Prospect
Turn 100 possible targets into 5 prospects you should actually pursue.
Prospect is a target filter and priority ranker for sales, partnerships, and business development.
Use this skill when you have a list of names, companies, or accounts and need to decide:
- who is worth pursuing
- who should be prioritized
- who belongs on a watchlist
- who should be dropped
This skill does NOT:
- find targets for you (use search tools or lead sources to gather raw targets first)
- handle active conversations (use Lead skill once someone has engaged)
- write outreach messages (use outreach or messaging tools for that)
Prospect vs Lead
Clarity first. These skills serve different stages.
| Prospect | Lead |
|---|
| Stage | Before contact | After engagement |
| Question | "Is this target worth reaching out to?" | "Should I keep pursuing this person?" |
| Input | Names, profiles, company data, signals | Conversation history, responses, behavior |
| Output | Priority tier + route | Qualification score + next action |
| Score dimensions | Fit, Timing, Value, Access | Fit, Intent, Urgency, Authority |
Typical flow:
- Prospect skill filters and ranks targets
- You reach out
- They respond
/lead evaluates and advances the engaged opportunity/pipeline manages active opportunities across the full deal book
Use Prospect before contact. Use Lead after engagement begins.
What This Skill Does
Prospect helps:
- separate poor-fit targets from viable prospects
- rank prospects by fit, timing, value, and accessibility
- identify what information is missing
- recommend the next best route for each prospect
- reduce wasted outreach effort
It does not replace human judgment about ethics, compliance, privacy, or regulatory requirements.
What to Provide
The better the input, the sharper the judgment.
Useful information includes:
- target name and company
- role or title
- industry or sector
- company size or stage
- any visible signals (hiring, funding, expansion, pain points, tool gaps, complaints)
- source of the target (referral, search, event, inbound)
- any prior context or relationship
Missing information is fine. The skill will identify gaps and recommend whether to research further or proceed anyway.
Standard Output Format
For each prospect, return:
PROSPECT: [Name / Company]
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
PRIORITY: [High / Medium / Watch / Drop]
SCORES:
Fit: [0-10] — [reason in one line]
Timing: [0-10] — [reason in one line]
Value: [0-10] — [reason in one line]
Access: [0-10] — [reason in one line]
TOTAL: [X/40]
SIGNALS:
✅ [positive signal or fit indicator]
✅ [positive signal or fit indicator]
⚠️ [risk, gap, or unknown]
ROUTE:
→ [Pursue now / Research further / Add to watchlist / Drop]
REASONING:
[2-3 sentences explaining why this priority tier and route]
NEXT STEP:
[specific action if pursue or research]
Batch mode (10+ prospects):
Show summary table first:
| Name | Company | Priority | Score | Route |
|---|
| ... | ... | ... | .../40 | ... |
Then provide detailed breakdown for top 5 only.
Scoring Dimensions
Fit (0-10)
How well does this target match the ideal prospect profile?
- industry relevance
- company size or stage
- role relevance
- problem-product alignment
Timing (0-10)
Is now a relevant moment to pursue this target?
- recent funding, hiring, or expansion
- visible pain points or inefficiencies
- role changes or new initiatives
- regulatory or market pressure
- competitive moves or tooling gaps
Value (0-10)
What is the potential upside if this prospect converts?
- deal size or revenue potential
- strategic importance
- account expansion potential
- referral or case study value
- long-term partnership fit
Access (0-10)
How reachable or engageable is this target?
- existing relationship or warm intro
- responsiveness indicators
- organizational openness
- decision-making complexity
- competitive saturation
Priority Tiers and Routes
High Priority (32-40 points):
Route → Pursue now
Strong fit, good timing, high value, accessible. Act within 48 hours.
Medium Priority (24-31 points):
Route → Research further
Promising but missing key information. Gather more signals before committing effort.
Watchlist (16-23 points):
Route → Add to watchlist
Decent fit but weak timing or unclear value. Monitor for changes. Revisit in 30-90 days.
Drop (0-15 points):
Route → Drop
Poor fit, bad timing, low value, or inaccessible. Not worth pursuit. Preserve effort for better targets.
Disqualifiers
Certain conditions should trigger an immediate drop or downgrade, regardless of other scores:
- wrong industry or segment with no realistic path to fit
- no meaningful need or problem relevance
- budget or capacity constraints that make purchase implausible
- structural barriers (compliance, geography, competitive locks)
- ethical, legal, or reputational risks
Disqualifiers prevent wasted effort on targets that will not convert.
When to Use Prospect
Use this skill when:
- you have a list of targets and need to decide who is worth pursuing
- multiple prospects need prioritization
- a target looks interesting but you need structured judgment
- you want to avoid wasting effort on poor-fit outreach
- you are building a prospecting workflow and need qualification logic
Do not use this skill when:
- you need help finding targets (use search tools or lead sources first)
- the target has already engaged and you need to evaluate next steps (use Lead skill)
- you need legal, compliance, or regulatory judgment about targeting or outreach
Response Principles
When analyzing prospects:
- prioritize fit over volume
- separate static traits from timing signals
- make disqualifiers explicit
- identify information gaps clearly
- recommend routes that match effort to opportunity
- preserve honesty about uncertainty
Do not:
- inflate prospect quality without evidence
- ignore visible disqualifiers
- recommend aggressive pursuit without strong signals
- fabricate timing, value, or access where none exists
Execution Protocol (for AI agents)
When user provides target information, follow this sequence:
Step 1: Parse Input
Extract:
- prospect identity (name, company, role)
- industry and segment
- company size or stage
- any visible signals (funding, hiring, complaints, expansion)
- source or context
Step 2: Score Each Dimension
Assign 0-10 scores for:
- Fit: Does this target match the ideal profile?
- Timing: Is now a relevant moment?
- Value: What is the upside if they convert?
- Access: How reachable are they?
Total score = sum of 4 dimensions (max 40).
Step 3: Identify Gaps
List critical unknowns:
- Don't know their current solution
- Don't know decision-making structure
- Don't know budget or urgency
Step 4: Check Disqualifiers
Flag any structural barriers that would prevent conversion regardless of scores.
Step 5: Assign Priority and Route
Based on total score and context:
- 32-40 → High Priority → Pursue now
- 24-31 → Medium Priority → Research further
- 16-23 → Watchlist → Monitor for changes
- 0-15 → Drop → Not worth effort
Step 6: Provide Reasoning
Explain in 2-3 sentences:
- why this tier
- what makes this prospect worth or not worth pursuit
- what the next step should be
Step 7: Format Output
Use the standard output template for each prospect.
For batch requests (10+ prospects), show summary table first, then detailed breakdown for top 5.
Activation Rules (for AI agents)
When to use this skill
Activate when user asks about:
- evaluating a target or prospect before outreach
- prioritizing a list of targets
- deciding who to pursue
- building a target list or prospecting strategy
- filtering or ranking potential accounts
When NOT to use this skill
Do not activate when:
- user is asking about active leads or ongoing conversations (use Lead skill)
- user needs help finding or sourcing targets (not a filtering task)
- prospect appears in non-sales contexts
- user is asking about recruiting or hiring prospects unless explicitly framed as business development targeting
Ambiguous cases
If prospect is mentioned but context is unclear, ask:
"Are you asking about evaluating sales or business targets, or something else?"
Only proceed if user confirms it is about target selection for sales, partnerships, or business development.
Quality Check Before Delivering
Boundaries
This skill supports target selection for sales, partnerships, and business development.
It does not replace:
- legal or compliance review of targeting practices
- ethical judgment about outreach appropriateness
- privacy or data handling obligations
- regulatory requirements for marketing or contact
Adapt outputs to your jurisdiction, platform rules, and applicable laws.