The problem
Research, qualification and follow-up are often treated as separate activities. Rationale gets lost, contacts remain without a next action and the same research is repeated.
The approach
I use internal workflows to structure public-source research, assess potential companies or topics against explicit criteria and preserve the next action in a CRM case.
A public signal is recorded with its source and checked against defined criteria. If the evidence is insufficient, the workflow researches further or rejects the case instead of guessing.
- Record public sources with origin and date
- Explain relevance against explicit criteria
- Track each opportunity as a CRM case with a state
- Prepare the next action and review date
- Present drafts for human review
What this demonstrates
More research is not automatically better research. Value comes when each claim can be traced to a source and leads to a concrete decision.
Where it applies
The pattern suits consultative services, small sales teams and founders who want to work relevant market opportunities systematically without building impersonal mass outreach.
Contact details and facts are not invented. Only permissible public sources are used; privacy, source terms and internal approval remain binding.