Web trawling

Disciplines > Sales > Prospecting > Web trawling

Description | Example | Discussion | See also

Description

Find information about individuals and organizations who might buy from available information such as their blogs and information on company officers.

Companies often have web pages on their sites that describe their history, organization and products. More useful information can be found on pages designed to attract and inform investors.

There are also many useful websites and firms that provide company information, such as Hoover's and Dun and Bradstreet.

You can often find email addresses by guessing, as they typically are in the form 'fred.jones@xyz.com'. Common alternatives include 'fjones@xyz.com' and 'jonesf@xyz.com'.

Look also for articles by and other information about the person you are investigating. You might even find their blog, from which much useful data can be gleaned.

Avoid mass emailing - this is 'spam' and can get you and your company into trouble.

A problem with any cold emailing is that your letter may not be read or even be removed by a spam filter. If possible, phone beforehand and follow up with email.

Example

If you look around this site, you will be able to find a lot of personal information about its author! (hint: look at the blog and at bottom of any page).

Discussion

These days the web is a primary place to find basic company information. With a little persistence and technique, you can find a lot more besides.

It is surprising how often even relatively confidential information such as telephone numbers can be found. If you email a person and they reply (or even get an autoreply), the response may well include their job title and desk/cell phone numbers.