Research methodology
Evidence first, inference labelled, uncertainty allowed.
The purpose of prospect research is not to sound certain. It is to collect enough reliable context to make a better decision before outreach.
1. Start with the decision
Define what the research must help decide: whether the company is relevant, whether there is a plausible reason to contact it, who is likely to own that problem and whether the evidence is strong enough to spend sales time.
2. Prefer direct observations
A company website, public filing, job post, official announcement or public review can provide observable facts. Those facts may support a hypothesis, but they do not automatically prove budget, urgency, internal intent or willingness to buy.
3. Record source and freshness
Important findings should retain enough source information to be checked later. Time-sensitive findings should also record when they were observed or last reviewed.
4. Separate observed from inferred
“The company is hiring three support roles” can be an observation. “The company has a customer-service automation problem” is an inference. Both can be useful, but they should not be presented as the same kind of evidence.
5. Allow “not found”
A research process becomes unreliable when every field must be filled. If a decision-maker, business problem or contact route cannot be supported, the honest output is “not found” or “needs review,” not a confident guess.
6. Review consequential conclusions
Before a prospect is used for customer-facing outreach, review the strongest reason to contact it, the evidence behind that reason and the person or role selected for the first conversation.
7. Learn from the field
Research improves when outreach outcomes feed back into the process. If the problem was wrong, the person was wrong or the evidence was stale, record that outcome and adjust the research criteria.