies 'your way', tomorrow you write to someone because they 'looked promising'. The result: 500 leads in a spreadsheet and zero replies, because the lists are random, unqualified and outdated. Without a repeatable workflow you can neither measure nor improve results.
The prospecting workflow has 9 steps:
- ICP — you define who the ideal customer is,
- Market — you pick a market/segment,
- Company — you find specific companies,
- Contact — you identify decision makers,
- Research — you collect data about the company and the person,
- Qualification — you assess whether the lead fits,
- Scoring — you assign points,
- Prioritization — you set the contact order,
- Outreach — you reach out. The rule: never move to step N+1 until you have the output of step N. AI speeds up each step individually, but the process has to be defined manually — otherwise AI speeds up the chaos.
- BAD
- Unstructured prospecting without ICP filters and generic outreach to random accounts.
- GOOD
- Instead of opening Google and 'looking for companies': 1) ICP (2 hours — once) → 2) you pick the niche 'marketing agencies of 10-30 people in Warsaw' → 3) AI generates 200 companies + AI builds queries → 4) AI maps roles (Head of Sales, CEO) → 5) AI researches the 50 best → 6) AI assesses ICP fit → 7) AI scores 1-100 → 8) you take 10 leads >80 → 9) you write the first emails. Instead of 500 random leads you have 10 that actually fit.
You are a sales process consultant. Context: I'm building my own prospecting workflow. I sell [PRODUCT] for [SEGMENT]. Task: For the 9-step workflow (ICP → market → company → contact → research → qualification → scoring → prioritization → outreach) list: 1. What is the INPUT of each step (1 sentence) 2. What is the OUTPUT of each step (1 sentence) 3. Which steps can be automated with AI (YES/PARTIALLY/NO) and why Format: a 9-row table + the 3 most important observations.
Variations & alternative scenarios
Diagnostic version: describe how you prospect today (5 sentences), AI maps it to the workflow and points out missing steps.
For lead gen specialists: add a 'leads in the pipeline' step and calculate how many input companies you need to get 10 meetings.
Practical exercise
Draw your current prospecting as a process (even 4-5 steps). Compare it with the 9-step workflow. Write down: which steps you're missing and which you do chaotically. That is your task list for this course.