In earlier articles, we talked about the buyer having the ability to find information and resources available to them online through researching anything they may want. In fact, today’s buyer will complete 60% of the sales process or the buying process before ever consulting with a salesperson.
For traditional salespeople, that information is haunting and scary especially for those that are order takers and do not bring any real value to the customer throughout the buying process.
For those of us that are open and willing to help, this is a great opportunity as we can meet these buyers through their research process in every step in the buyer journey. I’ve included below a few ways in which you can collect research on a prospect and ensure that you bring value. You will want to start first by looking at
- Company Information
- Their company size
- Annual revenue
- What they sell
- Who they sell
- The role of the lead you’re targeting
- Are there other key players that are involved?
- Understand the business
- Company news
- Funding
- Are they hiring
- Territory expansion
- Upcoming events
- LinkedIn profiles
- Shared contacts
- Shared groups
- Use social media to look into them
73% of salespeople that use social media actually outperform their colleagues. Is your lead rescheduling or researching others needs?
Look up lead intelligence monitor your leads engagement with your company are they downloading information and looking at content, visiting your website and reading your emails? If so what is resonating with them? Look at their about page and see what upcoming events there are and who are the directors or advisers in these events. Find out what is in the press by looking up their case studies. Who are they working with and what are they typically sell.