Skip to main content
Blog

Before You Make that Call – Use Research to Stand Out from Your Competition

By January 23, 2010January 1st, 2020No Comments
stern, gruff, older executive, boss-looking, man in a chair advertisement from mcgraw hill, from 1958, moral use research

Article Summary:  You only have one chance to make a great first impression that prompts your prospect to say, “Tell me more.” You have to justify immediately why the other person should spend his or her time with you. Research to identify your prospect’s true pain points, opportunities for improvement, potential ways of doing things differently, ideas to improve, and so on. Generic emails, telephone calls, and office visits should be things of the past. Solid research helps spot trends, turns assumptions into facts, and most importantly, makes you stand out. Use competitive intelligence research to stack the odds of success in your favor.

Before You Make that Call – Use Research to Stand Out from Your Competition

Copyright © 2010. The Chief Storyteller®, LLC. and ThinkBusiness Magazine
Ira J. Koretsky
January 2010

One of my all-time favorite print advertisements is McGraw-Hill’s “Man in the Chair” from 1958. Wearing glasses, a bow tie, and a stern look, the seated executive looks right at you with his penetrating eyes and says…

I don’t know who you are.
I don’t know your company.
I don’t know your company’s product.
I don’t know what your company stands for.
I don’t know your company’s customers.
I don’t know your company’s record.
I don’t know your company’s reputation.
Now—what was it you wanted to sell me?

Moral:  Sales start before your salesman calls – with business publication advertising

In short, do your homework. Perform competitive intelligence research before making the call or in-person visit. You only have one chance to make a great first impression that prompts your prospect to say, “Tell me more.” You have to justify immediately why the other person should spend his or her time with you.

RESEARCH MAKES YOU STAND OUT

Research to identify your prospect’s true pain points, opportunities for improvement, potential ways of doing things differently, ideas to [blank], and so on. Generic emails, telephone calls, and office visits should be things of the past. Solid research helps spot trends, turns assumptions into facts, and most importantly, makes you stand out.

Focus your research on the stakeholder and the organization. For the stakeholder, look for education, accomplishments, resumes, affiliations, board memberships, previous employment, and other bio-data. For the organization, look for financial data, partnerships, clients, products and services, market and industry data, and so on.

As you conduct your research, here are ideas (see below) for using a variety of Internet sites to ensure that you are making the most out of your first impression and follow-on interactions. These are just a sampling of the hundreds of sources available for the United States. Note:  remember to fact check.

Leverage Social Media Sites

Social media is fantastic for performing research. Information is easy to access and often plentiful. Among the hundreds of sites, start with some of the most popular, including LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and Slideshare.net. Each site has a search tool offering comprehensive results.

Use Traditional and New Media Sources

Spend time with:

  1. National news sources like CNN, Financial Times, Google News Search, Los Angeles Times, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and Washington Post
  2. Local newspapers where your prospect is headquartered
  3. Trade and industry magazines related to your prospect’s industry
  4. Trade and industry magazines related to your prospect’s biggest customers
  5. Press release sources like Associated Press, PR Newswire, Reuters, and United Press International

For new media resources, look to blogs, online magazines, and newsletters. Start with blogs authored by the prospect’s organization and employees, especially individuals you expect to meet. Look to newsletters by the organization as well as newsletters by its customers, partners, competitors, and industry gurus and thought leaders. Additionally, you can often download presentations and papers from conference sites as well from websites such as Slideshare.

Use Analysts, Research Houses, and Bureaus

You have to open your wallet for access to this premier information. Some offer limited no-cost and low-cost resources. Visit D&B, Dow Jones Factiva, Edgar Online, SEC Edgar, Frost & Sullivan, Gartner, Hoovers, Yahoo Financial, Bloomberg News, and Zoominfo.

Knowledge is Power

Early in my career, I fell into the “not enough research” camp. Today, I use a variety of sources to ensure I am as well prepared as possible. On more than one occasion, I have found contacts in LinkedIn who have provided invaluable insights into a prospective organization. In Slideshare, I have located interesting and highly relevant product/service presentations. Arming myself with a wealth of information about the prospective organization and its stakeholders has both accelerated and deepened the effectiveness of those sales calls and visits.

Louis Pasteur, noted French chemist and microbiologist, said, “Le hasard ne favorise que les esprits préparés.” In English: “Chance favors only the prepared mind.” Use competitive intelligence research to stack the odds of success in your favor.

Contact us to learn more about better engaging with your stakeholders and target audiences with our communication, marketing, sales, and storytelling keynotes, workshops, coaching, and services.

Read More ThinkBusiness Articles

  1. When Nobody is Looking, Character Still Counts – Make Your Business Stories Credible (read)
  2. Shoulda, Woulda, Coulda – 5 Activities You Really Should Do (read)
  3. Business is Personal – 3 Tips to Accelerate Relationship Building with Small Talk (read)
  4. Make Networking Pay Off – How to Find the Right Events for You (read)
  5. The Art of Listening – 5 Ways Active Listening Improves Your Sales Success (read)
  6. Before You Make that Call – Use Research to Stand Out from Your Competition (this article)
  7. Treat Everyone Like a Key Decision Maker – How Improvisational Humor Training Helps You Sell (read)
  8. Avoid Foot in Mouse Syndrome: Write Emails that Generate Results, Part 1 (read)
  9. Special Delivery: How to Write Emails Audiences Will Open, Part 2 (read)
  10. Networking as a Sales Tool – 5 Sure-Fire Steps to Increase Sales Success (read)
  11. Thinking of Going Global? Use Social Media to Accelerate Your International Success (read)
  12. Better Blogging for Better Results – 8 Tips to Generate Opportunities from Blogging (read)
  13. The “What Do You Do?” Answer – A Key Tool in Your Sales Toolbox (read)
  14. Business is Personal – 3 Tips to Build Rapport in Sales Meetings (read)
  15. It’s Who Knows You – 3 Little Known Ways to Turn LinkedIn into a More Valuable Tool (read)
  16. Keep Your Top Customers Forever with Internal Champions, Part 1 (read)
  17. Keep Your Top Customers Forever with Internal Champions, Part 2 (read)
  18. Life Lessons – Everything I Learned About Sales, I Learned From My Parents (read)

Updated Content 2012, Updated header photograph 2018
Photography Source:  McGraw-Hill Magazines advertisement, 1958

Ira Koretsky

Ira Koretsky has built The Chief Storyteller® into one of the most recognized names in communication, especially business storytelling. He has delivered over 500 keynote presentations and workshops in nearly a dozen countries, in more than one hundred cities, across 30 plus industries. His specialties are simplifying the complex and communicating when the stakes are high. He is also an adjunct professor in public speaking and storytelling at the University of Maryland's Business School. With over 25 years of experience, he is a sought-after storytelling coach, global speaker, trainer, consultant, communication coach, and public speaking coach.