AI for Sales Prospecting: How We Use GridIQ

We use AI for sales prospecting to research a list against specific buying criteria, inspect the evidence, and prepare relevant outreach for review. GridIQ keeps that work in a table: each row holds a prospect, and each research column answers a question about them.

For founders and consulting teams doing their own business development, the useful output is a shortlist with a reason to contact each person. An email address alone doesn't establish that reason. We work through the account research first, then carry the useful findings into sales outreach.

The workflow looks like this. Every proposed follow-up returns to the same review step.

flowchart TD
  accTitle: Sales prospecting and reviewed outreach in GridIQ
  accDescr: Import a list or find prospects, research fit, and review the sources. Save suitable rows into a separate shortlist grid. Review the next email, create a Gmail draft, and explicitly send or schedule it. Replies and proposed follow-ups return to email review before another draft or send.
  A[Import a list or find prospects] --> B[Research fit and relevant context]
  B --> C[Review sources and select suitable rows]
  C --> D[Save the shortlist as a new grid]
  D --> E[Review the next email]
  E --> F[Create a Gmail draft]
  F --> G[Send now or schedule]
  G --> H[Read replies and proposed follow-ups]
  H --> E

Give AI for sales prospecting a clear brief

Start with the service you want to discuss and the kind of buyer who could use it. "Find companies that might buy consulting" leaves too much room for interpretation. A brief such as "regional distributors expanding their operations, where our process-design work could be relevant" gives the research a question to answer.

Write down what makes a company suitable and what would rule it out. Include the geography and business characteristics that matter to your offering. Treat an unknown budget or an unconfirmed project as a question for a conversation.

You can import a CSV or XLSX file, map its columns, and review the rows before adding them. If you don't have a list, describe the prospects you want Luna to find. Either way, check that each row identifies the intended company or person before researching further.

Make the research columns answer useful questions

GridIQ distinguishes imported facts, inputs you maintain, and researched questions called KeyIntel. Use inputs for information only your team knows, such as an earlier conversation or a colleague's relationship with a contact. Those notes can guide the research alongside the grid's instructions.

Choose questions that help you decide what to do next:

Run the questions that determine fit before spending on deeper research. GridIQ lets you research a column or selected rows, and Answer the blanks leaves completed answers alone. Use Research again when you need a fresh answer or want to correct the question.

Our account research template provides a fuller set of fields for a prospect that deserves closer attention.

Check the evidence, then save an outreach shortlist

Open the cells behind a promising answer. Read the explanation and source material, especially when a fit judgment depends on a recent announcement. A company hiring an operations leader gives you a personnel fact; whether that leader wants outside help still needs checking.

Leave unresolved questions visible. If a source refers to another company with the same name, fix the identity or research the cell again before carrying the claim into an email.

Filter the rows against your criteria, select the ones you want to pursue, and choose Save as a new grid. Use that separate grid for outreach. This matters because outreach setup writes initial emails across the grid; filtering the original table alone doesn't restrict that writing to the rows on screen.

Keep the wider research grid for later review. You can also export a CSV of your selected rows when another team member needs the shortlist elsewhere. The lead qualification checklist helps identify the buying questions that public research cannot settle.

An example: prospecting for an operations consultancy

Suppose a small consultancy helps regional distributors improve warehouse handoffs. It imports 25 contacts with company websites, roles, and existing email addresses. This is an illustrative example, not an alkemy campaign or a reported result.

The firm adds questions about distribution operations and recent expansion, then reviews how each answer relates to its service. In this fictional list, one distributor has announced a second warehouse. The announcement supports a specific observation, but it says nothing about delays, a consulting budget, or a planned process review.

After checking the source and contact's role, the consultant might prepare this draft:

I saw your announcement about the second warehouse. Our work with distributors focuses on the handoffs between warehouse and customer-service teams. Are those handoffs part of your planning for the new site?

The message gives the recipient something concrete to answer. Before sending it, the consultant checks that the service description is accurate and that the recipient is an appropriate person to ask. A row with no relevant connection stays out of the outreach shortlist.

Review the email before it reaches Gmail

Where Gmail outreach is enabled for your workspace, connect your own Gmail account and set up outreach on the shortlist grid. Choose the recipient-address column, describe what you want the emails to ask for, and select a writing guide and sign-off. Check the sending days, time zone, and proposed schedule too.

GridIQ uses the row's facts and your outreach goal to write a subject and Next email. Writing an email in the grid doesn't create a Gmail draft or send anything. Review the recipient and wording, then edit the message if a claim needs more context or the ask feels premature.

The sending steps are explicit:

1. Choose Create draft to put the reviewed message in Gmail Drafts.
2. Choose Send now, or check Send at and choose Schedule.

You can apply those actions to selected rows, but each row still passes through the draft step. Check addresses before sending: an address that passes a format check can still belong to the wrong person or fail to receive mail.

Keep replies and follow-ups with the research

The grid keeps the email conversation beside the prospect's context. When a reply arrives, alkemy updates the conversation and can prepare an answer in Next email. That answer waits for review and the same draft-and-send actions.

Follow-ups work the same way. You choose how many to prepare and the spacing between them; a proposed follow-up doesn't send itself. A reply cancels an outdated scheduled message, while a bounce or a reply recognized as an unsubscribe stops outreach for that row.

You can edit a draft in Gmail or in the grid. If both versions change, the row asks you to choose which to keep before scheduling again. This keeps the review attached to the message that will actually leave your mailbox.

Questions about AI prospecting

Does GridIQ replace lead qualification conversations?

GridIQ helps research observable facts and assess them against your criteria. A conversation still needs to establish matters such as buying responsibility, budget, and interest in your service. Use the research to decide which questions deserve a person's time.

Can I use the research without Gmail outreach?

Yes. You can inspect the findings, share the grid, or export the shortlist for your existing process. Gmail outreach requires a connected account and access to that feature in your workspace; research remains useful before you enable it.

Try AI for sales prospecting with a narrow list and one service you can describe clearly. Explore the sample workspace, then use the workflow above to decide what you need to learn about your next prospects.