Nationwide search: one line of business across the whole country

If your customers can be anywhere in the country, a nationwide search brings them together into one target group. In the example, a workwear manufacturer looks for construction contractors in Hungary. The whole example runs in one conversation: remembers what you have said once, and each step moves on with just one condition. The same approach works for any line of business and any country.

This is for you if…

your customers work in one line of business, anywhere in the country;
you want to reach several hundred companies with one campaign;
your offer reads the same for a company in Szeged as for one in Győr.

What will be ready at the end

A checked target group of companies in that line of business, each with one sentence on why it fits, with a company email address suited to the task, in a campaign written for this segment. The target group stays: later you can extend it or put it into another campaign.

Six steps

Each step comes with the sentence you can copy into Apex, and what Apex does with it.

Say what you offer and who you are looking for
looks for your customers, so a good request contains both: what you offer, and who buys it. From that, Apex sets up the search: the country and the line of business. If the request is clear, it shows the first sample straight away; if the line of business is broad, it first suggests 3 to 5 narrower ones, for example general contractors, roofers and tilers, and you choose.
Where: the conversation with Apex; the search conditions in the results panel on the right
Ask ApexApex does it
We make workwear. We're looking for construction contractors across the whole country.
In the reply: 5 contractors with name and city, each with one sentence on why it fits, and the question whether to bring the rest.
Companies that work in several parts of the country
After the sample, it narrows with one condition and keeps the rest: Apex is still looking for construction contractors in Hungary, but now it brings the ones that take on work nationwide. Apex also looks at each company's area of operation, and checks it against the company's description too: whether it works locally, in its region, nationwide or in international markets. For a workwear manufacturer, a contractor working nationwide is a customer present across the whole country.
Where: in the results panel, among the search conditions
Ask ApexApex does it
I need the ones that take on work nationwide, not just in their own city.
In the reply: a new sample of the contractors that work nationwide, each with what in the company's description points to this.
Refining from the reasons
Look at the reasons in the sample. If there is a company among them that does not fit, for example a building supply merchant, say so. The line of business and the nationwide condition stay; Apex adds this criterion too and checks it for every further company.
Where: the conversation with Apex; the criteria in the results panel
Ask ApexApex does it
I don't want building supply merchants, only the ones that build themselves.
In the reply: a new sample, without the merchants.
Leave out the ones you have already contacted, then bring the rest
If the direction is right, Apex brings the rest of the companies in batches, with the same conditions: if you give no number, up to 100 in one batch, and more on request if they fit into your . Before that, exclude the ones you have already contacted: the companies in your campaigns and, if you have a tag for them, your existing customers. The batch is prepared in the background, and you can keep working in the meantime.
Where: in the results panel; the progress of the background batch, on the task card in the conversation
Ask ApexApex does it
Exclude anyone already in any of our campaigns, and bring 30 more companies.
In the reply: the batch starts; if the number you asked for does not fit into your allowance right now, how many do fit, and when the allowance refills.
Collecting the email addresses
Before putting the companies into a campaign, Apex collects their email addresses. A company's website often has several addresses: a general info@, an office address, a purchasing address or a manager's address. For each company, Apex picks the one that fits what you want to achieve: for workwear, for example, the address of whoever decides on purchasing. The chosen address becomes the company's address in the campaign.
Where: in the results panel; the chosen address on the company's record
Ask ApexApex does it
Collect the email addresses, and where there is one, pick the address of whoever handles purchasing.
In the reply: for how many companies it found an address and for how many it did not; you can reach the companies without an address by phone or by post.
A campaign for this segment
Apex creates the campaign, which stays stopped until you approve it, and adds the companies that have an address. You write the letters together with Apex for this segment, in terms contractors use, and you see each one before approval.
Where: Customer acquisition › Campaigns
Ask ApexApex does it; you approve the launch
Put the companies into a new campaign called “Contractors”.

What it costs

An example of the monthly fee. Plans are personal, per month, plus VAT.

The search is 's work and comes out of the : mainly checking and handing over the companies and collecting the email addresses. You can look at a company already handed over again at any time; that does not use the allowance again. The allowance has a 5-hour part and a weekly part, and both refill on their own.

On Apex Free you get 10 companies in total, enough to try out searching. For regular work you need the Start (€99) or Pro (€249) plan, per month, plus VAT; you can send campaign letters from the Start plan up. Pro's larger allowance is for anyone who searches a lot every day.

Frequently asked questions

What most people ask in this situation.

How many companies will it find?

The sample gives the first real signal of how dense the line of business is. After that, brings the companies batch by batch, as long as it finds ones that fit.

What size of companies come up?

Apex searches by a company's activity and area of operation; most websites do not give their headcount. What tells you more than size is described in Narrowing the field.

What happens to the ones without an email address?

They stay in the target group too, and you can reach them by phone or with a postal campaign; see What to use the results for.

Can I carry on later?

Yes. The search is kept, you can come back to it at any time, and Apex picks up where it left off.

What else can I ask for when searching?

You will find ready-made sentences in the Knowledge base: Target groups and search.

Pitfalls

What most people run into, and how to avoid it.

Your own product in the search

If you only mention workwear, the search pulls towards workwear manufacturers, your competitors. Always say who your customers are as well.

Several lines of business in one search

Contractors and cleaning companies buy workwear for different reasons. With separate searches, both groups are more precise, and you can make each one its own campaign written for that segment.

Exclusion after exclusion

If you add a new exclusion after every sample, the field runs out. In that case it is better to phrase the line of business differently, and helps with that.

Basics for this situation

If you want to look behind a step.

Set it up with Apex.

Tell Apex how many of you there are and how you work. Apex tells you which guide fits and, wherever it can, sets things up with your approval.

Free account, no card details · monthly fee, no minimum term

Nationwide search: one line of business across the whole country

Six steps

Say what you offer and who you are looking for

Companies that work in several parts of the country

Refining from the reasons

Leave out the ones you have already contacted, then bring the rest

Collecting the email addresses

A campaign for this segment