You sell to other businesses: packaging, software, industrial supplies, a professional service. You have sent your proposal to dozens of info@ addresses, contact forms and company Facebook pages. Almost nobody replies, and you cannot tell whether anyone even read it.

Generic inboxes are usually watched by someone whose job is to filter, not to buy. Your message sits among invoices, job applications and spam, and the person who could say yes never sees it. B2B prospecting works when you reach the specific person responsible for the problem you solve, through a channel they use, with a message that makes sense for their role.

Work out who actually decides

For a typical customer company, answer three questions about your offer:

  • Who feels the problem? The production manager dealing with machine breakdowns, the HR head buried in attendance sheets, the merchandiser waiting on samples.
  • Who approves the spending? In many small and medium companies in Bangladesh this is the owner or managing director. In larger ones it may be a department head, finance or a procurement team.
  • Who can block it? IT, accounts, a technical lead, or a manager who is happy with the current supplier.

Write the job titles down. Your first contact is usually the person who feels the problem, at a level senior enough to act. Writing to the chairman of a large group about a small purchase rarely works; writing to a junior officer about a large one does not work either.

Build the company list before the people list

  1. Define your ideal customer: industry, size, location, such as a particular industrial area or district, and signs that they need you, such as hiring for a related role, opening a new unit or starting to export.
  2. List the companies that fit. A well-researched list you can actually work through is worth more than a huge one.
  3. For each company, find the person in the role you identified.

Legitimate places to find names

  • The company's own website: team, about and news pages.
  • LinkedIn, searching by company and job title, and reading what people post.
  • Trade association and chamber member directories, trade fair exhibitor lists and event speaker lists.
  • News interviews and industry articles that quote managers by name, and annual reports of listed companies.
  • Your own network. Ask existing customers, suppliers and friends who they know. A warm introduction is the strongest start you can get.
  • A polite call to reception: "Who looks after packaging purchases, and what is the best way to send them information?" A direct, courteous question is often answered.

Verify and record

Do not guess email patterns and send to every variation; bounced messages damage your sending reputation. Prefer contact details the person has published or the company has given you, and check addresses with a verification tool before emailing. Record each contact in a sheet or simple CRM: company, name, role, where you found them, date, how you verified it, and status. Noting the source lets you tell people honestly how you found them, and the date reminds you to recheck, because people change jobs.

Collect only what you need for business contact. If someone asks not to be contacted again, remove them and respect it.

Where prospecting goes wrong

  • Buying "CEO databases" or scraped lists. They are often outdated, gathered without consent, and they hurt your email reputation; keeping cold email out of spam explains why.
  • Sending the same pitch to five people at one company on the same day.
  • Mass LinkedIn connection requests with a sales pitch attached.
  • Writing "Dear Sir/Madam", which tells the reader you did not look.

In-house work and outside help

A salesperson can research a few companies a day using these steps. Outside help pays off in defining the ideal customer clearly, building a researched list at a larger scale, and setting up tools and a process that keep it clean. AI can summarise a company's website before a call, but every name and role still needs checking by a person. This is the core of my lead generation service.

Start with ten companies

Pick the ten companies you would most like as customers. For each, write the job title of the person who decides, then find one named person in that role through a legitimate source. Ten real names will do more for you than a thousand info@ addresses. If you want help building the list, get in touch.

Related service Lead generation and B2B outreach Targeted prospect lists, verified contact data and outreach that reaches the inbox and turns into sales conversations.