If your sales outreach feels like throwing spaghetti at the wall, you’re not alone. Most teams collect leads, dump them into a list, and hope for the best. But if you want to actually get replies—and not just more unsubscribes—you need to get organized. This guide is for anyone using SureConnect who wants to wrangle their prospect lists and send smarter, more targeted emails.
Let’s get right into it.
1. Get Your Prospect Data Into Shape
Before you can segment or target anything, your data needs to be clean. Garbage in, garbage out—no tool can fix a messy list.
How to do it:
- Import: Upload your CSV, Excel, or connect your CRM. SureConnect makes this pretty painless, but double-check your field mapping. Don’t trust the auto-mapper blindly.
- Standardize: Make sure names, emails, titles, and company names are consistent. “VP Sales” and “Vice President, Sales” shouldn’t be two separate segments.
- De-dupe: Use SureConnect’s de-duplication tools, but also spot-check. Automated merging can miss similar names or emails with typos.
- Fill in gaps: Outreach works best when you know something about your prospects. If you’re missing job titles, company size, or industry, fill them in now—or flag those contacts for later research.
Pro tip: Don’t import junk. If a record is missing a valid email or looks fishy (e.g., “test@test.com”), delete it. It’ll just mess up your metrics later.
2. Build Lists With a Purpose
A lot of people create one giant “Master List” and call it a day. That’s a mistake. Organize by what matters to your outreach.
Common ways to segment:
- Industry: Tech, healthcare, finance, etc.
- Seniority: C-suite, VP, manager, practitioner.
- Company size: Small, mid-market, enterprise.
- Location: US, EU, APAC, or by specific city/state.
- Intent signals: Downloaded a whitepaper, attended a webinar, requested a demo, etc.
How to do it in SureConnect:
- Go to the “Lists” tab.
- Create a new list—give it a clear name (“US SaaS CEOs Q2” beats “List 1”).
- Add contacts by filtering on the attributes above. SureConnect’s filters are decent, but don’t get too granular at first—you can always split lists later.
What not to do: Don’t bother with micro-segments (e.g., “VPs in Texas who like dogs”) unless you have a reason and a tailored message. Keep it simple at first.
3. Tag and Segment for Real Personalization
Tags are your friend. They’re flexible and let you slice your list as needed—without creating a million separate lists.
Tagging basics:
- Tag by industry, role, event attended, or interest.
- Use tags for dynamic campaigns—e.g., “Product Launch 2024” or “Renewal Q3”.
- You can bulk tag in SureConnect by selecting multiple prospects and applying tags at once.
Why tagging beats static lists:
- Lists are static snapshots. Tags let you adjust on the fly.
- You can filter by multiple tags (e.g., “VP” + “Attended Webinar”).
- Good for tracking outreach results—e.g., tag people who replied positively.
What to skip: Don’t go overboard. Tags like “Monday Import” or “List 2” don’t add value later. If you can’t remember why you’d use a tag, don’t create it.
4. Use Filters to Target the Right People—Every Time
Once your lists and tags are set up, filters are how you actually find the right people to email.
Filtering in SureConnect:
- Filter by any field—job title, company size, last contacted date, etc.
- Combine filters for more specific targeting (e.g., “Industry: Healthcare” AND “Seniority: Director+” AND “Not Contacted in 30 days”).
- Save your favorite filter sets to reuse for campaigns.
Real talk: Filters are powerful, but they’re only as good as your data. If your records are messy or missing info, you’ll either miss prospects or hit the wrong ones. Whenever you find a bad record, fix it for next time.
5. Create and Run Targeted Campaigns
Now you’re ready for actual outreach. Here’s where segmentation pays off.
How to set up a campaign:
- Pick your segment—use a list, tag, or filter combo.
- Craft your message to match the segment. Don’t send the same generic email to CEOs and junior analysts.
- Personalize with fields like first name, company, or industry. SureConnect supports merge fields, but test them—bad personalization (“Hi {{FirstName}},”) is worse than none.
- Schedule for the right time zone. If you’re emailing Europe, don’t blast at 3am their time.
- Track replies, opens, and bounces. Use this data to tweak your segments and messaging.
What to ignore: Don’t get distracted by vanity metrics like “number of emails sent.” Focus on replies and real conversations. If a segment isn’t working, rethink it.
6. Regularly Clean and Update Your Lists
List hygiene is ongoing—don’t treat it as a one-and-done.
Monthly “spring cleaning” tips:
- Remove or archive bounced emails and opt-outs.
- Merge duplicates (again, SureConnect helps, but don’t trust it blindly).
- Update tags based on campaign responses.
- Spot-check for outdated info—job changes, company mergers, etc.
Why bother? Because sending to bad emails tanks your sender reputation and makes future outreach less effective. Plus, it’s just good manners.
7. Advanced Moves (If You’re Ready)
If you’ve got the basics down, here are a few ways to get more out of SureConnect:
- Lead scoring: Use fields or tags to rate how “hot” a prospect is. Don’t get stuck in the weeds—simple scores (Hot, Warm, Cold) are good enough for most.
- Automated workflows: Set up triggers—like tagging someone “Interested” after they reply, or moving them to a “Nurture” list if they go cold.
- Integrations: Connect SureConnect to your CRM, Slack, or calendar to keep things in sync. Integrations can break, though, so check them regularly.
- A/B testing: Try different messages for the same segment and see what works. But don’t overcomplicate; small tweaks are usually enough.
Final Thoughts: Don’t Overthink It
Managing and segmenting prospect lists isn’t about fancy hacks or the latest tool feature. It’s about getting the basics right: clean data, smart segments, and messages that actually matter to the person you’re emailing. Start simple, iterate as you go, and avoid the urge to create a maze of lists and tags you’ll never use.
Outreach is hard enough—don’t let your list management make it harder. Keep it tidy, keep it useful, and keep moving.