Imagine this scenario for a moment: You’ve worked really hard to pin down a prospect, and you’ve secured an appointment. It wasn’t easy, but your hard work has paid off, and that appointment is coming up soon. You’ve mapped out your travel route and your timing, but your preparation is far from over. As a shampoo commercial famously taught us, “You’ve got one chance to make a first impression,” so you really want to get this right.
Okay; let’s get it right. Other than getting a good night’s sleep, and driving to your meeting site with your pen and paper in hand, what else should you do to prepare? This is an amazing time to not only get yourself ready for this meeting, but to subtly teach your prospect just how committed you are to working with them. To prepare, I’d suggest you focus on four bits of digital detective work:
The Company’s LinkedIn Page
Leveraging LinkedIn for research can be a great way to try and understand your prospects better, and, at the same time, build meaningful connections. Depending on the LinkedIn site, there’s a lot to take in, so try focusing on these three areas:
- Experience at his or her current job: Study your prospect’s current role carefully, including their primary job duties and any major projects they’ve been involved in. This can provide valuable information regarding his or her decision-making authority and position within the organization.
- Shared connections: Look for any mutual connections you might have with your prospect. Leveraging shared connections can help establish rapport and credibility during your conversation. Consider reaching out to your mutual connections for insights or introductions, which can significantly increase your chances of establishing a meaningful relationship with your prospect.
- Recent activity: Review your prospect’s recent activity on LinkedIn, including posts, comments, and shares. Engaging with their recent activity with a simple “like” or a comment, can also go a long way in initiating conversations and demonstrating your genuine interest in their work and their industry.
The Company’s Press Page
Press and media releases give you valuable context into how the company operates and has been performing. Being up to date on leadership changes, product releases, and company announcements, shows you’ve done your homework. It also allows you to have more targeted and meaningful conversations with the prospect.
The Company’s Blog Page
Read what your prospect writes, and if he or she maintains a blog, be sure to read some of the most recent. Referencing some of this content will typically put a smile on your prospect’s face. (Ahem – comments on my blog page puts a smile on my face every time!)
The Company’s Pain Points
Finding the areas where your prospect may be having challenges may provide your greatest challenge, but from a sales perspective, also has the potential to provide your most valuable information. You’ll need to really put on your digital detective hat to find this particular kind of information; companies don’t typically make a habit out of trumpeting to their customers the challenges they are experiencing.
Start by trying to understand how the company is currently addressing the problems or challenges that your product or service offerings can help solve. For instance, if you’re selling social media support, you’d want to look at how a company is currently trying to get its message out. Perhaps the company is focusing on Instagram, but has few postings, and, even fewer followers. You might want to ask questions like this: “I noticed that you tend to engage with Instagram: What have been some of the challenges you’ve experienced trying to get your audience to engage?” The information collected, before even reaching out, can turn you from a salesperson into a consultant. Instead of talking ata prospect, you’re starting a problem-solving process that you both have a stake in.
Becoming a digital detective, and spending the time necessary to truly understand your prospect’s business status, current news, opinions, and pain points, will allow you to build a much broader understanding of that individual, and his or her challenges and goals. This allows you to hit that ground running with conversations that build trust, and to narrow your focus on true problem-solving. Perhaps most importantly, it allows you to position yourself as a trusted business advisor, rather than just a vendor.
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Preparation is critical. Not five minutes before the zoom. Not on the way to the in-person meeting, if you’re fortunate to get that opportunity. You need to come to the meeting with ideas on how to help them solve their big problems. Great sales professionals do that.
I couldn’t agree with you more. Pre-call planning seems to be a lost art. The irony is, with all the digital information available, it’s actually easier than ever to prepare. Thanks for posting Fred!
I recently conducted a webinar on creating an effective elevator speech. The group included those selling a product and those seeking new employment or change of position. Your points were right on target and could be used by anyone in my group for the speech or follow up meeting. You always provide outstanding information.
That’s really interesting! I travel between those TWO groups as well, and don’t deviate much at all regarding the approach and sources of preparation. Thanks for posting… and the kind words Phyllis!
What you said about a company’s “pain points” lept out at me.
In the job search world, I learned that an applicant should inform the prospective employer about how she is equipped to deal with a company’s pain. That should be what the cover letter is about instead of the usual drivel.
Thanks for being on point.