If you’re tired of chasing ghosts and sending emails into the void, you’re not alone. Finding the right person—the one who can actually make a buying decision—at a company is half the sales battle. This guide is for sales pros, SDRs, and anyone who’s sick of getting stuck in the gatekeeper loop. We’ll walk through how to use Owler to find real decision makers at your target companies, point out the shortcuts that actually work, and help you avoid the time-wasters.
Why Owler? (And What You Should Expect)
Owler isn’t some magic bullet. It’s a business intelligence tool that scrapes, aggregates, and crowdsources company data—including org charts, leadership teams, and funding news. Compared to LinkedIn, it’s less noisy, and it can give you a quick snapshot of who’s running the show at thousands of companies. But it’s not perfect: some profiles are outdated or thin, and you’ll still need to double-check things. Still, for prospecting, it can save you a ton of time if you use it right.
Step 1: Set Up Your Owler Account and Preferences
You’ll need a free or paid Owler account. Free gives you a taste, but if you’re doing serious outbound, you’ll want paid for more detail and search flexibility.
Tips: - Use your work email if you want access to industry/competitor feeds. - Set your industry and region preferences so Owler’s suggestions are less random. - Don’t bother with the “news alerts” unless you’re prospecting a small list. They get noisy.
Pro tip: The paid version unlocks advanced search filters (like company size and funding rounds) that make narrowing your target list much faster.
Step 2: Build a List of Target Companies
Start with a clear idea of who you want to reach. Owler’s search tool lets you filter by:
- Industry (e.g., fintech, SaaS, healthcare)
- Company size (revenue or employee count)
- Location
- Funding status (helpful if you're selling to startups or scale-ups)
How to do it: 1. Use the “Discover Companies” or “Advanced Search” in Owler. 2. Save companies that match your ICP (ideal customer profile) to a new list. 3. Export your list if you want to work in your CRM or spreadsheet. (Paid users only.)
What works: Owler’s lists are fast to build, and usually pretty accurate on basics like size and industry.
What doesn’t: The database misses smaller, newer, or less “newsworthy” companies. Don’t rely on Owler as your only source.
Step 3: Dive Into Company Profiles
Here’s where you start hunting for names. Click into each company to see their profile.
What to look for: - “Top Decision Makers” section: Usually lists CEO, CFO, CMO, etc. - “Leadership Team” or “Key Employees”: Sometimes includes VPs, Directors, and other roles. - Org chart (if available): Not every company has this, but if they do, it’s a goldmine.
What works: For mid-size and high-profile companies, you’ll get a decent leadership roster—sometimes with bios and photos.
What doesn’t: For companies under 100 employees, the data gets spotty. Expect missing roles, duplicate names, or people who’ve moved on.
Step 4: Verify and Prioritize Contacts
Owler gives you a starting point, but don’t assume every name is up to date. People switch jobs all the time. Here’s how to sanity-check and prioritize your list:
Quick verification steps: - Cross-reference with LinkedIn—see if the person still works there. - Google their name with the company (sometimes you’ll find recent press releases or interviews). - Check the company’s own website (look for “About Us” or “Leadership” sections).
Prioritize like this: - Look for titles that match your buyer personas (e.g., VP of Marketing, CTO, Head of Operations—not just C-suite). - If you see a generic “Manager,” dig deeper—they’re rarely the budget holder unless it’s a small company. - Don’t get distracted by every name—focus on actual decision makers, not just anyone with “Director” in their title.
Red flags: - “Former” titles. Owler sometimes lags behind reality. - Multiple people listed for the same role—double-check who’s current.
Step 5: Find Contact Information (Without Getting Creepy)
Owler usually won’t hand you email addresses. (That’s not their business model.) But you can use the names and titles you’ve found to track down contact info elsewhere.
What works: - Plug the name and company into LinkedIn. Sometimes you’ll find contact info right on their profile. - Use email permutators (like Hunter.io or Voila Norbert) with the company domain. - If the company is small, check their website’s “Team” or “Contact” page—sometimes emails are just sitting there.
What doesn’t: Don’t waste time trying to “message” people through Owler. It’s not a messaging platform. And avoid the temptation to buy sketchy lead lists—you’ll just get bounced emails and spam traps.
Step 6: Track Changes and Keep Your List Fresh
Decision makers don’t stay put forever. Owler’s value is that it updates when it picks up news or user-submitted changes. But don’t trust it to keep your CRM up to date.
How to stay current: - Set calendar reminders to re-check key accounts every quarter. - If you’re working a short list, set up Google Alerts on your top prospects’ names. - Use Owler’s “Follow” feature, but don’t let it flood your inbox.
What works: Quarterly reviews catch most leadership changes before your emails start bouncing.
What doesn’t: Relying solely on Owler alerts—sometimes they’re slow to update, especially for private companies.
What to Ignore (And What Not to Sweat)
- Employee headcount: Owler’s numbers are estimates. Use them as a ballpark, not gospel.
- Company “news” feed: Good for context, but don’t get distracted. Unless you’re doing account-based selling, most of it isn’t actionable.
- Crowdsourced data: Treat it like Wikipedia—helpful, but double-check anything important.
Pro Tips for Faster Prospecting
- Bulk research: Build your company list first, then go back and grab decision makers in batches. It’s faster than switching back and forth.
- Use tags/notes: If you’re working in your CRM, tag contacts with “Owler sourced” so you know where the info came from.
- Combine sources: Use Owler for the leadership skeleton, LinkedIn for context, and your own notes for the human touch.
Honest Assessment: When Owler Shines (and When It Doesn’t)
Owler is best when you need a quick, broad look at who’s running a company—especially in B2B, tech, and startups. It’s strong on the basics and lets you build a prospecting list fast. But it’s weak on direct contact info, and data accuracy drops off with smaller or super-private companies. Think of it as a shortcut, not a replacement for real research.
Keep It Simple: Iterate and Improve
You’ll get better at spotting the real decision makers the more you do this. Don’t overthink it—start with Owler, verify with LinkedIn, double-check with the company website, and move fast. The perfect list doesn’t exist, but a good-enough list will get you talking to real people, not wasting time in the void.
Now get after it—and remember, it’s about progress, not perfection.