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Prospect Email Discovery SOP

Purpose​

This SOP defines how to find a decision-maker's business email address for prospects identified through GHL Prospecting audit reports. The GHL Prospecting tool generates audit data (GBP, website, reviews, etc.) but does not return a contact person's email. This document fills that gap.

This SOP does not cover:

  • Client contacts obtained during onboarding (those come directly from the client)
  • Verifying audit report accuracy (see Audit Accuracy SOP)
  • Pipeline stage management (see Pipeline SOP)

When This Applies​

This process runs after an audit report passes the quality checklist and before creating the opportunity in the Prospecting Pipeline (Stage 1: Report Ready).

Audit report generated
       |
       v
Quality checklist passed (Audit Accuracy SOP)
       |
       v
>>> Email discovery (this SOP) <<<
       |
       v
Contact created/updated in GHL
       |
       v
Opportunity created at Stage 1: Report Ready (Pipeline SOP)

If the audit report already includes a verified contact email (rare), skip directly to Recording the Contact below.

Lookup Methods (Tiered)​

Work through the tiers in order. Stop at the first method that yields a verified email. Free sources first, paid tools only when free sources are exhausted.

Tier 1: Business Website​

  1. Visit the prospect's website (URL from the audit report)
  2. Check these pages in order: Contact, About, Our Team, Leadership, footer
  3. Look for a named person with a direct email address (e.g., john@smithlaw.com)
  4. If the site only shows a contact form with no email, move to Tier 2

Best for: Professional services (law firms, medical practices, accounting firms) that list partners/owners on their website.

Tier 2: Google Business Profile​

  1. Google the business name + city (e.g., "Smith Law Firm Southbury CT")
  2. Open the GBP listing and check the contact information section
  3. Note: GBP typically shows the business phone and website, not a personal email
  4. If the GBP listing shows an owner name (visible in some profiles), use that name for LinkedIn lookup (Tier 3)

Best for: Confirming the owner/manager name when the website doesn't list team members.

Tier 3: LinkedIn​

  1. Search LinkedIn for the business name
  2. Find the company page and look at the People section
  3. Identify the owner, partner, or manager (look for titles: Owner, Founder, Managing Partner, Principal)
  4. Check their profile's Contact Info section (click "Contact info" below their headline)
  5. If their email is listed, use it. If only a LinkedIn profile is available, note the name for Tier 4 or use LinkedIn as the contact method

Best for: Any business where the owner has a LinkedIn presence. Common for professional services and B2B.

Tier 4: Industry Directories​

Use industry-specific directories to find named contacts:

IndustryDirectoryWhat to Look For
Law firmsState bar association website (e.g., jud.ct.gov for CT)Attorney name, firm affiliation, sometimes email
Medical practicesState medical board, Healthgrades, ZocdocProvider name, practice affiliation
Accounting/CPAState CPA society, AICPA directoryCPA name, firm affiliation
General businessBBB (bbb.org), Yelp business owner profilesOwner name, sometimes email
Contractors/tradesState licensing boardLicense holder name, business address

Best for: Regulated industries where practitioners are listed in public registries.

Tier 5: GHL Data Enrichment​

  1. Open the GHL Marketplace (Settings > Integrations > Marketplace in the sub-account)
  2. Search for "data enrichment" or "email finder" apps
  3. If an approved enrichment app has been installed, follow its specific workflow to look up the contact
  4. Log the app used and result in the opportunity notes

Note: As of v1.0, no specific GHL enrichment app has been standardized. When one is selected, this section will be updated with step-by-step instructions.

Best for: Batch processing when scaling beyond manual lookup.

Tier 6: Third-Party Tools​

Use external email discovery tools. Start with free tiers before upgrading.

ToolFree TierLookup Method
Hunter.io25 searches/monthEnter the domain, returns known email patterns and verified addresses
Apollo.io50 credits/monthSearch by person name + company, returns email if in their database
Snov.io50 credits/monthDomain search or single email finder

Steps:

  1. Try the domain search first (enter the prospect's website domain)
  2. If no results, try a person search using the name found in Tiers 1-4
  3. Verify the returned email using the tool's built-in verification (most tools include this)
  4. Log which tool was used in the opportunity notes

Best for: When free manual methods (Tiers 1-4) don't yield results and the prospect is high-value enough to spend a credit on.

Email Validation Rules​

Before using any discovered email address, verify it meets these criteria:

Must Be a Person​

  • Use: john@smithlaw.com, jsmith@company.com, john.smith@company.com
  • Avoid: info@, admin@, contact@, hello@, noreply@, support@

If only a generic email is found (e.g., info@smithlaw.com), it is still usable as a last resort. Note this in the CRM record and adjust the email template:

  • Use "business owner" or "practice manager" instead of a first name
  • Add a note: "Generic email -- first name unknown"

Preferred Contact Hierarchy​

  1. Owner / Founder / Principal
  2. Managing Partner / Director
  3. Office Manager / Practice Manager
  4. Receptionist / Front Desk (last resort -- low conversion)

Domain Check​

The email domain should match the business website domain. A @gmail.com or @yahoo.com address is acceptable for small businesses that don't have a custom domain, but is less reliable.

Recording the Contact​

Once an email has been found and validated, create or update the contact record in GHL.

Required Fields​

FieldValueExample
first_nameContact's first nameJohn
last_nameContact's last name (if known)Smith
emailVerified email addressjohn@smithlaw.com
company_nameBusiness name from auditSmith Law Firm LLC
phoneBusiness phone from audit (if available)(203) 555-0100

Opportunity Fields​

FieldValue
Contact Identified ViaSet to the tier that produced the email: Website / LinkedIn / GBP / Directory / GHL Enrichment / Third-Party Tool

Tag​

Apply the tag prospecting-contact-verified to the contact record.

Batch Enrichment Process​

For scaling beyond one-at-a-time lookup (targeting 10-20 prospects per batch):

Steps​

  1. Export: Export the prospect list from GHL Prospecting (business name, website, city)
  2. Prepare: Create a CSV with columns: business_name, website, city, state
  3. Enrich: Run the CSV through an enrichment tool (Tier 5 or Tier 6):
    • Hunter.io: Use the "Bulk Domain Search" feature
    • Apollo.io: Use the "Import & Enrich" feature
    • GHL Enrichment App: Follow the app's batch processing workflow
  4. Import: Import enriched contacts back to GHL via CSV import (Contacts > Import)
  5. Quality Check: Spot-check 10% of imported contacts:
    • Verify the email domain matches the business website
    • Confirm the contact name appears on the business website or LinkedIn
    • Check for duplicates against existing CRM contacts
  6. Tag: Apply prospecting-contact-verified to all contacts that pass the quality check

Batch Size Guidelines​

Batch SizeRecommended Approach
1-5 prospectsManual lookup (Tiers 1-4)
6-20 prospectsManual for Tiers 1-4, batch tool for remaining
20+ prospectsFull batch enrichment (Tier 5 or 6)

Document History​

VersionDateChanges
1.02026-03-02Initial version -- tiered lookup methods, validation rules, batch enrichment process

Document Information

  • Version: 1.0
  • Created: 2026-03-02
  • Updated: 2026-03-02
  • Location: 04-operations/sops/sales-pipeline/prospect-email-discovery-sop.md