Client onboarding questions for list building
The questions to ask a new client so you can build the right list first time, with the filter each answer maps to.
Use this in the first week of a new client. Good answers turn straight into filters, so you can run a search the same day.
How the answers become filters
| Ask | ContactYard filter |
|---|---|
| Who buys? What job titles? | Job Title |
| Which job titles should we avoid? | Exclude job titles |
| How big are your best customers? | Employee Headcount, Revenue |
| Where do you sell? | Company Location, Contact Location |
| What kinds of company buy? | Industry, Services |
| What words do they use about themselves? | Keywords |
| Who should we never contact? | Remove after export, using their websites |
| Which companies are your competitors? | Remove after export, using their websites |
Copy the questionnaire
1. Who is your ideal customer? Describe one real example. 2. What job title buys from you? What other titles are involved? 3. What titles should we never contact? 4. How many employees do your best customers have? 5. Which countries or cities can you sell to? 6. Which industries buy from you most often? 7. What words would a good-fit company use to describe itself? 8. Which companies are competitors? (websites please) 9. Which companies are current customers? (websites please) 10. Is there anyone we must not contact? (list or file) 11. What is your best customer story, in two sentences? 12. How quickly can you reply to a lead?
A filled-in example
Fictional client: a field-service scheduling tool
- Buyer
- Head of Operations or Service Director
- Avoid
- Intern, Assistant, Technician
- Company size
- 21 to 250 employees
- Location
- United States and Canada
- Industry
- Construction and building services
- Keywords
- HVAC, plumbing, electrical contractor
- Do not contact
- Three current customers, listed by website
Tip: Ask for one real customer as an example. People answer “who's your ideal customer?” vaguely, but a named customer gives you a company to compare the search results against.
What to do next
Take the answers into ContactYard and build the first prospect list.
Keep reading
How to check a client's market size before you sign them
Count how many people a client can actually reach, for free, and work out how long that list will last.
Which clients outbound works for: a fit checklist for agencies
Eight yes-or-no questions to decide whether a prospective client should get a cold email campaign, or a polite no.
How to build a prospect list that gets replies
Six steps to go from a rough idea of your buyer to a short list of people worth emailing.