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An effective prospecting workflow sets you up for sales success. If you can identify prospects that are a perfect match for your business and have a repeatable process for finding out their contact information, you can move quickly and have more conversations with interested sales leads.
In this article, we’ll show you some of the best prospecting tools that you can start using to identify qualified cold prospects and source verified contact information for them.
Most have free trials, so if you’re unsure if it’s a good fit for your prospecting needs or not, there’s not much risk.
Ready to see the tools?
Let’s dive in.
What are Sales Prospecting Tools?
Sales prospecting tools help you find and qualify prospects that are a good fit for you or your sales team to reach out to.
Depending on the tool, the benefits they offer will differ.
Some will help you simply identify prospects, others will help you source their contact details, and others will do a combination. Regardless, they’re all designed to help give you an advantage over the competition in your sales process.
The Type of Prospecting Tools We’ll Look At
Prospecting is a term that’s used interchangeably. Some people refer to prospecting as the act of identifying a cold prospect — someone who would be a great fit as a customer or client for your business.
In other cases, prospecting can refer to the whole process, from identifying a potential client to reaching out and having a conversation.
In this guide, we’ll look at a mixture of both. First, tools to help you identify prospects and source contact details. Then, we’ll show you a selection of prospecting tools to help you through the entire sales process.
Prospect Databases and Sourcing Tools
1. Cognism
A powerful web application that speeds up sales prospecting by connecting salespeople to the correct contacts faster.
Cognism is a B2B data provider that’s growing in popularity. It aids sales prospecting by enabling salespeople to discover their ideal-fit accounts and build accurate lead lists.
It provides technographic, firmographic and intent data which signals when a prospect is searching for a similar solution to yours. This gives salespeople a competitive edge, as they can contact decision-makers before their rivals.
What sets Cognism apart is Diamond Data®, its exclusive dataset. With this feature, the Cognism team manually calls each number in its database to confirm it’s correct. This is invaluable for sales prospecting, as it ensures that reps never hit a dead end and can always reach the people they need to talk to.
Cognism is also one of the world’s leading GDPR-compliant sales prospecting tools. It maintains a fully-notified database and checks its phone numbers against the UK telephone preference service TPS/CTPS and various Do-Not-Call lists in Europe.
In terms of coverage, Cognism is the provider of choice for teams prospecting into EMEA. It also boasts strong mobile phone coverage in the US and APAC regions.
Pricing: Packages are customised based on customers’ desired workflows. Every package includes unrestricted access to Cognism’s data.
Features:
98% mobile phone number accuracy
Unrestricted access to person and company-level data
Easy platform setup and integrations with CRM/sales engagement tools
2. UpLead
B2B contact database to quickly build prospect lists and source contact information
Contact databases like Uplead are a powerful way to build prospect lists without needing to spend time browsing directories and sourcing contact details independently.
You can create prospect lists based on 50+ filters, including firmographics, demographics, and technographics — which means no matter how niche your ideal customer type is, you’ll be able to find them.
Uplead is relatively cost-effective compared to some of the upmarket solutions, so it’s an excellent tool to start with if you want to get started quickly and without going through a lengthy buying process.
The platform also gives you contact details for prospects, including verified business emails and phone numbers, which is perfect if you want to reach out to your prospects quickly.
The main downside to using a contact database like this is that the information can be updated. People change jobs, and companies evolve, so always verify your emails before using them in any cold email campaign.
Pricing: $99 per month
Features:
Access to a contact database with millions of professional contacts
See company news that you can then mention in your cold outreach templates
Create and segment prospects into usable prospect lists
3. ZoomInfo
Identify prospects who are actively trying to solve a problem you can solve
ZoomInfo is a similar platform to Uplead, but a lot more expensive. However, the price tag is there for a reason.
They offer intent data, which tells you whether or not a prospect is currently in the market, searching for a product or service like yours.
Access to accurate intent data is a huge competitive advantage because it means you can reach out to prospects when they’re in the market. When it comes to cold outreach, timing can be the difference between a reply and being ignored.
The main downside to ZoomInfo is the price tag. Their pricing is custom, based on your needs, but expect to pay a significant amount. However, if you run an agency and your contracts can cover the cost of it if you make a few sales, then it’s going to be worth it.
Pricing: Custom, but expect a minimum of a five-figure investment per year
Features:
Access to intent data to find in-market buyers
Expensive but powerful
GDPR-compliant data
4. BuiltWith
Find prospects based on the technology used on their website and product
BuiltWith is a technographic prospecting tool. It scans company websites and categorizes them into groups based on software visible on their website.
For example, if you provide development services to real estate agents in a certain town and they need to be using WordPress, BuiltWith can show you those companies.
Naturally, there’s room for error as BuiltWith may have scanned the website and the company made changes since then, so always manually verify if possible.
BuiltWith can track over 55,000 different types of technology, so no matter how niche your ideal prospect is, there’s a strong chance you can find them based on their web technologies.
BuiltWith can provide basic contact details, but you’ll usually need to verify the contact details before using them in any outreach campaigns.
Pricing: Starts at $295 per month
Features:
Find prospects based on the technologies they use
CRM integration to add technology information to your prospect records
See which companies are switching from one tool to another
5. Mattermark
Get accurate data on fast-growing startups and companies and track them directly in your own spreadsheets
Mattermark is a database of over 4 million companies that’s designed to help you find qualified prospects, quickly.
You can narrow down your search using 80+ filters, and even search for companies by ZIP code, which is perfect if you’re targeting businesses in a specific geographic area.
If you’re comfortable working with APIs, you can use Mattermark’s to build custom models and scoring algorithms based on your unique customer type, and it integrates with Google Sheets so you can create a prospect tracker that automatically updates when something changes in the account you’re looking at.
Pricing: Starts at $49 per month
Features:
Create prospect lists based on key data points you care about
Track company news, personnel changes, and relevant updates
Integrates with Google Sheets and Excel
Use the API to build custom workflows
6. Skrapp
Email finder that works on LinkedIn and prospect company websites
Skrapp is an email-finding tool that you can use as an extension, or in their web app. As you browse prospect websites or LinkedIn profiles you can use the Skrapp extension to overlay verified contact details onto the prospect profile.
If you have a prospect list containing names and company URLs, Skrapp can also find emails in bulk.
The tool also has an integrated email verification system and lets you know whether or not an email is likely to be legitimate or if it’s likely to bounce.
Pricing: Starts at $49 per month
Features:
Email finder extension to source emails on LinkedIn or company websites
Built-in email verification system
Easily export prospects to spreadsheets
Prospecting Directories to Identify Good-Fit Prospects
1. AngelList
Identify startups that are growing fast and hiring, and see key decision-makers.
If you sell a service to startups, AngelList is the place to be. Startups will generally list themselves on AngelList, and also use it to post roles they’re hiring for.
If you see a well-funded company hiring for roles that you know your agency can help with, you can reach out to see if there’s potential to work together.
You can add filters to your searches, such as company size, investment stage, location, and any keywords you want to include.
Pricing: Free to browse
Features:
Find startups, track funding, and see companies hiring
Filter by company size and location
Free to use and browse companies
2. Capterra
Database of software companies, categorized into the niches they serve
If your company — whether it’s an agency, software company, or consulting business — has a clearly defined buyer persona and you work exclusively with software companies, then Capterra is a great place to start your prospecting.
There are thousands of companies listed on there, and listings usually include all of the key details you need to know to understand if a company is a good fit to reach out to.
If you spend a few minutes reading a company's reviews, you’ll also quickly get a feel for their customers’ pain points and what they like about the company, which can be a good icebreaker for your cold emails. People at the company can reply to reviews, so it can be an effective way to find out which decision-makers you can reach out to.
You can also filter companies by location, which is helpful if you only target companies that operate in a certain country or region.
Pricing: Free
Features:
Find software companies by category
Read reviews from their customers to find icebreakers and learn more about your prospects
3. Clutch
Directory of IT, marketing, and business services companies and agencies
If you sell to agencies, Clutch is going to help you quickly build a prospect list you can consider reaching out to.
For example, if you run a lead generation business helping app development agencies get more clients, you can use Clutch to quickly build a list of qualified agencies you can reach out to.
Agencies can add details to their profile such as their average contract value, so you can pre-determine whether they’ll be able to afford your services.
Pricing: Free to browse
Features:
Find agencies you can sell to all over the world
See average contract value, read reviews, and where the agencies are based
Prospecting Tools for LinkedIn
1. LinkedIn Sales Navigator
Still the best way to identify prospects working at companies you want to reach out to.
LinkedIn Sales Navigator levels up your LinkedIn account and gives you access to more advanced search functionality, the ability to create lead lists, and adds a CRM integration so LinkedIn can be well integrated into your sales process.
LinkedIn is still the best place to identify people currently working at companies and to see up-to-date employment histories for people.
The main downside is that it’s difficult to automate. There are LinkedIn automation tools that exist to help you speed up your workflow, but they introduce the risk of your account being banned. However, even without those, Sales Navigator is going to be far more valuable than a regular LinkedIn account for your prospecting efforts.
Pricing: Starts at $79.99 per month
Features:
Get more advanced search filters than the free version of LinkedIn
Create custom prospects lists and saved searches
Send InMails to key prospects
2. Wiza
Create email lists from LinkedIn searches and enrich prospect profiles with key data points
Wiza is an email finder made for LinkedIn. You can run a search on LinkedIn, then, get Wiza to source emails for those prospects. It will cross-reference the prospect names and company names with an email database, and if there’s a match, show you the verified email for them.
There’s also an enrichment tool which means they’ll add details like other social media profiles, direct dials, and more to your prospect profile.
Once your prospect list is ready, you can send it to your CRM, or export it as a formatted spreadsheet to use in any tool you want.
Wiza is an excellent tool to use hand-in-hand with Sales Navigator. You can run highly specific searches, see contact data, and export them to verify again, then use in an outreach tool like QuickMail.
Pricing: Starts at $30 per month
Features:
Find accurate email addresses from LinkedIn searches
Data enrichment to add more details to prospect profiles
Integration with your CRM and any other tools you need
5 Bonus Tools to Complete Your Prospecting Stack
Prospecting is one thing, but building a workflow that enables you to run a smooth sales process is another.
Here are some extra tools to add to your prospecting software stack that will make your prospecting more effective.
1. Neverbounce: Email verification software that will validate if your emails are valid or not. It’s important to run your prospect contact email addresses through a verification tool, as bounces will hurt your deliverability rates. BigPicture is another good option for enriching and verifying if your prospect information is accurate.
2. Salesflare: A CRM that’s easy-to-use and flexible. An organized CRM is vital, as once you start sending your outreach campaigns you need a structured way to organize your prospects by pipeline stage. Salesflare has a Zapier integration so you can link it with nearly any sales tool you need to.
3. Calendly: When a prospect is ready to book a meeting, Calendly makes it simple. Send them your link and they’ll be able to book a time on your calendar with ease. You can also embed it into your landing pages, which is useful if you need to generate inbound leads. SavvyCal is another good option.
4. Google Sheets: A spreadsheet will always be a key asset when prospecting. You can organize prospects, use pivot tables, and format your prospect list to fit any structure you need. When your prospect list is ready, you can upload your list into a cold email tool like QuickMail, and even use it as a lightweight CRM. Google Sheets works with Zapier so you can plug every sales tool you own into it.
5. Zapier: Link your tools together and automate almost any task with Zapier. For example, you can get notified in Slack whenever a prospect you added to QuickMail replies, or automatically create CRM records if someone replies to your outreach emails.
Start Conversations with Your Prospects Using QuickMail
When your initial prospecting is done and you have a qualified list of cold prospects, it’s time to start reaching out and having conversations with them.
Cold email is a direct route to your prospects’ inbox, and it’s extremely effective for getting in touch with hard-to-reach decision-makers.
QuickMail is a cold email platform that lets you send personalized email campaigns, automatically follow-up, and track your success.
All you need to do is:
Write your cold email campaign, complete with follow-ups
Add the prospects you want to contact to your campaigns
Start your campaigns, and be ready for when the replies come in
Our platform natively integrates with deliverability tools, like MailFlow to make sure your cold emails always land in your prospects’ inboxes.
QuickMail also has a Zapier integration so you can connect it with any other prospect tool you need to.
When you’re ready to start having conversations with your prospects, start your free trial of QuickMail here.
