Most outreach fails before the first email is sent — because the list is wrong. Good lead lists are narrow, current and reachable. Here is the process we use ourselves at JAQYI, and that we built Doott to make fast.
Step 1: Define your ideal customer
Write down who buys from you, as specifically as you can. A useful ideal customer profile answers four questions:
- Industry — for example, real estate developers, D2C brands, hospitals
- Location — country, state and the cities you can actually serve
- Company type or size — startups, SMEs or enterprises
- Decision-maker roles — founder, head of sales, HR manager, procurement
Step 2: Pick the job titles that actually decide
Target the person who owns the problem you solve, plus one level up. Selling recruitment software? Target HR managers and HR heads, not every employee at the company. List the common variations of each title ("Head of Sales", "Sales Director", "VP Sales") so your search does not miss them.
Step 3: Search and filter
In a B2B contact database, combine filters instead of using one broad search: role + city + industry. Start narrow — a list of 300 exactly-right contacts will outperform 30,000 loosely-related ones.
Step 4: Keep only reachable contacts
A contact without an email or phone number is not a lead. Filter to records that have the channel you plan to use. In Doott, the Email and Number tabs do this automatically.
Step 5: Export and clean
- Export to CSV.
- Remove duplicates and contacts you already work with.
- Check a sample by hand — do the titles and companies look right?
- Add a column for personalisation: one line about why you are reaching out to that company.
Step 6: Reach out responsibly
Keep messages short, relevant and specific to the recipient's role. Always identify yourself, give a clear way to opt out, and honour opt-outs immediately. India's Digital Personal Data Protection Act (DPDP) sets rules for how personal data is processed — check how it applies to your outreach and keep records of where your data came from.
Step 7: Measure and refine
Track replies by segment (city, industry, role). Double down on segments that respond, and drop the ones that don't. Your second list will be much better than your first.