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When teams decide it’s time to revisit their prospecting strategy, the focus almost always turns to what should be added or changed. There’s a tendency to assume that prospecting isn’t working because it needs more inputs, more structure, or more activity layered on top.
But often, what tends to hold prospecting back isn’t a lack of effort, but the amount of time being spent on work that feels productive without consistently leading to meaningful conversations or real pipeline movement.
If you want to tighten up prospecting in a way that actually improves outcomes, the fastest place to start is by cutting the work that isn’t earning its keep.
Stop doing deep research on accounts with no real signal
Deep research has quietly become the default starting point for outbound. Reps open LinkedIn, skim company pages, read press releases, and try to piece together thoughtful messages for accounts that look good on paper.
The problem is that this work often happens long before there’s any real indication that the account is actively buying or even thinking about buying. A company can fit your ICP perfectly and still have zero urgency. Without meaningful intent, all that research is essentially guesswork, no matter how thorough it looks.
When you don’t have a clear read on whether someone is actually in market or raising their hand in any real way, deep research turns into speculation. And that speculation is expensive. Even a few extra minutes per account doesn’t sound like much until it’s multiplied across dozens of prospects that never respond or move forward.
Research is most valuable when it adds context to momentum that already exists. When an account is showing clear signs of interest, additional context can sharpen the message and improve the conversation. When that momentum isn’t there, research rarely changes the outcome. A simple gut check helps here: can you explain, in plain language, why this account would care right now? If that answer isn’t obvious, the account probably deserves a lighter touch, not a deeper dive.
Stop over-personalizing without a clear reason for outreach
Personalization has become a stand-in for quality in outbound. If a message references something specific about the buyer, it’s assumed to be thoughtful and effective.
Specific doesn’t always mean relevant.
Buyers don’t respond just because you noticed a career move or referenced a recent post. They respond because the message reflects something they’re actively thinking about. When personalization isn’t grounded in a real problem or priority, it tends to create outreach that feels polite but easy to ignore.
The most effective messages usually prioritize relevance over cleverness. When the reason for reaching out is clear and timely, the message doesn’t need much embellishment. A simple, well-reasoned note that aligns with what the buyer is already working has the capacity to outperform a message that lacks urgency or context.
Stop chasing cold lists longer than they deserve
Every sales team has lists that never quite go away. Old event lists, purchased data, or accounts that looked promising at one point but never actually progressed. Because they’re already sitting in the system and feel familiar, they can sometimes get recycled into outreach long after any real momentum has faded.
The issue isn’t that these accounts are bad. It’s that continuing to prospect them as if they’re actively buying rarely changes the outcome. After a certain point, repeated sales touches stop being helpful and start to feel like background noise, both for the buyer and the rep.
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