What are effective sales prospecting research methods?

One thing I have found helpful here is to take segmenting an extra step to produce something that is scalable. Let me explain. Let's say you're targeting the Financial Services Industry. Your outreach needs to become more focused. So now you look at the persona within that industry that is your ICP, for example, the CFO. (Better but go deeper.) Next, you could focus on something specific about the persona, such as CFOs that have been in their role for 6 months or less. Now by crafting a message around this, you have something that is hyper-focused and relevant to a specific industry and persona, making your prospecting more likely to land. TL;DR 1. Focus on Industry 2. Focus on Persona 3. Focus on specific characteristics of Persona

My approach to this is. Spreadsheet industries you have strong use cases in. List out customers in those industries. Choose 5 customers to start with (same industry is better for this part). Research their business on their website and the internet. Get their business & financial report and look at their strategy. Use LinkedIn Navigator to build a search list of the 5 businesses and the ideal persona based on use case and decision maker. Filter down to people that have posted in the last 3-6 months. Build your research on tangible info. E.g I would google - Business name, the problem we solve the project. I am a Contact Centre sales specialist. I could look for projects like that or IT. Now personalise and reach out.

An example I have seen of this that is highly effective, but rarely used, is when sellers create content on LinkedIn and post about it. Some ppl post the content created by their marketing depts. This is better than nothing, but often it is overlooked or not read because it is too generic. The few that really are effective are the ones that customize their content. Writing your own content and posting it takes more time but is more likely to have your customers see you as a SME and reach out to you. PRO TIP: Create videos that you are talking in and getting your POV across. This is easier to consume and humanizes you. To be successful with this, you have to create the content consistently. One-and-done does not work.

This step is critical to create something that is relevant & personalized to your prospect. Here are a few things I have found helpful: 1. Do your research on three things: A. The company B. The prospect C. How you have helped other "similar" companies or personas with your solution. 2. If you leverage sites like Facebook, Instagram, etc that reveal personal information, be cautious about crossing a line in referencing that as you can come across creepy & stalker-like. 3. Leverage tools to help you speed up the research part. AI can be huge here. ChatGPT can be leveraged to rapidly analyze a 10-K and give you a solid POV. 4. Get to the point when reaching out your prospect. Relevancy can be quickly established through social proof.

Based on my experience , effective sales research methods involve thoroughly understanding the target market ( based on the company product , solutiond and service offerings ) , identifying client side key personals , analysing industry & technology trends. For example, using LinkedIn and company websites to gather information about potential clients and their business needs. Leveraging market reports & news articles to stay updated on industry developments in BFSI/Retail/Telecom , HLS/Mfg/Travel Logistics/FMCG/SLED. It is crucial to map out competitors strategies & offerings to differentiate our approach. Finally, engage in active networking & professional platforms to build relationships, gain insights from industry experts.