The GetNoSite field notes
Web Design Prospecting Spreadsheet: Columns and Workflow
A prospecting spreadsheet should tell you what to do next, not just how many businesses you collected. For a web designer working with a local-business list, the useful structure separates original data, your review and the result of each conversation. You can build that structure in Excel or a spreadsheet tool you already use; the checklist and column map below are a starting layout, not a downloadable file.
The essentials
- Preserve the original delivered file and work from a separate copy.
- Give each prospect a review outcome, a stage and a specific next action.
- Track proposals and paid projects separately from rows added or calls attempted.
1. Preserve the source before adding your notes
Keep the delivered workbook or CSV unchanged as a reference. Create a working copy for your campaign and retain source attribution and any license information. If you later correct an address or discover a website, the original file lets you see what was supplied and what you changed.
Add a stable internal row identifier so your notes stay associated with the right establishment when sorting or filtering. The identifier does not need to be sophisticated: it needs to remain unchanged within your working file. Do not treat a business name alone as a unique key, since different establishments can share it.
2. Separate supplied fields from review fields
Start with the supplied name, activity, locality, address, public phone and optional email. Add your own website-review outcome, evidence reference, review date, campaign stage and next action. A short reason for including the business is more useful than a numerical score whose meaning you cannot explain.
Keep unknown values genuinely unknown. A blank email is not an invitation to invent one. A missing website field is not a completed review. Use a limited set of clear outcomes so that “uncertain” does not disappear among spelling variants or empty cells. The table below maps the three parts of the working sheet without changing the supplier’s delivery format.
| Group | Suggested columns | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Original data | Record ID, business, activity, city, address, phone, email, source | Preserve identity and supplied contact information |
| Your review | Website outcome, evidence URL, reviewed on, fit reason | Explain why a prospect belongs in the campaign |
| Your follow-up | Stage, last action, next action, next date, outcome | Keep a work queue and record actual progress |
3. Use stages that describe something observable
A workable sequence is “to review”, “ready to contact”, “contacted”, “conversation”, “proposal”, and “paid”. Add “not a fit” and “do not contact” as separate outcomes. Move a record because an action or response occurred, not because you feel optimistic about it.
For example, sending a message moves a record to contacted; it does not make it a conversation. A proposal is not a sale, and a paid project is not the same as the delivery of your own web-design work. Keep next action and next-action date alongside the stage so the sheet can produce a practical work queue.
4. Work one fictional record through the sheet
Suppose “Cedar Studio” is a fictional salon in your selected locality. Its supplied row contains a public phone, an address and no email. You add “to review” and search for the business’s web presence. A matching social profile is found, but the independent-site check remains uncertain, so your next action is “resolve website match”.
After resolving the identity, you can mark the record ready to contact if it fits your offer. If the owner later says they are not interested, record that response; do not label the row a qualified opportunity. If they ask for a proposal, enter the request and the agreed next action. This example illustrates bookkeeping, not an actual customer journey or a predicted conversion rate.
5. Protect phone numbers when importing
Phone numbers are identifiers, not quantities to calculate. When importing a CSV into Excel, use the import controls to treat the phone column as text, preserving country prefixes and leading zeros. Microsoft documents text import and automatic conversions; available menu labels depend on your version. Inspect a few rows after importing rather than assuming the formatting survived.
Avoid mixing your new tracking columns into the untouched source file. If you deduplicate your working copy, compare identity and location together: two branches may share a phone number while representing different establishments. Keep a note of exclusions so a later purchase does not immediately reintroduce businesses you already reviewed.
6. Review the campaign before buying more rows
At the end of a work session, filter for the next actions you can actually complete. Count reviewed records, businesses that fit, contact attempts, conversations, proposals and payments separately. Use these observed stages to locate friction: a list with no usable matches needs a different response from a list that generates conversations but no suitable proposals.
For a new batch, choose a city and niche that match the offer you intend to make. GetNoSite delivers a prospect list in Excel and CSV with public phones and optional emails; your campaign stages and notes remain your own working layer. Check availability below and select a quantity you can review and follow through, then compare the next batch using the same definitions.
Frequently asked questions
Does this article include a downloadable spreadsheet?
No. It provides a column map and workflow you can reproduce in your spreadsheet. A GetNoSite purchase supplies the business list as Excel and CSV, not a completed sales pipeline.
Should I count every contacted business as a sales opportunity?
No. Track contact attempts separately from replies, qualified conversations, proposals and payments. Use an explicit definition for each stage so your totals remain meaningful.
Sources and references
GetNoSite team
We build GetNoSite and document how to select and review local business data. These articles explain the method and its limits; they do not replace checking individual records.
Editorial approach
Hypothetical examples are labelled, sources are linked and dates are visible. Recommendations do not guarantee commercial outcomes or Google rankings.
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