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How to Exclude Roles When Using Clay to Build Company Lists

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Hi, I figured out how to use Clay to build a list of companies but I want to EXCLUDE companies who have someone in a certain position (or list of roles). How should I do that? None of the default filters really cover that use case.

  • Avatar of Channeled
    Channeled
    APP
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    To exclude companies with specific roles, you can use our Find People feature in combination with the Find Companies feature. Here's how: 1. Use Find People to create a list of individuals in the specific position or role you want to exclude. 2. When using Find Companies, use the "Exclude companies" option to select the table of people you created in step 1. This approach will filter out companies that have someone in the position you specified. If you need more detailed guidance or have trouble with this process, please let me know, and I'll be happy to provide further assistance.

  • Avatar of Smit V.
    Smit V.
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    Hi Jason, thank you for reaching out!

    You’re correct that the default filters in the ‘Find Companies’ feature don’t currently allow you to exclude companies based on whether they have someone in a specific position or set of roles. However, there’s a workaround you can use by combining the ‘Find People’ and ‘Find Companies’ features. Here’s how you can do it: 1. Create a List of People to Exclude: Start by using the ‘Find People’ feature to build a list of individuals who hold the roles or positions you want to exclude. For example, if you want to exclude companies with a CTO or Head of Marketing, you’d filter for those roles here. 2. Use the Exclusion Option in Find Companies: Next, when you’re setting up your ‘Find Companies’ search, look for the “Exclude companies” option. Here, you can select the table of people you created in step 1. This tells Clay to leave out any companies that appear in your people list—effectively excluding companies that have someone in the roles you specified. By following these steps, you’ll be able to filter out companies that have people in the positions you want to avoid, even though there isn’t a built-in filter for this use case yet. Let me know if I can help you with anything else :)

  • Avatar of J. S.
    J. S.
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    You can't get back to the initial screening filters when you've already made a companies table and the companies filter doesn't seem to accept the people as an input to exclude without premium

  • Avatar of J. S.
    J. S.
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    So this basically blows up my use case immediately out of the gate

  • Avatar of Bo (.
    Bo (.
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    Hey, You can handle this by first building your list of target companies, then adding a headcount by criteria search to check if each company has someone in the roles you want to exclude. Once that’s done, you can filter out any companies where the headcount result shows one or more matches. That way, you’re excluding companies that have people in those specific roles. Let me know if you’d like help setting up that filter logic.

  • Avatar of J. S.
    J. S.
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    I don't understand

  • Avatar of J. S.
    J. S.
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    I'm so frustrated - it seems like I can't edit the list of companies

  • Avatar of J. S.
    J. S.
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    Yeah, ok, my bp is up 50 points right now, I think I'm gonna abandon this product. Doesn't look like my use case is natively supported and these workarounds don't make any sense - people and companies seem like they're completely disconnected and only the use case of going deep into people at companies you want is supported

  • Avatar of Bo (.
    Bo (.
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    Hey, I get how frustrating this can be—especially when it feels like the product isn’t matching what you need. I recorded a quick video that walks through the steps more clearly: https://cln.sh/sqZ7LRPW Take a look when you’re ready, and if anything still feels off, I’m here to help.

  • Avatar of J. S.
    J. S.
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    Before I invest any time in that, can I do what I want without Premium?

  • Avatar of J. S.
    J. S.
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    If not, that's a wrap for me.

  • Avatar of Bo (.
    Bo (.
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    You’re totally fine to do that without Premium—no upgrade needed. It just uses credits! :) Let me know if you have more questions

  • Avatar of J. S.
    J. S.
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    I'm close to abandoning the product but I will try the video suggestion once

  • Avatar of J. S.
    J. S.
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    Ok the video was helpful, thanks. I'm going to keep working with it, for now.

  • Avatar of Owen C.
    Owen C.
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    Sounds great, let us know how else we can help! :)

  • Avatar of Channeled
    Channeled
    APP
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