The difference of a great one and an ordinary salesperson is that the great one understands the correct context

No one can become a great sprinter without having learned to walk. secondly, one must learn technique from the starting block. yes, all this takes time and practice. Anyone who tries to run before you can walk and learned technique to get out of the starting block quickly will in all probability not be a winner. The same goes for the one who will succeed in sales. You need to spend time to do research on potential prospects before you just send an email or call them.

Yes, it might take some extra time to do the research, but you will gain the time back in the other end. Nothing is more irritating for a CEO or senior executive to be contacted by someone who try to sell me a service or a product I don’t need. Firstly, you waste a potential customers time, secondly, you yourself loose valuable sales time that could have been spend on a customer who need your products or services. Therefore, the extra time to do the research can make a world of difference between a deal or a bust. By taking the time to understand the background of a company and the person you're trying to speak to, you can better frame a conversation.

No prospects are the same, therefore the prospects’ interactions also need to be different. Great salespeople take the time to collect information and then create more tailored experience from first touch. By creating relevancy, it is much more likely to engage a prospect and have a positive, meaningful conversation with the potential client.

#1 Research the prospect company

Visit the company website and make note of its mission and vision. At the end of the day, this company wants to be great at what it does, and if you can identify how your products or services can help the prospect to achieve its vision through benefits realization, your contact can give more meaningful value for your prospect.

Further I would advise you to do some more in-depth sleuthing that can provide a wider context to that information. Search for any recent third-party publications mentioning the prospective company -- is an industry blog talking about struggles that company is facing, or something the company is doing well? Who are its competitors? Do they use social media channels such as Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn? What is the company trying to communicate through its message? Has the company just published a post about a new product they’ve released, or about an event they were a part of? This kind of type of information can add relevancy when you reach out to start a conversation and allow you to send relevant information their way. What is the company CEO tweeting about?

# 2 research on key persons in the company

It’s incredibly important not only that you reach out to the right company, but also to the right person at that company. Are you talking to the resection who might be an influencer, a decision-maker, or someone who has no reason to ever talk to you about your product or service? First, look at the company website’s “About” and “Contact” pages. Does it list bios of employees? Do they have contact information for certain areas, etc. LinkedIn should also become your best friend. Do some digging around people listing your company of interest as their employer. Look for information such as recent job changes, their job function, and their education. What's their role? How long have they been at the current company? Someone who has only recently started may not have enough context about the company's needs or may have less influence in the decision-making process. 

# 3 Make a hypothesize pain points

Make a research to find out what the prospect company is doing to address their problems relevant to your product or service offerings. By narrowed it down, your list of potential people to reach out to, you should also look at these people's personal channels. What are they tweeting about? Are they part of a special-interest group on LinkedIn? It’s all about relevancy -- build an idea of who this person is, and what that person's pain points are within the context of their company's goals, before you reach out to them. As you research, hypothesize different scenarios a potential prospect might be facing so you can be prepared to address it. Is there any reason they wouldn’t buy your product or service? Is there any reason they couldn't be a potential customer? By knowing as much as you can about a potential prospect before you reach out can save you time and energy by reaching out to the right prospect, with the right message that is tailored to them, at the right time.

My advice is written through my experience as an management consult, chair of board of directors, CEO, senior executive and as a lecturer. Don’t reach out to a prospect without doing your research. Nothing is more annoying than an overzealous salesperson who is going to sell me service or product I DO NOT NEED!