If you’re in sales, you know the pain: you need a fresh, personalized prospect list—fast. But building one usually means hours of clicking through LinkedIn, fighting with spreadsheets, and chasing down emails that bounce. This guide is for anyone who wants to spend less time hunting for contacts and more time actually talking to them.
Let’s walk through how to put together a real prospect list in minutes using Dropcontact. I’ll show you what works, what to watch out for, and how to avoid wasting time on fluff.
Why bother with personalized prospect lists?
Anyone can buy a list of “decision makers” from some sketchy broker. But if you want replies and booked meetings, you need to target people who actually fit your ideal customer profile—and reach them with accurate info. That means:
- No more emails that bounce or wind up in spam
- Contacts who actually work at the companies you care about
- Details that help you send messages that don’t sound like spam
You can try to build these lists by hand, but unless you love busywork, you’ll want some help.
What is Dropcontact—and does it actually work?
Dropcontact is a sales tool that claims to find, verify, and enrich contact info for leads. You give it names, companies, or even just URLs, and it returns emails, job titles, and other details. It plugs into your CRM, or you can just upload a spreadsheet and get results back.
Does it work? Mostly, yes. It’s not magic, and it won’t pull up contacts that don’t actually exist, but it’s solid for finding and verifying business emails—especially in Europe, where a lot of other tools struggle. Just don’t expect 100% accuracy (no tool has that), and watch out for generic emails like “info@company.com” slipping through sometimes.
Step 1: Define exactly who you want to reach
Before you touch any tool, get clear about your target. If you’re vague, you’ll get a junk list. Ask yourself:
- What kinds of companies (industry, size, location) do I want?
- Which roles or job titles matter?
- Are there companies or sectors I want to avoid?
Pro tip: Write this down. “Marketing managers at SaaS startups in France with 10-200 employees” is a lot better than “people in tech.”
Step 2: Build your initial list of companies or people
Dropcontact can find emails, but it needs something to start with. Here are a few ways to build your seed list:
- From LinkedIn: Use LinkedIn search or Sales Navigator to filter companies or people. Export lists with a scraping tool (try PhantomBuster or TexAu if you’re comfortable with that; otherwise, copy-paste for small batches).
- From your CRM: If you have a list of target companies but missing emails, export that.
- Manual list: Even a basic spreadsheet with company names and domains works.
Columns to include: First Name, Last Name, Company Name, Company Domain. The more details, the better your results.
What to skip: Don’t bother with huge, messy lists of random names. Quality beats quantity every time.
Step 3: Set up Dropcontact and upload your list
- Sign up and log in. Dropcontact’s UI isn’t the prettiest, but it’s straightforward.
- Choose your method: You can upload a CSV file, connect your CRM (like HubSpot, Pipedrive, or Salesforce), or use their API if you’re feeling fancy.
- Map your columns: Make sure “First Name,” “Last Name,” “Company,” and especially “Company Domain” are correctly matched.
Heads up: The more you give Dropcontact to work with, the better. If you only have company names, results will be spottier.
Step 4: Let Dropcontact do its thing
After uploading, Dropcontact starts searching for emails, verifying them, and enriching with job titles, LinkedIn profiles, and more. This usually takes a few minutes for small lists, up to an hour or two for bigger ones.
What you’ll get:
- Verified professional emails (not just guesses)
- Up-to-date job titles and company info
- Sometimes, LinkedIn URLs and phone numbers (if available)
What’s missing: Dropcontact doesn’t do personal emails (Gmail, Yahoo, etc.), and it’s not great with non-business domains (think nonprofits or schools). Also, if a company is super small or brand new, results can be hit or miss.
Step 5: Filter, review, and clean your results
Don’t just take the export and blast away. Go through your results:
- Remove generic emails like “contact@” or “info@.” They almost never get replies.
- Check for duplicates or outdated job titles.
- Spot-check a few profiles to make sure the data feels right. If you see a bunch of weird matches, there might have been a mapping issue.
Pro tip: If you’re sending cold emails, keep your list under 100 contacts per day. Quality matters way more than spraying out thousands of messages.
Step 6: Personalize your outreach (without losing your mind)
The whole point of a personalized list is to send emails that feel human, not templated junk. Two easy wins:
- Use the person’s name and company in your subject line or intro.
- Reference something recent about their company (funding, product launch, etc.) if Dropcontact found it.
Don’t waste hours writing unique essays to each contact—just add a line or two that shows you know who you’re emailing.
What to ignore: Tools and gurus who promise fully “AI-personalized” emails at scale. Most of them just mash together LinkedIn bios and hope you won’t notice. You can spot these a mile away, and so can your prospects.
What Dropcontact does well (and what it doesn’t)
The good
- Great for European data: Many email tools struggle with GDPR rules. Dropcontact stays compliant and works well in France, Germany, etc.
- No database reselling: They generate emails algorithmically, so you’re less likely to get flagged for spam or end up with ancient info.
- Solid integrations: If you use HubSpot, Pipedrive, or Salesforce, syncing is easy.
The not-so-good
- Hit-or-miss with small/new companies: If your targets are micro-startups, don’t expect miracles.
- Not cheap: The pay-per-credit model adds up if you’re running big lists every day.
- Occasional generic emails: You’ll need to filter these out yourself.
What to ignore
- Any claims of “100% accuracy” or “instant results.” Nobody has that, and you’ll just end up disappointed.
- Mass-blasting everyone you find. You’ll burn your domain and your reputation.
Pro tips for getting the most out of Dropcontact
- Start small. Test with a handful of leads before you upload thousands.
- Combine with LinkedIn. Use Dropcontact to find emails, then research on LinkedIn for context before you write.
- Keep your CRM updated. Sync results back to your CRM so you’re not rebuilding lists from scratch next time.
- Monitor bounce rates. If you see a lot of failures, double-check your input data.
Keep it simple and iterate
Don’t overthink it. The best prospect lists are built on clear targeting, clean data, and just enough personalization to show you’re not a robot. Dropcontact is a solid tool that saves you hours, but it’s not a magic button. Start with a focused list, clean up the results, and send real messages. Iterate as you go, and you’ll get better (and faster) every time.
If you’re tired of building lists by hand, give Dropcontact a try. Just remember: no tool replaces a little common sense and a human touch.