Write a sourcing spec anyone can build a list from

What it does

The list is where most outbound goes wrong. You know who fits, but the person or tool building the list doesn’t, so you get every “VP Sales” at every company with “software” in its description. A sourcing spec removes the guessing: who’s in, who’s out, who to contact at each company, and how to check the list before anything is sent.

What you need

• Your aim and your buyer page (see pick your best segment and write your buyer on one page)
• Your signal list, if you have one (see rank your buying signals)
• A doc

How it works

1. 1

   Write who’s in

   The segment, the location, the size line (a revenue band where you can filter on it, headcount where you can’t), how they buy, and any must-haves, like a tool they already use or a business model.

2. 2

   Name the people at each company

   The role that decides, the one who champions it and the one who can block it. Then how many contacts per company: one where the founder decides, two or three where a team buys.

3. 3

   Write who’s out

   Current customers, open deals, anyone who opted out, competitors and partners. Then the lookalikes that pollute lists: agencies, consultancies, IT services firms and resellers that list your buyers’ industry because they serve it. Most of a messy list is companies that should have been left out.

4. 4

   Say where it comes from, and what gets tagged

   The database, the saved search, the filters exactly as set, and which signals get tagged on each company.

5. 5

   Write the check

   Before a list is used, someone checks 20 companies by hand against the spec. If fewer than 8 in 10 fit, fix the filters and pull again. Don’t clean a bad list by hand: the next pull will be just as bad.

   The spec: copy into a doc and fill it in

   SOURCING SPEC: [SEGMENT NAME]
   Last updated: [DATE]
   
   WHO'S IN
   Industry:
   Size: [REVENUE BAND] or [HEADCOUNT BAND]
   Location:
   How they buy: [THROUGH A SALES CALL OR A DEMO]
   Must have: [A TOOL, A MODEL, A STAGE]
   
   WHO TO CONTACT
   Decides:
   Champions it:
   Can block it:
   Contacts per company: [1, 2 OR 3]
   
   WHO'S OUT
   Current customers and open deals: [WHERE THAT LIST LIVES]
   Opted out: [WHERE THE BLOCKLIST LIVES]
   Competitors and partners:
   Lookalikes to drop: [E.G. AGENCIES, CONSULTANCIES, IT SERVICES, RESELLERS]
   
   WHERE IT COMES FROM
   Database and saved search:
   Filters, exactly as set:
   Signals to tag:
   
   THE CHECK
   Check 20 companies by hand. Fewer than 8 in 10 fit: fix the filters and pull again.

What good looks like

Someone who has never spoken to you could build the list from the spec alone, and you’d keep at least 8 in 10 of what they found.

Mistakes to skip

• Titles only. A “Head of Operations” at a five-person agency and at a 150-person carrier are different buyers.
• No list of who’s out. That’s where most of a messy list comes from.
• Cleaning a bad list by hand instead of fixing the filters.
• Keeping the spec in your head. If it isn’t written down, nobody else can build the list.