How to write better AI prompts for prospecting
If your AI outputs sound generic 鈥 your inputs probably are too.
The best AI users aren鈥檛 tech wizards 鈥 they鈥檙e master communicators. And they鈥檝e learned to speak robot.
Like people, AI has its own way of understanding the world. And the only way to unlock its full potential is to meet it on its terms.
Prompting 鈥 the skill of feeding AI clear, strategic instructions 鈥 is what separates 10x outputs from mediocre ones. When you know how best to frame your inputs, you take control over the results, whether you鈥檙e targeting the right leads or crafting the perfect outreach.
In this article, walks you through how to structure prompts in a way that generative AI can interpret and process, using insights from conversations with prompting experts on how to get exactly what you want, every time.
Keep reading for a pressure-tested outbound prompt framework you can use to structure every prompt, plus templates for specific sales use cases.
Inside the brain of artificial intelligence
AI is only as useful as you make it.
from the Apollo Labs team says most people don鈥檛 explain what they want clearly enough.
鈥淎I isn鈥檛 an expert 鈥 it鈥檚 just all-knowing,鈥 he says. 鈥淎nd it鈥檚 almost too intelligent for its own good. If you don鈥檛 clearly explain what you鈥檙e looking for, it's not going to know what you want.鈥
How do you communicate with a mind that鈥檚 all data, no instinct? And, perhaps an even better question, how do you iterate on it? Converse with it?
With some help from Elliot 鈥 and a few tests 鈥 here are a few conclusions.
Tip #1: Create context 鈥渃lips鈥 for a richer output
Every scrap of detail you layer into your prompt will result in a better, richer output.
The specific context you give it will depend on what you鈥檙e asking from it; but there are a few snippets you鈥檒l find yourself reaching for time and time again as you write detailed sales prompts.
Such as these:
Write them out and store them somewhere accessible.
Apollo tested it out using the persona of a rep from and fed the AI tool information around hypothetical pain points and value propositions. The resulting email output is shown below.
Tip #2: Ask AI to self-reflect
The quality of your input directly determines the quality of your output. And, as has been established, to get the strongest possible results, you need to understand the way it reads language.
And what better way than to 鈥 just ask it?
Elliot does this with a simple line:
鈥淏efore you begin, return with five questions you have.鈥
A simple command that gets AI to poke holes in itself; to self-identify the gaps in its knowledge, the gaps in the prompt, and communicate back to him what it needed.
He was creating a real conversation.
鈥淚 guarantee you that you鈥檒l be pleasantly surprised with how well AI is understanding and thinking about very key aspects that you left out of your prompt. It鈥檚 going to make sure you get a much better output,鈥 he says.
When using this tactic, you鈥檒l see such benefits as:
- Better outputs, faster. More precise results with less trial and error.
- Less time spent rewriting prompts. Getting it right the first time saves effort.
- Learning AI鈥檚 鈥渓anguage.鈥 Understanding how it thinks, and it鈥檚 making you a stronger prompt writer.
Tip #3: AI prompting is a marathon 鈥 not a sprint
Like any other skill, prompting is something that develops and strengthens over time.
Elliot offers some perspective for any newbie. 鈥淚t鈥檚 completely normal for only half of your prompts to provide the exact output you are looking for at first,鈥 he says.
So, don't give up. When you get to the point where you鈥檙e using libraries of proven prompts to save hours daily, your future self will thank you for staying the course.
An outbound sales-specific prompt structure
If you're writing prompts to generate outbound emails, structure matters.
The quality of your output doesn't just depend on what you say; it depends on how you say it and in what order.
Here鈥檚 a recommended structure for outbound sales prompts.
Consider this as one of many strategies for getting a good output.
The team from Smartling with a much simpler Power-up prompt that uncovers if a website offers translation services:
鈥淟ook at the {{account.website_url}} of this {{account.name}} and determine if you can toggle between multiple languages. If it can be, then figure out if the website has any gaps in its translation. If so, return to what those reasons are.鈥
Prompting is often just a matter of knowing where to start and iterating from there.
In a recent template contest launched by Apollo, hundreds of folks submitted their most effective prompts in the hopes it might give other sales orgs a headstart, too.
A few standout contributors included:
- to automatically research for her construction company鈥檚 most important buying signal.
- directly into outbound messages
- And that digs up a prospect鈥檚 product, pricing, and market fit in just a few focused paragraphs
Boost your sales with AI-powered outbound
The better you are at framing your message, the better AI can work for you. And just like any good conversation, the more you refine, the better the results. When you鈥檙e ready, you can apply your new and improved prompts directly to your lead lists.
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