Where to find prospects
B2B directories and what they are worth.
One test sorts them: is listing a deliberate act, or an automatic one.
In short
A trade directory only has prospecting value where listing is voluntary, and ideally paid. An entry created by its owner signals an active business looking for customers. An entry generated automatically from a public register signals nothing at all, and may describe a company that no longer trades.
The voluntary listing test
On a directory with voluntary listings, the presence of an entry is already information: someone took the time to fill it in, so the business is running, wants to be found, and has an acquisition budget. If listing is paid, add that the budget is committed.
On a directory populated automatically from public registers, an entry proves nothing. You have the same information as in the official register, less up to date, sometimes dressed up to look like enriched data.
The three uses that work
The first is spotting referrers. Sector directories and trade association member lists map out who matters in a market, which public registers do not tell you.
The second is qualification: a well-maintained entry, with recent references and photographs, teaches you in thirty seconds what a call would take ten minutes to uncover. The third is your own presence, where your clients genuinely search that way, which you can check by asking them.
What not to expect from them
A directory is not a prospecting list. Contact details are often generic, bulk extraction is usually prohibited by the terms of use, and manual copying costs more than it returns.
Treat them as a source of context and qualification, not volume. Volume is elsewhere.
Frequently asked questions
Should you pay to be listed?
Only once you have confirmed that your clients actually search that way. Ask your last five clients: their answer beats any promise of visibility.
Can you extract contacts from a directory?
Terms of use almost always forbid it, and automated extraction exposes you to legal action. Targeted consultation to qualify a prospect raises no such issue.
Are trade association directories better?
Usually yes: membership is voluntary, paid and renewed each year, which guarantees a list of businesses genuinely trading and invested in their trade.
Keep track of every follow-up
Lea CRM keeps your contacts, deals and reminders in one place, and shows you every morning what needs doing today.