List Building Skill

Build targeted lists of potential buyers from LinkedIn based on Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) criteria. This skill is for prospecting - finding people who might buy your product or service, not for competitive analysis.

Process

Step 0: Load Defaults & Check Scope

First, check for saved decisions:

Read .business_growth/sales/DECISIONS.md if it exists. This file stores global defaults like:

Buyer persona and target titles
Target industries and exclusions
Company segment preferences
Sales Navigator availability
Competitors to exclude

If DECISIONS.md exists: Ask the user: "I found your saved preferences. Want to use these defaults, or customize for this specific list?"

(A) Use defaults → Skip to Step 1, only ask list-specific questions (target lead count, any overrides)
(B) Customize → Go through the full discovery questions below
(C) Update defaults → Go through questions and save new answers to DECISIONS.md

If DECISIONS.md doesn't exist: Go through the full discovery process and offer to save answers as defaults at the end.

Step 0b: Resolve Campaign Context

If campaign_id provided:

Use it directly as the campaign context

If campaign_id not provided:

Check for existing campaigns in .business_growth/sales/campaigns/
If campaigns exist, ask user:
- (A) Create new campaign → Generate a meaningful snake_case name based on criteria (e.g., campaign_fintech_vp_eng)
- (B) Add to existing campaign → Select from available campaigns
If no campaigns exist, create a new one

Establish campaign_id before proceeding.

Step 0c: Full Discovery (if not using defaults)

Gather context:

Check existing campaigns in .business_growth/sales/campaigns/ to understand prior work
Review any existing ICP definitions or campaign history

Ask clarifying questions (one at a time):

Prefer multiple choice when options are clear
Focus on understanding: purpose, constraints, success criteria

Global questions (save to DECISIONS.md):

"Who is your buyer? What role typically makes or influences the purchase decision?"
"What problem does your product solve for them?"
"Any industries where your buyers typically work? (e.g., security, fintech, healthcare)"
"Any spaces to exclude? (e.g., no agencies, no consulting firms, no competitors)"
"Company segment: (A) SMB (< 50 employees), (B) Mid-market (50-500), (C) Enterprise (500+), or (D) Any size?"
"Do you have LinkedIn Sales Navigator?"

List-specific questions (always ask):

"What's the goal for this specific list - demos, trials, partnerships?"
"How many leads are you looking to have in this list?"
"Any specific geography or filters for this list?"

Explore approaches: After understanding requirements, propose 2-3 different approaches:

Present options conversationally with trade-offs
Lead with your recommended approach and explain why

Save decisions: If user went through full discovery, ask: "Want me to save these as your defaults for future lists?" If yes, create/update .business_growth/sales/DECISIONS.md

Step 1: Define ICP Criteria

Once you understand the user's goals from Step 0, nail down the specific buyer criteria. Fill in any gaps by asking targeted questions (one at a time):

Buyer Persona: Who buys? Decision-maker vs. influencer vs. end-user
Target Titles: VP Engineering, Head of Product, CTO, Director of Sales, etc.
Target Industries/Verticals: Where do your buyers work? Security, fintech, healthcare, SaaS, etc.
Company Segment: SMB (< 50), mid-market (50-500), enterprise (500+)
Company Characteristics: Funding stage, revenue range, tech stack
Geography: Countries, states, cities
Exclusions: Industries to skip, competitors, company types to avoid
Additional Filters: Years in role, keywords, specific companies to include/exclude

Step 2: Create ICP Document

Save ICP definition to .business_growth/sales/campaigns/<campaign_id>/icp.md:

# ICP Definition

## Buyer Profile
- **Buyer Persona**: <decision-maker / influencer / end-user>
- **Titles**: <list of titles>
- **Problem We Solve**: <what pain point does this buyer have?>

## Target Companies
- **Industries/Verticals**: <list of industries>
- **Company Segment**: <SMB / Mid-market / Enterprise>
- **Company Size**: <employee count or revenue range>
- **Funding Stage**: <stages>
- **Geography**: <locations>

## Exclusions
- **Industries to Skip**: <e.g., agencies, consulting, government>
- **Competitors**: <companies to exclude>
- **Other Exclusions**: <e.g., no startups under 10 people>

## List Goals
- **Target Lead Count**: <estimated number of leads>
- **Sales Navigator**: <yes/no>

## Search Strategy
- **LinkedIn Search URL**: <url>
- **Filters Applied**: <description>

## Notes
<any additional context>

Step 3: Search LinkedIn

Get browser context with tabs_context_mcp
Navigate to the appropriate search tool:
- With Sales Navigator: Go to linkedin.com/sales/search/people - better filters (company size, seniority, years in role), higher limits, lead saving
- Without Sales Navigator: Use standard LinkedIn search at linkedin.com/search/results/people/
Apply search filters based on ICP
Take screenshot to verify results
Adjust filters if results don't match expected count

Important Rate Limits:

Sales Navigator: ~100 profile views/day, can save leads to lists
Standard LinkedIn: ~30 profiles/hour, ~100/day
Space out searches to avoid restrictions

Step 4: Extract Lead Data

For each prospect, capture:

Name: Full name
Title: Current job title
Company: Current employer
LinkedIn URL: Profile URL
Location: Geographic location
Headline: Profile headline

Use read_page to extract structured data from search results or profiles.

Step 5: Save Lead List

Create .business_growth/sales/campaigns/<campaign_id>/LIST.md:

# Lead List: <Descriptive Name>

## Metadata
- **Campaign**: <campaign_id>   # e.g., campaign_fintech_vp_eng
- **Created**: <ISO timestamp>
- **Source**: LinkedIn Search
- **ICP**: See icp.md
- **Total Leads**: <count>

## Leads

### 1. <Full Name>
- **LinkedIn**: <url>
- **Role**: <title> at <company>
- **Location**: <location>
- **Headline**: <headline>

### 2. <Full Name>
- **LinkedIn**: <url>
- **Role**: <title> at <company>
- **Location**: <location>
- **Headline**: <headline>

<!-- Continue for all leads -->

Step 6: Report Summary

Provide summary to user:

Total leads found
Breakdown by title/company/location
Recommendations for next steps (create campaign, research top prospects)
Any issues encountered (rate limits, restricted profiles)

Browser Tools Used

Tool	Purpose
`tabs_context_mcp`	Get browser context
`tabs_create_mcp`	Create new tab for LinkedIn
`navigate`	Go to LinkedIn search
`read_page`	Extract search results and profiles
`find`	Locate search filters and results
`form_input`	Enter search criteria
`computer`	Click, scroll, screenshot

Tips for Better Results

Use Boolean search: Combine terms with AND, OR, NOT
Leverage 2nd degree connections: Often higher response rates
Check for recent activity: Active profiles are more responsive
Note shared connections: Useful for warm introductions
Save search URL: Can rerun later for new prospects

Next Steps After List Building

Suggest to user (pass campaign_id to each):

Use /opportunity-master:lead-research <campaign_id> to research top prospects
Use /opportunity-master:campaign-creation <campaign_id> to create outreach campaign
Review and prioritize list before outreach

Global Decisions File

The .business_growth/sales/DECISIONS.md file stores user preferences to avoid repetitive questions:

# Sales Decisions & Defaults

## Last Updated
<ISO timestamp>

## Buyer Profile
- **Buyer Persona**: <decision-maker / influencer / end-user>
- **Target Titles**: <list of titles>
- **Problem We Solve**: <what pain point do we address?>

## Target Market
- **Industries/Verticals**: <list of industries>
- **Company Segment**: <SMB / Mid-market / Enterprise>
- **Geography**: <default regions>

## Exclusions
- **Industries to Skip**: <e.g., agencies, consulting, government>
- **Competitors**: <companies to always exclude>
- **Other Exclusions**: <company types to avoid>

## Tools
- **Sales Navigator**: <yes/no>

## Notes
<any other standing preferences>

When to update DECISIONS.md:

First time running list-building or lead-research
When user says "update my defaults"
When user's ICP fundamentally changes

list-building