If you sell SaaS, you know the toughest part isn’t building features. It’s finding companies that actually want what you’re selling. Most prospecting tools promise the world, but let’s be real: they’re usually a tangled mess of vague filters and stale data. This guide is for sales and marketing folks at SaaS companies who want to cut through the noise and use Harmonic’s advanced search like a pro—without wasting your time on fluff.
Below, I’ll walk you through a step-by-step approach to using Harmonic to zero in on your ideal customer profiles (ICPs). We’ll cover what works, what’s just hype, and how to avoid the most common time-wasters.
Step 1: Get Specific About Your ICP (Before You Even Log In)
Don’t skip this. If you can’t describe your ideal customer in one or two sentences, you’ll just end up drowning in search results. Before you touch Harmonic, jot down:
- Industry and sub-industry: Not just “tech”—do you mean fintech, edtech, martech, or something else?
- Company size: Think in terms of employees and revenue. “SMB” means different things to different people.
- Funding stage: Are you after bootstrapped startups, Series A, or mature public companies?
- Tech stack or pain point: What tools do they already use? What problems do they have that you solve?
Pro tip: Don’t overthink it. If you have a few good customer logos, start by describing them.
Step 2: Get Into Harmonic and Head to Advanced Search
Assuming you’ve got access to Harmonic (if not, this guide isn’t for you yet), log in and open the Advanced Search. Don’t get distracted by the homepage dashboards—they’re fine for a quick glance, but not for real prospecting.
Now, you’ll see a bunch of filters. This is where most people’s eyes glaze over. The trick is knowing which filters matter and which are just shiny distractions.
Step 3: Set Up Core Filters—Don’t Get Fancy Yet
Start simple. The fewer filters, the better—at least at first. Here’s what actually matters for SaaS ICPs:
- Industry / Sub-industry: Use the actual industry your ICP is in. Harmonic’s categories are decent, but not perfect. If in doubt, use a combination (“fintech” + “payments”).
- Company Size: Set both employee count and, if you care, revenue. Be realistic—don’t leave it blank and expect magic.
- Location: If your product’s geo-specific, add this now. Otherwise, leave it open.
- Funding Stage: Useful if you care about how mature your prospects are. Harmonic’s data is pretty fresh here.
What to ignore (at first): - “Keywords” filter: It’s hit-or-miss. Use it later if you need to narrow things down. - “Tech stack” filter: Good in theory, but the data’s often incomplete. Don’t rely on it as your main filter.
Step 4: Layer in “Nice-to-Have” Filters Carefully
Once you’ve set your core filters and see what comes up, now’s the time to get picky—but don’t overdo it. Adding too many filters is the fastest way to get zero results.
Consider these only if your results are too broad:
- Growth metrics: Harmonic lets you filter by recent hiring or growth. This can be helpful if you want fast-moving companies, but the data’s not always perfect.
- Recent funding: If you want companies with fresh budgets, filter for those who’ve raised in the last 6-12 months.
- Job postings: Want to find companies hiring for roles related to your product? Layer this on, but remember: job titles can be all over the place.
What to skip: - Super-niche filters like “company description contains…”—these sound powerful, but they usually miss as much as they catch. - “Investor” filters, unless you’re in a very specific niche.
Step 5: Review and Interpret Results (Don’t Blindly Export)
Here’s where most people rush. Take a few minutes to actually look at your search results before exporting a list.
- Are these companies actually your ICP, or just technically matching? Click into a few profiles. Does their product, team, and website fit what you’re after?
- Are there obvious mismatches? If yes, tweak your filters. This saves you hours later.
Pro tip: Harmonic’s data is pretty good, but no tool is perfect. You’ll always need a quick manual review to avoid embarrassing outreach.
Step 6: Export and Enrich—But Don’t Expect 100% Accuracy
When you’re happy with your list, go ahead and export. Harmonic gives you company data, and sometimes contacts, but don’t expect a full lead list with perfect emails. You’ll usually need to enrich contact info with another tool (think Apollo, Clearbit, or LinkedIn).
- Don’t waste time chasing bounced emails. Accept you’ll get some duds.
- If you need titles (like CTOs at 50-200 employee fintech companies), be prepared to do some manual LinkedIn work.
Step 7: Rinse, Repeat, and Refine
Most people set up one search and call it a day. That’s a mistake.
- Iterate: If your outreach isn’t landing, look back at your filters. Maybe your ICP needs tweaking.
- Save your best searches: Harmonic lets you save searches. Do it—you’ll thank yourself next quarter.
- Check back monthly: Company data changes. A search that was dry last month could be gold next.
What Works—And What’s Mostly Hype
Here’s the straight talk:
- Harmonic’s industry and funding data is solid and updated regularly.
- Employee count and growth filters are useful, but sometimes lag a month or two.
- Tech stack and job posting data are hit-or-miss—helpful as secondary signals, not as your main filter.
- Contact info is limited. Don’t expect a full B2B contact database. Harmonic is about finding companies, not spamming inboxes.
Where most people waste time: - Overcomplicating filters and ending up with zero results. - Exporting giant lists and blasting out cold emails without checking quality. - Chasing “hidden” features—Harmonic is best used for targeted lists, not mass scraping.
Pro Tips for SaaS Prospecting with Harmonic
- Start broad, then narrow. Don’t box yourself in with too many filters from the start.
- Sanity-check your ICP. If you don’t see any good matches, the problem might be your definition—not Harmonic.
- Combine with other tools. Harmonic is great at surfacing companies. Pair it with LinkedIn or a contact finder to actually reach people.
- Don’t trust any tool blindly. Always check a few results manually before committing to big campaigns.
Keep It Simple—and Iterate
You don’t need a PhD in Boolean logic to use Harmonic well. Start with your must-haves, add nice-to-haves only if needed, and keep checking your work. Most prospecting is about basic blocking and tackling, not magic tricks or secret filters.
If you keep your searches simple and adjust as you go, you’ll spend less time wrestling with tools and more time actually talking to customers—which, last time I checked, is what actually moves the needle.