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gotchas.md

152 lines · small-business/skills/lead-finder/reference/gotchas.md at 2574e29

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1# Gotchas
2
3Failure modes that produce a list nobody calls, or worse, one that damages the owner.
4
5---
6

Gotchas

Failure modes that produce a list nobody calls, or worse, one that damages the owner.

Raw lines 1 to 6
7## Gotcha: asking the owner to describe their ideal customer
8
9**Why it matters:** Owners describe who they wish they sold to. The data describes who actually pays. These differ in a way that matters, and the gap is usually the whole insight.

Gotcha: asking the owner to describe their ideal customer

Why it matters: Owners describe who they wish they sold to. The data describes who actually pays. These differ in a way that matters, and the gap is usually the whole insight.

Raw lines 7 to 10
11### Bad
13```
14Claude: "Who's your ideal customer?"
15Owner: "Mid-size commercial clients, really anyone who values quality."
16```
18That produces a search with no usable filters.

Bad

Claude: "Who's your ideal customer?"
Owner:  "Mid-size commercial clients, really anyone who values quality."

That produces a search with no usable filters.

Raw lines 11 to 19
20### Good
22```
23Claude: [reads 340 customers from QuickBooks, ranks by value, compares quartiles]
24 "Your best customers are commercial property managers with 3 to 15
25 buildings inside 25 miles, who came by referral. Your worst are
26 residential emergency calls from search ads. Does that match?"
27Owner: "Yes — but over 15 buildings they go to the big regional firms."
28```
30The owner's job is to correct the profile, not to invent it.
32---

Good

Claude: [reads 340 customers from QuickBooks, ranks by value, compares quartiles]
        "Your best customers are commercial property managers with 3 to 15
        buildings inside 25 miles, who came by referral. Your worst are
        residential emergency calls from search ads. Does that match?"
Owner:  "Yes — but over 15 buildings they go to the big regional firms."

The owner's job is to correct the profile, not to invent it.

Raw lines 20 to 33
34## Gotcha: the five-hundred-row list
36**Why it matters:** A huge list transfers the qualification work back to the owner, which is the work they were trying to hand off. They open it, cannot tell where to start, and never open it again.

Gotcha: the five-hundred-row list

Why it matters: A huge list transfers the qualification work back to the owner, which is the work they were trying to hand off. They open it, cannot tell where to start, and never open it again.

Raw lines 34 to 37
38### Bad
40Scrape every company in the category within 50 miles. Deliver 512 rows.

Bad

Scrape every company in the category within 50 miles. Deliver 512 rows.

Raw lines 38 to 41
42### Good
44Forty to sixty rows, each with a reason to call, sorted by score. Say what was cut and why:
46```
4747 companies met the bar; 61 more were found and cut for weak fit.
48```
50---

Good

Forty to sixty rows, each with a reason to call, sorted by score. Say what was cut and why:

47 companies met the bar; 61 more were found and cut for weak fit.
Raw lines 42 to 51
52## Gotcha: a fabricated email address
54**Why it matters:** This is the most damaging failure in the skill. Sending to guessed addresses at volume gets the owner's sending domain flagged. That hurts their real customer email for months, and they will not connect it to a prospect list from six weeks ago.

Gotcha: a fabricated email address

Why it matters: This is the most damaging failure in the skill. Sending to guessed addresses at volume gets the owner's sending domain flagged. That hurts their real customer email for months, and they will not connect it to a prospect list from six weeks ago.

Raw lines 52 to 55
56### Bad
58```
59Contact: dana.whitfield@ridgelinepg.com
60```
62Constructed from a naming pattern and presented as fact.

Bad

Contact: dana.whitfield@ridgelinepg.com

Constructed from a naming pattern and presented as fact.

Raw lines 56 to 63
64### Good
66```
67Contact: Dana Whitfield, Facilities Director
68Route: dana.whitfield@ridgelinepg.com
69Confidence: inferred — pattern-matched from two other addresses at this
70 company, not verified
71```
73The downstream outreach step treats inferred addresses differently. It can only do that if the confidence level is honest.
75---

Good

Contact: Dana Whitfield, Facilities Director
Route:   dana.whitfield@ridgelinepg.com
Confidence: inferred — pattern-matched from two other addresses at this
            company, not verified

The downstream outreach step treats inferred addresses differently. It can only do that if the confidence level is honest.

Raw lines 64 to 76
77## Gotcha: an invented buying signal
79**Why it matters:** The owner opens the call with the signal. If it is wrong, the call ends immediately and they stop trusting every row on the list.

Gotcha: an invented buying signal

Why it matters: The owner opens the call with the signal. If it is wrong, the call ends immediately and they stop trusting every row on the list.

Raw lines 77 to 80
81### Bad
83```
84Why now: Likely expanding based on industry trends
85```
87That is a guess wearing the costume of a fact.

Bad

Why now: Likely expanding based on industry trends

That is a guess wearing the costume of a fact.

Raw lines 81 to 88
89### Good
91```
92Why now: Filed a permit for a 7th building on Mar 14 (county records)
93```
95Or, honestly:
97```
98Why now: No specific trigger found — strong fit, cold approach
99```
101A row with no signal is fine. A row with a fictional one is not.
103---

Good

Why now: Filed a permit for a 7th building on Mar 14 (county records)

Or, honestly:

Why now: No specific trigger found — strong fit, cold approach

A row with no signal is fine. A row with a fictional one is not.

Raw lines 89 to 104
105## Gotcha: writing to the CRM without approval
107**Why it matters:** A bulk import of 47 companies and 39 contacts into a live CRM is hours to unwind if the owner did not want it, and there is no undo button they can reach.

Gotcha: writing to the CRM without approval

Why it matters: A bulk import of 47 companies and 39 contacts into a live CRM is hours to unwind if the owner did not want it, and there is no undo button they can reach.

Raw lines 105 to 108
109### Bad
111Create the records, then mention it.

Bad

Create the records, then mention it.

Raw lines 109 to 112
113### Good
115State exactly what will be created, including the tag and the confirmation that nothing existing changes. Wait for a yes.
117---

Good

State exactly what will be created, including the tag and the confirmation that nothing existing changes. Wait for a yes.

Raw lines 113 to 118
119## Gotcha: dead companies on the list
121**Why it matters:** Directories go stale. Three bounced calls in a row and the owner abandons the list, regardless of how good rows 4 through 47 are.

Gotcha: dead companies on the list

Why it matters: Directories go stale. Three bounced calls in a row and the owner abandons the list, regardless of how good rows 4 through 47 are.

Raw lines 119 to 122
123### Bad
125Take the association roster at face value.

Bad

Take the association roster at face value.

Raw lines 123 to 126
127### Good
129Confirm each company still exists and still looks active before it goes on the list. It is quick, and it protects the first ten rows — the only ones that get a chance to earn trust.
131---

Good

Confirm each company still exists and still looks active before it goes on the list. It is quick, and it protects the first ten rows — the only ones that get a chance to earn trust.

Raw lines 127 to 132
133## Gotcha: treating missing Apollo as a blocker
135**Why it matters:** Most owners in this segment have no data provider connected and never will. If the skill stalls without one, it does not work for the majority of its audience.

Gotcha: treating missing Apollo as a blocker

Why it matters: Most owners in this segment have no data provider connected and never will. If the skill stalls without one, it does not work for the majority of its audience.

Raw lines 133 to 136
137### Bad
139```
140"I need Apollo connected to build a prospect list."
141```

Bad

"I need Apollo connected to build a prospect list."
Raw lines 137 to 142
143### Good
145```
146"Apollo isn't connected, so I'll build this from public sources — permit
147filings, the property association roster, and review sites. Expect a shorter
148list than a data provider would give, but every row will be one I actually
149checked."
150```
152Web-sourced lists are often better per row. Say that plainly rather than apologizing for the path.

Good

"Apollo isn't connected, so I'll build this from public sources — permit
filings, the property association roster, and review sites. Expect a shorter
list than a data provider would give, but every row will be one I actually
checked."

Web-sourced lists are often better per row. Say that plainly rather than apologizing for the path.

Raw lines 143 to 152