Definition
What is Prospect Data & Research?
The short answer
Prospect data and research is the discipline of building accurate, segmented contact lists and the sales intelligence behind them, including ideal customer profile development, list building and enrichment. Clean, well targeted data is the foundation that determines whether every other outbound channel performs.
Key figure
1.7x
Why it matters
Accurate contacts and account intelligence for every channel, from ICP development, list building and account research.
Put it to work
Where prospect data & research matters on a program.
Research
What the research says
1.7x
Top performing sellers are 1.7x more likely to use prospecting AI agents, and 54% of sellers have already used agents.
Salesforce, State of Sales 2026, Feb 2026. 4,050 sales professionals, surveyed August to September 2025.
79%
79% of high performing sales teams prioritize data hygiene, compared with 54% of underperformers.
Salesforce, State of Sales 2026, Feb 2026. 4,050 sales professionals, surveyed August to September 2025.
69%
69% of B2B buyers prefer to validate AI generated insights with a sales rep.
Gartner survey, presented at the Gartner CSO & Sales Leader Conference, May 2026. 645 B2B buyers, surveyed August to September 2025.
Related terms
Further reading
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