targeting-exclude-existing-customerslisted

# Exclude existing customers from their own export, before the first send The exclusion list comes from a full export of current accounts (CRM, billing, customer list), and it is refreshed with every new batch. A list assembled from memory is incomplete. ## Why In our own work a cold pitch went out on behalf of a company to a director at another firm. He replied: "Hey dude. I think I am already a [company] client." The exclusion list had around two hundred companies, and his was missing, because the list was built from what people remembered, not from the account export. The cost does not land on the sender. The company sees its vendor pitching its own customer something they already bought. That costs more than any missed lead. ## How to apply 1. Before the first campaign, request one export of all current accounts: customers, active trials, open deals, partners. Ask for company domains, not only names. 2. Normalize domains (strip www, subdomains, tracking parameters) and match leads on domain first, company name second. 3. Add known subsidiaries and parent companies when the export shows them. 4. Refresh the list before every new batch, not once per quarter. 5. Until the export arrives, send batches in that market only after a manual check against the company's CRM. 6. When someone replies "we are already a customer", add the domain the same day and check how it was missed. ## Check before sending - [ ] The exclusion list came from a full export, with a date. - [ ] The