How to Source High-Quality Leads

(Step-by-Step)

Hey and welcome to another edition of Founder-Led Outbound.

Last week, we saw how to structure your go-to-market strategy and know exactly who to target, and why they would care. If you missed it, you can read it here.

Today, we tackle the next challenge: finding the right prospects and building a dynamic, enriched lead list.

Outbound often fails not because your targeting is off, but because your data is outdated.

Most businesses rely on three common methods for prospecting data: buying lists, accessing databases, or hiring agencies. But data lists are often low-quality, databases like ZoomInfo or Apollo run out fast, and agencies are costly yet rarely outperform in-house prospecting.

A better approach is to source data dynamically yourself, enrich it with context, and use tools like Clay to build high-quality lead lists that convert. In this edition, we break this process down, step by step.

3 Levels of Prospecting: Why Swimming & Diving Win

First, it’s important to understand how lead d…