## 🧰 Frameworks & Methodologies

### 1. ICP Research Framework (IRF)

**Step 1 — ICP Decomposition**
Break the Ideal Customer Profile into scorable dimensions:
| Dimension | Weight | Criteria |
|-----------|--------|----------|
| Firmographics | 25% | Industry, employee band, revenue, geography |
| Technographics | 20% | Required tech stack, complementary tools, displacement targets |
| Behavioral | 25% | Hiring patterns, funding, expansion, digital transformation signals |
| Organizational | 20% | Decision-making structure, budget ownership, procurement cycle |
| Exclusion | 10% | Hard disqualifiers (competitors, churned customers, bad fit industries) |

**Step 2 — Scoring Rubric (0-10)**
- 9-10: Tier A — Immediate outreach
- 7-8: Tier B — Strong fit, nurture or verify contact
- 5-6: Tier C — Monitor / trigger-based follow-up
- 0-4: Tier D — Disqualify (document reason)

---

### 2. SIGNAL Framework (Timing Intelligence)

Identify **why now** using signal categories:

| Code | Signal Type | Examples |
|------|-------------|----------|
| **S** — Structural | M&A, reorg, new leadership, office expansion |
| **I** — Investment | Funding round, budget increase, profitability milestone |
| **G** — Growth | Hiring surge, new market entry, product launch |
| **N** — Need | Job postings mentioning your category, RFP, public pain statements |
| **A** — Adoption | New tech installs (BuiltWith), vendor switches, stack changes |
| **L** — Legal/Compliance | New regulations forcing tool/process changes |

Score each account: **Signal Strength** (0-3 per category, max 18) → translate to Hot/Warm/Cold timing.

---

### 3. CONTACT Discovery Waterfall

Execute in order; stop at first 🟢 High confidence result:

1. **Official sources** — Company website leadership page, press releases, conference speaker bios
2. **Professional networks** — LinkedIn Sales Navigator (title + company filter)
3. **Enrichment platforms** — Apollo, ZoomInfo, Lusha, Clearbit
4. **Email pattern inference** — ONLY after finding a verified pattern from step 1-3; mark 🟡 Medium
5. **Phone discovery** — Company main line → ask for direct dial; ZoomInfo/Lusha verification

**Buying Committee Roles to Map:**
- Economic Buyer (budget authority)
- Technical Evaluator (architecture/security)
- Champion (internal advocate)
- Influencer (team lead, power user)
- Blocker (procurement, legal, incumbent vendor advocate)

---

### 4. LIST BUILD Pipeline (Research Ops Standard)

```
[ICP Intake] → [Universe Scan] → [Firmographic Filter] → [Technographic Filter]
     ↓
[Signal Scoring] → [Contact Waterfall] → [Dedup & Merge] → [Tier Assignment]
     ↓
[QA Spot-Check] → [CRM Field Map] → [Deliver + Metadata]
```

**Batch sizing**: 25-50 accounts per batch for QA integrity.
**QA protocol**: Random 10% spot-check of Tier A leads before delivery.

---

### 5. TECHNOGRAPHIC Research Method

| Source | What It Reveals |
|--------|-----------------|
| BuiltWith / Wappalyzer | Web stack, martech, analytics tools |
| Job postings | Required skills, internal tools, migration signals |
| GitHub / engineering blogs | Open-source adoption, technical maturity |
| Vendor case studies | Incumbent solutions (displacement opportunities) |
| StackShare | Self-reported tooling |

Build a **Tech Fit Matrix**: Required ✅ | Complementary 🔶 | Conflicting ❌ | Unknown ⚪

---

### 6. ACCOUNT Brief — 5-Point Intelligence Pack

Every Tier A account gets:
1. **Company Snapshot** (firmographics + funding)
2. **SIGNAL Analysis** (timing score + top 3 signals)
3. **Buying Committee Map** (≥2 contacts with roles)
4. **Competitive Context** (incumbent, whitespace, displacement angle)
5. **Outreach Hook** (signal-tied, personalized, 1-2 sentences)

---

### 7. CRM Field Mapping Standard

| Research Field | Salesforce | HubSpot |
|---------------|------------|---------|
| ICP Score | Custom: ICP_Score__c | icp_score |
| Tier | Custom: Lead_Tier__c | lead_tier |
| Confidence | Custom: Data_Confidence__c | data_confidence |
| Signal Summary | Custom: Timing_Signals__c | timing_signals |
| Research Date | Custom: Research_Date__c | research_date |
| Source Notes | Custom: Research_Notes__c | research_notes |

---

### 8. Competitive Displacement Analysis

For each target account:
- **Incumbent**: What they likely use today (evidence + confidence)
- **Pain Indicators**: Contract renewal timing, negative reviews, job posts seeking alternatives
- **Displacement Angle**: Specific capability gap your user can exploit
- **Landmine**: Relationships, long-term contracts, or technical lock-in risks