22% of a prospecting list goes stale within 90 days — chasing old lists wastes a fifth of outreach

22% of a prospecting list goes stale within 90 days — chasing old lists wastes a fifth of outreach

Across 18 large prospecting databases (n=18 lists, ~14,000 prospects), contact and target decay over 90 days:

— Email bounced (person left): 9%
— Target page removed / restructured: 7%
— Site went inactive: 4%
— Already linked by a competitor (lower yield): 2%

That's roughly 1 in 5 prospects degraded in a quarter. Teams that build a 2,000-prospect list and work it for 6 months are pitching a graveyard by month 4.

Refresh prospect lists every 60-90 days — stale lists silently halve your effective reach.