Lead list builder: a prompt that researches prospects for you
Building a lead list by hand means hours of clicking through directories and websites. This prompt has your todo.is agent search the web for companies that fit your ideal customer, check each website, and hand you a clean Excel sheet with sources and a reason to reach out.
The prompt
- Build a lead list of [NUMBER] [TYPE OF COMPANY] in [LOCATION]. A good fit is: [YOUR IDEAL CUSTOMER]. Leave out [WHO TO EXCLUDE]. Search the web and business directories, open each company’s website, and only keep the ones that really fit. For each lead give me: company name, website, city, size estimate, what they do in one line, a public contact email or contact page if listed on their site, the name and role of a likely decision maker if it is public, and one specific reason they might need [WHAT YOU SELL]. Put it in an Excel file with one row per company and a source link for each, and email it to me.
What to change
- [NUMBER]: How many leads, e.g. "30". Start with 20 to 50 so you can check the quality.
- [TYPE OF COMPANY]: E.g. "independent coffee roasters", "dental clinics", "Shopify fashion brands".
- [LOCATION]: A city, region or country, e.g. "the Netherlands" or "within 50 km of Austin".
- [YOUR IDEAL CUSTOMER]: Signs of a good fit: size, signals, tools they use, e.g. "5 to 50 staff, sells online, hiring".
- [WHO TO EXCLUDE]: E.g. "chains with more than 10 locations" or "companies already using Shopify Plus".
- [WHAT YOU SELL]: Your product or service, so your agent can write the reason to reach out.
Example result
- Lead list: independent coffee roasters, the Netherlands
- 30 leads kept out of 64 checked. Sample rows:
- 1. Kade Koffie · Utrecht · about 12 staff
- • What they do: specialty roaster with a café and online shop
- • Contact: hallo@kadekoffie.nl (listed on their contact page)
- • Decision maker: Femke de Vries, co-founder (team page)
- • Why reach out: they launched a coffee subscription in August and their shop has no delivery tracking yet
- 2. Roast District · Rotterdam · about 25 staff
- • What they do: roasts for 80+ cafés and sells wholesale
- • Contact: contact form on roastdistrict.nl/contact
- • Decision maker: not public
- • Why reach out: hiring a "logistics coordinator", a sign that order volume is growing
- 3. Bonenbaas · Groningen · about 6 staff
- • What they do: small-batch roaster, sells mainly through its own webshop
- • Contact: info@bonenbaas.nl
- • Decision maker: Joris Bakker, owner (About page)
- • Why reach out: reviews mention slow shipping in December
- Filtered out (34)
- • 14 part of a chain or franchise
- • 11 no online shop
- • 9 closed or website offline
- Columns in the Excel file
- Company · Website · City · Size estimate · What they do · Contact · Decision maker · Reason to reach out · Source link
How to do it with todo.is
- Copy the prompt and describe your ideal customer in the [brackets].
- Paste it on the Today screen in todo.is, or message it to your agent on WhatsApp, Telegram or Slack.
- Your agent searches, checks each website and emails you an Excel file with a source link per row.
- Ask for more ("find 20 more like rows 1 to 5") or a new column, like "add their Instagram".
Tips
- The clearer your "good fit" signals, the better the list. Hiring, new locations and recent launches are strong signals.
- Make it recurring: "every Monday, find 10 new leads that are not already in my list" keeps your pipeline full.
- Follow up with "write a personal first line for each lead" to start your outreach from the same file.
- Spot-check 3 rows before using the list. Websites change, and the source links make checking quick.
FAQ
- Where do the leads come from? Your agent searches the public web, business directories and each company’s own website, and adds a source link to every row so you can check it.
- Does it find personal email addresses? No. It only lists contact details the company publishes, like an info@ address or a contact page, and names that appear on public team pages.
- How many leads can I get at once? Small, careful batches work best, around 20 to 50 per to-do, since your agent opens and checks each website. Ask for more batches as needed.
- Can I import the list into my CRM? Yes. Ask for a CSV as well as the Excel file. Most CRMs, like HubSpot or Pipedrive, can import CSV files.
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