Some sellers don’t do any research at all while other sellers spend so much time doing research. You have to have a good balance. So what do you need to focus on when doing your research? Which data should you look at?
Companies with 100-500 employees have an average of 7 employees involved in the buying process which means there are more individuals coming in the call and only 13% of people believe that the sales rep can solve their problem. Your goal is to mitigate that and not just wing things. You have to come to the meeting prepared.
Strategies for maximizing your research:
- Identify your Dream 100.
The principle behind account-based selling is that instead of hunting with a net, hunt with a spear. Go after the ones who are the best for you.
- Have a simple prep call plan.
You have to prepare because you want to have some meaningful conversation with the prospect. Pull up the website. Look at the people in the organization and do a quick 10-second overview.
- Identify the purpose or problem.
Identify what is the purpose of the call and what is the problem you’re trying to solve. Identify the length of that meeting and who you’re meeting with. Identify what you need to learn which are things that you don’t know yet but need to know about or things that even if you’ve done your research, you can’t learn them so you need to know it from them. Identify your desired outcome. What do you want to get from this meeting?
- Use LinkedIn.
4 things to look for:
- Experience at their current job
- Connections
- Groups (See if there’s anything they’re active with)
- Recent activities (posts, nominations, awards, endorsement, etc.)
- Use Twitter
Twitter allows you to find out what your prospects are interested in based on what they share or recent articles they’ve tweet out. Look for trends based on the content they share.
Episode Resources:
Check out the TSE Hustler’s League or join our Facebook group The Sales Evangelizers
Predictable Prospecting by Marylou Tyler
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