What Do I Need to Tell ProspectPuffin to Get Started?

Updated

You only need to describe who you want to reach. ProspectPuffin's stated process is: "Tell us who you want to reach. We set up your search, research matching companies, and deliver your first results for free." So the input is a target definition — the companies or audience you want as customers — and everything else (search setup, company research, first results) is handled on their side. No credit card and no mandatory call are required to get those first results.

What "who you want to reach" actually means

Your job is to define the target, not to build a query. Based on how the service describes itself ("A lead search built around your business"), a useful brief answers three things:

  • Who you sell to — the type of company or buyer you want in your pipeline.
  • What makes them a fit — the signals or traits that separate a good match from a bad one.
  • What you offer — enough context that "matching companies" means something specific to your business.

The more concrete the target, the less room there is for the research to drift.

Turning a vague target into a usable brief

A target like "companies that need marketing help" gives the research almost nothing to work with. A target like "B2B SaaS companies with 20–100 employees that recently hired their first marketing lead" gives it a shape. The difference is specificity on the dimensions that matter to you.

Vague input Usable input
"Tech companies" "B2B SaaS, 20–100 employees, US or EU"
"Companies that need help" "Companies that just raised a seed round and have no in-house ops hire"
"Decision makers" "Heads of Marketing at the above"

You don't need to phrase these as filters or queries — just state the target clearly in plain language. The service sets up the search from your description.

A practical way to prepare your brief

Before you submit anything, write down:

  1. Your offer in one line. What you sell and to whom.
  2. Your best-fit customer profile. Industry, size, geography, stage, or whatever dimensions define fit for you.
  3. Two or three positive signals. Recent funding, a specific hire, a product launch, expansion into a new market — anything that suggests timing.
  4. Any hard exclusions. Competitors, existing customers, industries you don't serve.

Items 1–3 are what the research needs; item 4 keeps the results clean.

What you don't need to provide

  • No credit card. The first results are delivered free, per the site.
  • No mandatory call. You don't have to book a demo or sales conversation to get started.
  • No pre-built search or filter syntax. Setting up the search is part of what the service does.

Common sticking points

  • Too broad a target. If your description could apply to thousands of unrelated companies, the matches will feel random. Narrow on at least one dimension.
  • Describing your product instead of your customer. The research matches companies, so lead with who they are, not what you sell.
  • Leaving out timing signals. "Who they are" finds companies; "what just happened to them" finds companies worth contacting now.

What happens after you submit

The stated flow is: you describe the target → they set up the search → they research matching companies → they deliver your first results for free. Your only ongoing job is reviewing the results and refining the target if the matches miss.