Find the people at an account who buy what you sell
Name the two or three people who’d own the problem you solve, check each name, and skip the CEO unless the company is small.
By Angelo NataleAbout 15 minutes an accountFor every account you add to the list
What it does
Most outreach goes to the CEO because the CEO is easy to find. But the CEO of a 300-person company doesn’t buy your tool. The person who owns the problem does, and they usually have a boss and a teammate who weigh in. Find those people before you write a word.
What you need
- Your top accounts (see the playbook above, or any short list)
- Who signed your last few deals, and who used what you sold
- Clay, Apollo or LinkedIn’s search
How it works
Write down who owns the problem you solve
Not the department. The job title. If you sell sales training, it’s the head of sales. If you sell help for the finance team, it’s the controller or the head of finance. Look at who signed and who used your last five deals.
Search the account for that title
Search by the company’s domain and the titles you wrote down, two or three people per company. Check the search matched the right company: two companies can share a name.
Prompt for Claude or ChatGPT: who buys thisI sell [WHAT YOU SELL, IN ONE LINE] to [WHO YOU SELL TO]. Here is a company I want to reach: [COMPANY NAME, WHAT THEY DO, ABOUT HOW MANY PEOPLE]. Which two or three job titles at this company would own the problem I solve, decide to buy, and use it day to day? Give me the titles to search for, most likely first, and one line on why each. If the company is small enough that the founder decides, say so.
Use the founder only when the company is small
Under about 25 people, the founder or CEO usually buys everything. Above that, write to the person who owns the problem, and keep the founder for later.
Keep full names only
Skip profiles with only a first name and an initial, and anyone who left the company. Note the LinkedIn link for each person, since that’s where the rest of the week happens.
What good looks like
For each account: the person who owns the problem, a second person near them, and the founder if the company is small. Each with a full name, a title, a LinkedIn link and a line on why them.
An example, not a client story. A company that sells training for field sales teams has a home improvement company on its list, with 1,200 people. The CEO is easy to find but won’t buy it. The VP of sales owns new reps learning one pitch, and a sales enablement manager runs the training. Those two get the email and the connect requests.
Mistakes to skip
- Writing to the CEO of a big company because their address was easy to find.
- Trusting the first search result. Check the person works at the company you mean, today.
- Mapping ten people. Two or three is enough to start, and more just gets ignored.
More playbooks
- ClaudeCrunchbaseLinkedIn+1
Build a list of 25 companies your prospect could sell to this month
Find 25 companies that look ready to buy what your prospect sells, each with a dated reason and the right person, as a gift they can use.Angelo NataleAbout 90 minutes a list - ClaudeChatGPTGmail
Write an email that gives value up front
Open with why them, then hand over something useful in the email itself, say why it matters to them, and ask one easy question.Angelo NataleAbout 15 minutes an email, after the work - GmailLinkedInAtAttio+1
Run one account for a week across email and LinkedIn
Six touches over five days to two or three people, each one adding something, and a stop the moment anyone replies.Angelo NataleAbout 10 minutes an account a day