How to Prospect Local Businesses at Scale

The Scale Problem

If you're targeting local businesses, you know the challenge: there are thousands of potential customers in any city, but finding and contacting them one by one takes forever. The solution is building a system that scales your prospecting without losing the personal touch.

Phase 1: Build Your Target List in Batches

Instead of searching for leads ad hoc, batch your list building into focused sessions:

1. Pick a specific business type (e.g., "hair salons")
2. Pick a specific city or neighborhood
3. Use Easy Email Finder to search Google Places and extract emails
4. Export the results to a spreadsheet or CRM
5. Repeat for the next business type or location

In one focused hour, you can build lists for five different business types in your target market.

Phase 2: Segment Your Lists

Not all local businesses should get the same message. Segment your lists by:

• Industry: A message for dentists should differ from one for auto shops
• Size indicators: Review count and rating can signal business size
• Location: Reference the specific city or neighborhood in your outreach
• Online presence: Businesses with outdated websites may need different services than those with modern ones

Phase 3: Create Templates with Personalization Variables

Write email templates for each segment that include personalization hooks:

• Business name
• Owner name (when available)
• City or neighborhood
• Something specific about their business (their specialty, a recent review, etc.)

A template that says "Hi [Name], I noticed [Business] has great reviews in [City]" feels personal even when sent to 50 people.

Phase 4: Send in Controlled Batches

Don't blast 500 emails at once. Send 20-30 per day from a warmed-up email domain to maintain deliverability. Use scheduling tools to spread your sends throughout the day.

Phase 5: Follow Up Systematically

Create a follow-up sequence:

1. Initial email (Day 1)
2. Follow-up 1 (Day 3-4)
3. Follow-up 2 (Day 7)
4. Final follow-up (Day 14)

Most responses come from follow-ups, not the first email. Automate this sequence so nothing falls through the cracks.

The Multiplier Effect

When you combine Easy Email Finder for rapid list building with segmented templates and automated follow-ups, you can prospect hundreds of local businesses per week while spending just a few hours on the process. That's the power of scaling with systems.