In 2025, sales prospecting is evolving at breakneck speed. Between the explosion of automation tools, the rise of artificial intelligence, and hypercompetition on communication channels, one question becomes central: how can you scale your prospecting without sacrificing personalization?
Many companies dream of a system capable of generating leads en masse, effortlessly, smoothly, and with a high conversion rate. But in reality, volume is no longer enough. It's the relevance of your approach that makes all the difference. Personalization is therefore not the enemy of scale: it's the lever.
In this article, we will detail a comprehensive method for increasing your prospecting volume while maintaining a high level of relationship quality.
Why is customization essential?
Today, B2B decision-makers receive dozens of solicitations every week. Most are ignored because they are too generic, too long, or simply irrelevant. If you want to stand out, your message must resonate with their challenges, their language, and their priorities.
Customization allows you to:
- Create an immediate emotional connection
- Show that you have done your homework
- Valuing the prospect's attention
And the figures speak for themselves:
- 📉 Generic messages have a response rate of less than 3%.
- 📈 Personalized messages can achieve response rates of 20 to 30% if well targeted.
But here's the dilemma: customization takes time, and time is scarce when you want to scale. The solution? Create a system that combines both.
Step 1 — Define customization levels
Not all of your targets deserve the same level of effort. The first step is to rank your prospects by strategic priority and tailor your level of personalization accordingly.
1. High level of personalization (1:1)
➡For strategic or high-potential accounts (ABM approach)
➡ Entirely handwritten message based on current events, business priorities, and weak signals (LinkedIn posts, fundraising, recruitment, new products, etc.)
2. Intermediate customization (1:few)
➡ For priority personas in the same sector or type of company
➡ Semi-automated message, with personalized data insertion (sector, position, common goal, specific figures)
3. Minimal customization (1:many)
➡ Pour générer du volume avec un ciblage plus large
➡ Message automatisé, mais segmentation très précise (ex : CTO dans la cybersécurité, <50 salariés, France)
This segmentation allows you to focus your efforts where they are most profitable.
Step 2 — Industrialize information gathering
Quality personalization relies on data. If you don't collect the right information, you'll remain in the dark.
Here is the essential data to collect for each prospect:
- Exact function
- Industry/target market
- Recent news (recruitment, fundraising, LinkedIn post, conference, etc.)
- Technology stack used
- Key objectives or issues
Useful tools:
- LinkedIn Sales Navigator (segmentation + monitoring)
- PhantomBuster / Captain Data (public data scraping)
- Insycle / Clay / Kaspr (email/phone/structure enrichment)
Create enriched persona profiles or ready-to-use Notion templates that your SDRs can use.
Step 3 — Create smart, modular templates
A good message should not be static. It should combine modular blocks (hook + interest + proposal + CTA) with dynamic variables.
Example of a modular template:
Hello {{firstName}},
I came across your profile following [event/LinkedIn post/fundraising]. At {{companyName}}, you are currently dealing with [identified challenge].
We help companies like {{companyName}} achieve [specific result] thanks to [your solution].
Would you like to talk about it for 10 minutes this week?
➡ Result: a targeted, fluid, professional message that can be automated without losing its impact.
Step 4 — Automate intelligently
Automation should not kill authenticity. It should support your strategy, not replace it.
Recommended tools:
- Lemlist: multichannel sequences (email + LinkedIn + call)
- LaGrowthMachine: orchestration and scenarios
- Apollo.io: enrichment + sequences
- Instantly.ai: mass email campaigns with advanced tracking
Best practices:
- Write sequences with progressive follow-ups (e.g., first contact message → second value proposition → third social proof → fourth short follow-up).
- A/B test your objects, headlines, and CTAs
- Monitor your bounce, open, and response rates
Step 5 — Measure, iterate, optimize
A good prospecting system is dynamic. It evolves according to:
- conversion rates
- the most common objections
- the most responsive personas
Create weekly dashboards:
- Open rate
- Click-through rate
- Positive responses
- Appointments obtained per campaign / per SDR
➡ Meet with your teams weekly to identify what is working (and what is not).
In summary
Scalability and customization are not incompatible. They are complementary if you structure your approach rigorously.
- Effective ICP/persona segmentation
- Tailored levels of customization
- Well-designed templates
- Tools that serve strategy, not the other way around
- A culture of continuous improvement
B2B prospecting in 2025 will no longer be a race for volume. It will be a race for relevance and scale.
