Sales

AI-enriched prospect research and account targeting

Use AI to enrich and score target account/contact lists, identify ICP-relevant signals, gather prospect context (including from spreadsheets and LinkedIn), and turn that research into more relevant, personalized outbound messaging—reducing manual research time while improving precision and reply rates.

Why the human is still essential here

A human SDR still defines the ICP, validates enriched data quality, decides who and how to contact, and crafts the final message; AI accelerates research and drafting but doesn't own targeting judgment or relationships.

How people use this

Waterfall contact + firmographic enrichment

SDRs upload a CSV of target accounts and automatically append verified emails, direct dials, titles, and company firmographics before importing into the sequencer.

Apollo.io Enrich / ZoomInfo / Clearbit

AI ICP keyword tagging and lead prioritization

AI scans LinkedIn bios, websites, and job posts to extract ICP-relevant keywords/signals (e.g., tech stack, role seniority, hiring) and tags/ranks leads for outreach.

Clay / OpenAI (GPT-4)

Add intent and technographic signals to account lists

Enrichment adds buying intent and tech-stack data so reps can prioritize accounts actively researching relevant categories and tailor messaging accordingly.

ZoomInfo Intent / 6sense / Bombora

CSV connection scoring with a targeting rubric

Import a LinkedIn connections CSV and have AI apply a rubric (role, industry, seniority, past interaction) to produce a ranked list with brief scoring rationales.

ChatGPT (Advanced Data Analysis) / Claude

Account and prospect briefing summaries for personalization

AI compiles a quick brief from public sources (company news, role context, tech stack, recent posts) so reps can tailor a relevant opener without deep manual research.

ChatGPT / Perplexity / Clay

Persona-based LinkedIn message angles from profile signals

AI analyzes a prospect's LinkedIn profile and activity to propose 2–3 message angles and follow-up questions that match the buyer's likely priorities and tone.

LinkedIn Sales Navigator / Crystal Knows / Humantic AI

Spreadsheet-based ICP fit scoring with rationale

Upload a list of target accounts from a spreadsheet and have an AI agent enrich signals, evaluate ICP match, explain why each account is (or isn't) a fit, and write the results back into the sheet for prioritization.

OpenAI Codex / Google Sheets

LinkedIn lead identification for target accounts

Use an AI-powered browser/research workflow to scan LinkedIn for ICP-matched leads at the exact target organizations and export a clean lead list for outreach.

Perplexity / LinkedIn Sales Navigator

Event attendee list → enriched prospect sheet

Pull an event's attendee list from a landing page or spreadsheet, then auto-enrich each person with LinkedIn role, company, and location to produce a ready-to-work prospect list.

Phantombuster / LinkedIn Sales Navigator / Google Sheets

Community stories (8)

LinkedIn

People have been using Codex wrong.

People have been using Codex wrong.

Most people use it to write code faster. I use it to increase our sales firepower.


Instead of doing manual prospecting, I drop a spreadsheet of brands into my Codex project and let it analyze the dataset: company signals, category, metrics, sometimes even checking their socials.


Then it tells me something much more useful than “good lead / bad lead”: why this brand might actually be a fit for us.


Once it finds a match, it updates the sheet with the results and can drafts a message specifically for that company. Not a generic template, a note grounded in their business.


The result is a very different workflow. Outreach starts to feel less like blasting emails and more like running analysis.


Sales starts looking a lot like engineering:

Dataset → reasoning → action.


The real shift is this: AI isn’t just helping write the message. It’s helping decide 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝗶𝘀 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗵 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗮𝘁 𝗮𝗹𝗹.


Your agent is your firepower. Use it everywhere you can.

UB
Ugo BalducciFounding Engineer at 14.ai
Mar 6, 2026
X

I’ve been using Perplexity Computer every single day for my job.

I’ve been using Perplexity Computer every single day for my job.

I have it go through my LinkedIn, identify every lead relevant to the tech I’m selling, at the exact organizations I’m targeting.


Then it digs through all publicly available information about those companies. Press releases, documentation, interviews, product announcements, anything that references initiatives related to the technology I’m selling.


After that, I have it craft highly personalized outreach messages to each lead using the research it compiled.


Guys…


Sales Development Representative and Business Development Representative roles are cooked.


ABSOLUTELY COOKED.


I’m sitting here watching AI do hours of prospecting, research, and personalization in minutes.


It genuinely feels like I have a team of multiple sales reps doing all the dirty work for me.


I’m mind blown.


🤯🤯

P
PepeMoonBoyB2B tech sales rep
Mar 5, 2026
LinkedIn

STOP writing cold emails from scratch.

STOP writing cold emails from scratch.

This free Claude prospecting playbook replaces 45 minutes of research per prospect.


Most SDRs are still:


- Googling prospects for 20 minutes before writing one email

- Copy-pasting the same generic opener to 200 people

- Getting 1-2% reply rates and blaming the list


I spent 6 months building Claude workflows that my team of 6 SDRs used to hit 140% of quota. Collectively.


Then I documented every prompt, every workflow, every template.


Here is what is inside The Claude Prospecting Playbook:


- The cold email prompt that writes like a human, not a bot

- ICP research prompt that replaces 45 minutes of Googling

- Subject line generator hitting 45%+ open rates

- 7-step cold email sequence builder, full workflow

- Objection handling script generator

- Account prioritization prompt that ranks by likelihood to reply

- 5 bump email prompts for follow-ups 2 through 5

- The system prompt I use for every prospecting conversation


I tested this against ChatGPT head to head for cold outbound.


Claude won. The data is in the playbook.


Want it?


- Connect with me

- Comment "CLAUDE"

- I will DM you everything.


P.S. Repost and I will send you the exact system prompt my top SDR uses daily.

We must be connected or LinkedIn blocks the message.

AR
Aaron ReevesFounder at Outbound OS
Mar 6, 2026
LinkedIn

"Claude Code just KILLED manual outreach!!!"

"Claude Code just KILLED manual outreach!!!"

No, no it didn't


But did it simplify doing great cold email campaigns?


Yes, yes it did!


I just recorded a full video where I break down how to setup a good cold email campaign from start to finish in < 30 min, using Claude Code.


It includes:


- How to use Claude Code to research your audience

- the Cold Email Copywriting Claude Code skill, to let Claude write cold emails that aren't a simple pitch slap

- the Human writing Claude Code skill, to let Claude write (more) like a human and scream less "ai written"

- how to use the Findymail MCP to generate super accurate lead lists without touching a single CSV


and featuring EmailBison's MCP to create the campaigns send the actual emails


comment "thanks" to help more people see this


the video is directly accessible here: https://lnkd.in/eTKHg6MA


let me know what you guys think!

VW
Valentin WallynFounder @ Findymail
Feb 26, 2026
LinkedIn

A quick and dirty outreach system for founder-led sales.

A quick and dirty outreach system for founder-led sales. Bonus, it won't make you hate yourself:

1. Create a project in Claude or ChatGPT and call it something like “sales and business assistant.” Drop in a detailed explanation of your ICP, strategy docs, transcripts of sales calls. This becomes your operating system for outreach, planning, and prospecting.


2. Request a data export from LinkedIn (settings -> privacy -> data). Takes them about 24 hours to send you a CSV of your connections.


3. Drop it into your AI project alongside your targeting framework and ask it for a list of people you should reach out to; ask it to include a score for each. Half the results will be wrong. Tell the AI why. You will eventually get your first 10 to 20 people to reach out to, and your AI project will get smarter.


4. Start a chat inside your project called “leads” or “prospects.” When you’re ready to message someone, screenshot their LinkedIn profile, drop it in, and ask the AI to draft a message. Refine heavily because the draft will make you want to claw your eyes out. Again, the AI will get smarter over time. Human edit always.


5. On the message itself: don’t do the fake “I saw your post about X and it really resonated with me” thing. That is insufferable. Just be human and make the ask clear.


6. Send 15-30 LinkedIn connection requests a week to grow your audience. Build lists of people in Clay on the free tier and enrich your lists with their LinkedIn profiles. Or just search manually on LinkedIn.


7. Track who you’ve messaged. Google doc with name + the last action you took. Mine is ugly but it keeps me honest, and my exec assistant uploads it to HighLevel.


8. You can have Claude Cowork scan your list and set reminders on your calendar to follow up with people if appropriate. It can even include a drafted follow-up message in the event notes to keep you from procrastinating when it's time to send a nudge.


9. Write at least one LinkedIn post a week, ideally two. This is fuel for everything else. Your content is what warms people up after they accept your connection request.


10. Audit your LinkedIn headline and about section. Your profile + content is how people decide if you’re worth paying attention to, and it’s important to the new algorithm.


11. The only metric that matters when you start is “did you do your actions this week.” Fifteen to twenty-five. You can’t control who says yes to a demo but you can control whether you did the work.


If you get into a good groove, keep the momentum going. It’s tough to slow down and have to rev the whole engine back up again.


What am I missing?

DF
Dan FogartyFounder, Talkbox
Feb 26, 2026
LinkedIn

Please STOP using 8+ AI Sales platforms for your Outbound

Please STOP using 8+ AI Sales platforms for your Outbound

We use 1 AI powered platform to book 117+ calls a month:


This month, we tested every major AI sales Platform - at scale.

We compared UX, pricing, features, data, AI and execution.

Out of 9 tools and 11 categories, the winner is....


Apollo.


Listen, I'm a sales trainer, I'm not here to hate on tools.


Every platform in this comparison is good. They all have loyal users and strong products.


But this experiment wasn't about "good".


It was about one question:


'Can any platform replace my entire GTM stack?'


For context → I've closed 7 figs+ using Apollo . io

I've taught hundreds how to use the platform

I use it daily. My clients use it daily.


So I know exactly what's required to run sales end-to-end.


Here's what I tested across every platform:


→Data

→Buying Intent

→AI research

→Messaging [Email + LinkedIn]

→Sequencing

→Workflows & automation

→Calls & dialling

→ Analytics across the full GTM loop


Not one-off features.

↳End-to-end execution.


Apollo was the only platform that checked every box in one place.


The other platforms does parts of the job well. Some are great at:


-Enrichment

-Sequences

-Analytics

-Calling

-Data


But stitching them together means more:


→Cost

→Tools

→Time lost

→Integrations

→Failure points


This comparison wasn't about replacing one tool.

↳It was about replacing the entire stack.


Sales, Lead Gen, Biz Dev, Messaging, Workflows, Analytics & AI.


For teams that need everything working together, not duct-taped [lol]...


Apollo is the clear winner.


That's not theory, it's lived experience. I spent at least 4-5 hours per platform doing the experiment. I've used all the platforms before, so I wasn't a novice user.


If you're running a lean team, scaling outbound, o r supporting multiple clients, this matters.


1 platform. 1 GTM loop. 1 Source of truth.


No hate, no hype, just what actually works.


To prove my point, I've recorded a 60 min tutorial on how I use the AI platform to consistently find leads and book meetings.


Drop 'GTM' in the comments bellow and I'll DM it to you.


P.S. - Am I wrong? Let me know. I'm curious what platform's y'all are using.

ZD
Zack DerisFounder & CEO
Feb 23, 2026
Reddit

I’ve been using AI to automate my own repetitive work for 2 years, here’s what actually works

For the past 2 years, I’ve been deep into AI tools and automation in day-to-day work. The biggest thing I’ve learned: most people don’t need “AI strategy,” they just need 2–3 boring tasks automated. Examples I’ve automated for myself and clients: finding people who are going to an event and scraping their LinkedIn; auto-drafting follow-up emails after sales calls; making charts from Excel data for bosses; building an agent to critique my work before I send it; sorting inbound leads based on intent. None of this is flashy, but it saves hours every week.

M
MastbubblesAI automation consultant
Feb 23, 2026
LinkedIn

A simple SDR workflow (with AI list enrichment)

LinkedIn Gurus overcomplicate being a SDR by making a 50 step system to set meetings 😵‍💫😵‍💫

1. Make a script (I like being direct in cold calling)

2. Follow the script till you memorized it and your not reading it more..

3. Focus on have Great tone (sound like a human - be relaxed while pitching like your taking to a friend)

4. Pick a dialer that prevents number turning to spam, User interface is good to rip thru dials (more dials with correct software + good pitch = more meetings

5. Pull a Good target list - enrich it with Ai or manually go thru it if the list is small enough (sometimes Ai doesn’t cut it & your eyes can identify better keywords to good icp)

6. FOLLOW UP LIKE CRAZY !!! (Call,text,email,Dm)


Done ✔️

RV
Roberto VegaSDR Manager at Cleverly
Feb 22, 2026