> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.waterfall.io/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Find decision-makers at target accounts

> Map roles across target accounts with Company Titles, then find relevant contacts with Prospector or Search Contact.

Turn a target account into a list of people to reach. Waterfall Prospector finds contacts at a company using the company's domain and the job titles you want to target. Results can include professional emails, roles, LinkedIn profiles, and locations, with phone enrichment available as an option.

Use this when you know the accounts you want to sell to and need contacts who match your buying personas. Your workflow decides who to contact.

## Map roles across your target accounts

Before searching for people, use [Company Titles](https://docs.waterfall.io/v1/company-titles-launcher.md) (Preview) to see which active job titles Waterfall has for each company. This helps you map roles across your target-account list, prioritize accounts, and refine your total addressable market (TAM).

For example, if you sell to revenue operations teams:

1. Request titles for each target company's domain and retrieve all available pages.
2. Flag accounts with relevant titles, such as "Head of Revenue Operations" or "Sales Operations Manager".
3. Prioritize those accounts, then use the titles to build Prospector filters or supply `title_lists` to [Search Contact](https://docs.waterfall.io/v1/search-contact-filters.md).

You can calculate the share of accounts with matching roles: if 60 of 100 accounts with returned title data have a match, that share is 60%. Track accounts with no title data separately. This measures role presence in the available data, not employee headcount; a missing title does not establish that a role is absent.

## Define the account and role

Each request needs a `domain` and either a `title_filter` or `title_filters`. Add the company LinkedIn URL when you have it. Set `limit` to the maximum number of contacts you want from that account.

This illustrative request looks for sales leaders and asks for up to five contacts:

```bash theme={null}
curl --request POST 'https://api.waterfall.io/v1/prospector' \
  --header "x-api-key: $WATERFALL_API_KEY" \
  --header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  --data '{
    "domain": "example.com",
    "title_filter": "(VP OR director OR head) AND sales",
    "limit": 5,
    "verified_only": false,
    "include_phones": false,
    "custom_fields": {
      "account_id": "account_204"
    }
  }'
```

Replace `example.com` with your target account. Prospector returns a `job_id`; use [Prospector Finder](https://docs.waterfall.io/v1/prospector-finder.md) or a `webhook_url` to receive the result. Inspect `output.persons` for the returned contacts.

## Refine who you want to reach

* **Target titles:** Use uppercase `AND`, `OR`, and `NOT` to combine role terms. See [title filters](https://docs.waterfall.io/v1/prospector-title-filter.md).
* **Try several personas:** Use up to five named `title_filters` in priority order. See [multiple title filters](https://docs.waterfall.io/v1/prospector-multiple-title-filters.md).
* **Focus on a region:** Add [location filters](https://docs.waterfall.io/v1/prospector-location-filter.md) for the contact's location. These filters do not describe the company's headquarters.
* **Exclude people you already have:** Pass up to 200 full names in `excluded_names`. Contacts excluded through this field incur no charge.
* **Request phone numbers:** Set `include_phones` to `true` when phone outreach is part of your workflow. Phone enrichment can add charges when numbers are found.

The requested limit is a maximum. An account may return fewer matching contacts, so review role fit and available channels before adding people to an outreach sequence.

## Should I use Prospector or Search Contact?

Use Prospector when you need people at a target account with email results. Use [Search Contact](https://docs.waterfall.io/v1/search-contact-launcher.md) to shortlist profiles at one company or across a filtered set of companies; its email and phone fields are redacted. Searching across companies requires a company country, industry, or headcount filter, plus a title filter or list and an experience start date. See [Search Contact filters](https://docs.waterfall.io/v1/search-contact-filters.md) for the accepted combinations.

To get contact details for a selected profile, pass its `linkedin_url` as `linkedin` to [Contact Enrichment](https://docs.waterfall.io/v1/contact-enrichment-launcher.md).

If you need to build the account list first, start with [Search Company](https://docs.waterfall.io/v1/search-company-launcher.md) (Preview).

## What does verified-only mean?

We strongly recommend `verified_only: false` to include safe-to-send and catch-all emails. Every email is verified in real time before delivery, though catch-all mailbox status can remain uncertain. The current default is `true`; a change to `false` is planned. See [email selection](https://docs.waterfall.io/v1/prospector-launcher.md#email-selection).

[Compare the APIs](https://docs.waterfall.io/v1/introduction.md), [review usage costs](https://docs.waterfall.io/v1/inline-usage.md), or [open the Prospector reference](https://docs.waterfall.io/v1/prospector-launcher.md).


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