Many B2B companies win clients in bursts: one month three jobs arrive by referral and the next nothing comes in. Prospecting in an orderly way means not depending on luck: knowing who you write to, what you say and what you do when they do not reply. And, above all, doing it without turning into the sender everyone marks as spam.
This guide explains how to set it up simply, where AI can help and what you need to keep in mind legally before sending the first email.
What prospecting is (and is not)
Prospecting is not sending thousands of identical emails. It is identifying a limited number of companies that probably need what you offer, writing to them with a message they care about and following up consistently. A few well-targeted messages do better than many generic ones, and they also protect your domain’s reputation.
The four pillars
1. Define your ideal client
Before writing anything, answer in writing:
- Sector and size of the companies you serve best.
- Who decides the purchase: the specific job title, not “the company”.
- What problem they have that your service solves, in their own words.
- What signal says it is a good moment: a hire, an opening, a regulatory change, something published on their website.
If you cannot describe it in four lines, you are not ready to write yet.
2. A message about them, not about you
The first email is not a brochure. It should show that you know something specific about their situation, raise a problem they recognise and ask one single question that is easy to answer. If there is nothing real to say about that particular company, it is better not to write.
3. A short sequence, not a single attempt
Hardly anyone replies to the first message, however good it is. A reasonable sequence has three or four spaced touches (the figures are indicative and should be adjusted to your sector):
| Touch | When | What it contains |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Day 0 | A short introduction, the problem you have spotted and a question |
| 2 | Day 3 or 4 | A useful fact, an example or a similar case, without repeating the first message |
| 3 | Day 8 to 10 | A gentle closing question: “does it make sense to talk about it?” |
| 4 | Day 15 | A friendly sign-off: if it is not the right time, you do not push |
4. Follow-up on what is already under way
This is where more money is lost than in cold prospecting: quotes that were sent and nobody picks up again. The client was interested, something else came up and the proposal went cold. A basic follow-up, largely automatable, looks like this:
- After two or three days, a message to confirm they received the proposal and to answer questions.
- After a week, a specific question about what they still need in order to decide.
- After two weeks, a closing message: go ahead, postpone or drop it.
A sample first email
Subject: Quote follow-up at [company]
Hi [name]: I saw that [a real, checkable fact about their company]. In [sector] it is common for quotes to go cold for lack of follow-up, and it usually shows up in the next month’s sales.
We [what you do, in one sentence]. Would it make sense for me to explain in ten minutes how we would approach it? If now is not the time, just tell me and I will not write again.
[Full signature and how to unsubscribe]
Notice what it does not include: attachments, a list of services or a company presentation. The shorter and more specific, the better.
What the law says (it is not a detail)
Cold email has a legal framework you should know before you start. This is not legal advice, but there are three ideas worth having clear:
- The LSSI (Spanish Law 34/2002, article 21) prohibits sending commercial communications by email or equivalent electronic means that the recipient has not requested or expressly authorised. The exception is an existing contractual relationship and offering similar products or services. The article does not distinguish between consumers and businesses.
- How it applies to B2B with professional addresses is interpreted differently depending on who is explaining it, and the risk is not the same in every case. Before launching a cold-email campaign, check with a legal adviser or your data protection officer.
- Unsubscribing and transparency. In any case, each message must allow people to unsubscribe simply and free of charge, and it is good practice to say where you obtained the contact’s details and what you use them for.
That is why prudent prospecting combines channels: content that attracts people who are looking for you (like this guide), referrals, events, contact with people who have already shown interest and follow-up with those who have already asked you for information or a quote. You can read the text of article 21 in the official gazette (in Spanish).
The technical side that does matter
- Write from your own domain and account, so that replies reach you.
- Set up email authentication (SPF, DKIM and DMARC). Without it, your messages tend to end up in spam.
- Send in reasonable volumes and increase gradually.
- Measure replies and meetings, not just opens. Opens are distorted by the privacy protections of some email clients, so they are not reliable on their own.
Where AI helps and where it does not
AI is useful for drafting, adapting the tone to your brand and preparing variants of the same sequence. But it has a clear risk in this area: inventing “personalised details” that are not true (“I saw you opened an office in Valencia”) and burning your credibility with a single message.
So the rule is that AI proposes and a person checks that every detail is true before anything goes out. And that, until there is trust in the tone, you approve what is sent.
When it pays to delegate
Doing it in-house works if you have steady time for it. The problem is that prospecting is the first thing dropped when there is work, and it is exactly when the work runs out that it is most needed. If that sounds familiar, the B2B sales prospecting and writing service takes care of the sequences, quote follow-up, the newsletter and LinkedIn posts, always from your own domain and with your approval.
And if you are weighing up whether to delegate this or hire someone, this guide on outsourcing or hiring will help you decide.