Effective Manual Outreach Using Signals
Use Company Intent to find the contacts most worth reaching out to right now, then send a personalized email with automatic follow-ups.
📑 Contents in this article - click to jump to section:
- Overview
- Video Demonstration
- Step-by-Step Instructions
- FAQ & Troubleshooting Tips
- Guidance from Mission Control
Overview
The Workflow: Person Search → Use Company Intent filter → Add one contact → Send personalized email with follow-ups
Why it works: Not every contact in your search is equally ready to hear from you. Company Intent highlights the companies where someone is actively researching a topic related to what you offer. This workflow helps you skip the guesswork and spend your manual outreach time on the people most likely to respond.
Best for: Reps doing manual, personalized outreach who want to prioritize their time on the best opportunities.
Before you start:
- Company Intent requires an Ultimate or Custom plan.
- Your Team Owner or Admin must set your Intent Topics in Account Settings before this filter will be available. (Learn More: Company Intent)
- Have at least one email template saved in Messages.
Video Demonstration
⏱️ Time: 4 min
Coming Soon! Check back in 2-3 days
Step-by-Step Instructions
Step 1: Open Person Search and build your core search
Go to Person Search and add your standard filters first:
- Role & Department or Job Title
- Management Level
- Industry, Employee Count, Revenue, or Location (whatever fits your ICP)
Don't add Company Intent yet. Get your base results looking right first.
💡 Pro Tip: If your search returns fewer than 50 results before adding Intent, the Intent filter may cut it down to almost nothing. Start broad enough to have room to narrow.
Step 2: Add the Company Intent filter
Scroll to the Signals section in the left-side filters and click Company Intent. Select the intent topic (or topics) that match what you sell.
Watch how the results change. The contacts still showing are at companies where someone has been actively researching that topic in the past week. These are your best bets.
Step 3: Review the results and pick your best contact
Scan the results. Look for someone at the right level, at a company that looks like a strong fit. Click their name to open their profile and review their background.
This is your manual outreach moment — take 2 minutes to note something specific about them or their company that you can reference in your email.
Step 4: Get their contact info
Click Get Contact Info to access their verified email address.
Step 5: Send a personalized email with follow-ups
Click the Send Email button on their profile.
In the compose window:
- Select your template as a starting point.
- Personalize it — add the specific detail you noted in Step 3. Even one sentence of personalization makes a big difference.
- Before you click Send, scroll to the bottom of the compose window and set your follow-up schedule. The option to send 1 or 2 automatic follow-ups will appear there.
Click Send. Your first email goes out immediately. If they don't reply, your follow-ups will send automatically on the schedule you chose.
✅ Done! One great email sent, with two more already lined up.
FAQ & Troubleshooting Tips
❓ My results dropped to almost zero after adding Company Intent. What do I do?
Intent signals update weekly and are time-sensitive. A small result set isn't a problem with your search — it just means not many companies in your criteria have high intent right now. Try broadening your base filters (e.g., a wider industry or location range), or check back next week when signals refresh.
❓ Can I use Company Intent on a standard or Pro plan?
Company Intent is available on Ultimate and Custom plans only. If you're not sure which plan you're on, check Account Settings or contact your account manager.
❓ Do I need to write a new email from scratch each time?
No — that's what templates are for. Save a solid base email in Messages, then make small edits for each contact. The goal is personalized, not laborious. (Learn More: Email Templates)
❓ What if I want to send to multiple contacts at once instead of one at a time?
You can! Use the checkboxes to select multiple contacts, then click Email Contacts at the top of the results. You can still add follow-ups from there. Just know that bulk emails are harder to personalize — this workflow is designed for the high-value, high-touch approach.
Guidance from Mission Control
💡 Intent is a prioritization tool, not a prospecting tool.
Don't replace your regular search with Intent alone. Use it to sort your existing results and decide who gets your best, most personalized message today.
💡 Match your message to the signal.
If a company is showing intent on "sales engagement software," your email can acknowledge that evaluation process directly. Something like: "A lot of sales leaders we talk to right now are rethinking their outreach stack — happy to share what's working." That's relevant. That gets replies.
💡 Combine with Job Postings or News for even stronger signals.
A company that has high intent AND is hiring Sales Reps AND just raised funding is about as warm as it gets. Layer signals to find those rare, high-confidence targets.