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

# Find Decision Makers

> Find decision makers at a company by role, seniority, and company domain. Use it to pilot on a few rows, verify the output, and scale the workflow safely.

Deepline's contact-by-role waterfall searches Dropleads, Apollo, Icypeas, Prospeo, and Crustdata, accumulating results until a minimum threshold is met (default: 3 contacts). Research on 1.8M sales opportunities shows single-threaded deals close at roughly 5%, while engaging 5+ stakeholders reaches roughly 30% ([Gong](https://www.gong.io/blog/data-shows-top-reps-dont-just-sell-they-orchestrate-with-ai)).

You specify the role you want (e.g., "VP Engineering") and Deepline expands it to VP, Director, Head of, SVP, and other seniority variations. Just describe the roles you're targeting in natural language -- no template selection or UI configuration required.

## How do I find decision makers with Claude Code?

In Claude Code, type:

```
/deepline-gtm Find the VP of Sales and Head of Marketing at each company in targets.csv
```

```
/deepline-gtm Who are the decision makers for IT security at these companies?
```

```
/deepline-gtm Find 3 engineering leaders at stripe.com
```

**With Codex:**

```
codex "Find VP of Sales and Head of Marketing at each company in targets.csv"
```

## What does the decision maker search do step by step?

Deepline reads your company list and target roles, searches providers until the minimum result threshold is met, filters by role and seniority, and returns matching contacts. B2B data decays at roughly 22.5% per year ([HubSpot via Cognism](https://www.cognism.com/blog/data-decay)), so the 5-provider approach helps you find current stakeholders instead of stale records.

<Steps>
  <Step title="Parse target companies and roles">
    Deepline reads your company list and the roles you're looking for.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Search across providers">
    The company\_to\_contact\_by\_role waterfall fires, trying each provider until
    min\_results (default 3) are found.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Match by role and seniority">
    Results are filtered to match your requested titles, including expanded
    variations.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Return contact list">
    Matching contacts are returned with name, title, LinkedIn URL, and company
    info.
  </Step>
</Steps>

## Which providers does the decision maker waterfall use?

The decision maker waterfall uses 5 providers in sequence: Dropleads, Apollo, Icypeas, Prospeo, and Crustdata. Unlike email waterfalls that stop at the first valid hit, this waterfall accumulates results across providers until `min_results` is met (default: 3 contacts).

"VP Sales" expands to VP, Director, Head of, SVP, and other seniority variations. You don't need to specify every title variant.

<Accordion title="CLI command">
  ```bash theme={null}
  deepline tools execute company_to_contact_by_role_waterfall \
    --payload '{"domain":"stripe.com","role":"VP Engineering","min_results":3}'
  ```
</Accordion>

<Tip>
  Combine this with the email waterfall for a complete prospecting flow: find
  decision makers first, then enrich each contact with verified work emails.
</Tip>

***

**Related tasks:** [Find Work Email](/docs/plays/task-find-work-email) | [Enrich Company](/docs/plays/task-enrich-company) | [Prospecting and multi-signal outreach](/docs/plays/play-personalize-outreach)

## Frequently Asked Questions

### How do I find decision makers at a company using an API?

Use Deepline's `company_to_contact_by_role_waterfall` tool with the company domain and target role. Deepline searches Dropleads, Apollo, Icypeas, Prospeo, and Crustdata, expanding the role to include seniority variations. Call it via the CLI (`deepline tools execute`) or through Claude Code with a natural language prompt like "find 3 engineering leaders at stripe.com."

### Can I find decision makers in bulk from a CSV?

Yes. type `/deepline-gtm find the VP of Sales at each company in targets.csv` and Deepline reads your company list, searches for matching contacts at each company, and writes results back. Each company lookup searches across up to 5 providers. Always pilot with 3-5 companies first.

### How does Deepline handle role title variations?

Deepline expands role queries to include seniority variations. Searching for "VP Sales" also matches Director of Sales, Head of Sales, SVP Sales, and similar titles across all 5 providers. You specify the general role and seniority level; Deepline handles title permutations. Note: the decision maker waterfall accumulates results rather than stopping at the first match.

### What data do I get back for each decision maker?

Each returned contact includes: full name, current job title, LinkedIn profile URL, company name, and company domain. You can then enrich each contact further with verified work emails, phone numbers, or company data using other Deepline tasks.

### Why use Deepline for finding decision makers?

Ask for decision makers in plain English from your IDE or terminal and the 5-provider waterfall runs automatically. Deepline handles role expansion, provider selection, and result accumulation without any UI configuration -- and since it runs in your coding environment, you can chain decision maker discovery directly into downstream enrichment scripts.