How to Research in B2B Sales: Use This Checklist to Feel Prepared
In her course on “Virtual Selling for Sales Professionals ,” best-selling author and sales trainer?Shari Levitin ?spells out exactly why it’s so important to get your research done before a sales meeting.
“Doing your homework not only shows your customers that you care, it separates you from your competitors and helps you build rapport and credibility faster,” she said.
But as we’ve all known since childhood, homework is not fun. It can be tedious and it can distract us from things we would much rather be doing.
Still, when you show up to a prospect call and don’t know your stuff, “My dog ate my research” won’t cut it. Buyers cite “not understanding my company and its needs” as one of the?biggest deal-breakers they run into .
To make the B2B sales research process as easy and efficient as possible, let’s run through a quick checklist of must-haves, drawn from the “Background Research That Distinguishes your Pitch ” video of Levitin’s course.
? Review the prospect’s personal interests and find creative ways to incorporate them.
This can be a great place to start because it will help you remember that your prospects are people, first and foremost. The best way to create a bond with someone is to find a genuine personal connection you share and can get excited about.
Don’t discredit anything you find, either. You never know what you and your prospect might spark a rapport over, and it’ll almost never be exactly what you think.?
“I built great rapport with somebody very influential just a few weeks ago talking about his King Charles Cavalier,” Levitin said.
? Mutual connections can establish credibility in a snap.
As Levitin said, “Bringing up mutual connections on a virtual call establishes instant credibility.”?
The research backs her up: prospects are?five times more likely to engage ?with a sales pro when they’re introduced through a mutual connection, and leading your call by mentioning that connection can increase the likelihood of scheduling a follow-up meeting by?up to 70% .?
So check LinkedIn to see if they know anyone that you know.
? Find out what they do in their current role, and what brought them there.
Levitin listed the points to know:?
Putting together this information won’t just contextualize your prospect, either. It’s the first step toward figuring out how to open in a way that appeals to that prospect’s unique positioning, needs, and concerns.
? Find trigger events to guide your conversation and spur action.?
Above all the other points on this checklist, trigger events are what you’re hoping your background research can lead you to, and researching your prospect’s position is a great way to start seeing them.
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But what are “trigger events”? Levitin defined the term through a simple series of questions:?
“What’s changed? Have there been any recent acquisitions or staffing changes? How about activity? What are they posting about and commenting on right now? What are they agreeing with, disagreeing with? Maybe they just posted about an award they won for diversity and inclusion. Compliment them on it during your call.”
When you’re looking for trigger events, you’re essentially looking for key context clues about what your prospect is doing and thinking about right?now. What are the pressing needs on their mind at this moment?
If you can open by addressing one of these trigger events, you’ll cut right past all of the awkward intros and “getting to know yous,” and get right down to brass tacks: how you can help them achieve their current goal.?
Levitin shared a perfect example in her course: “A friend of mine, a top seller named Karen Keating, always checks for trigger events prior to her sales calls, because as she puts it, new executives are more likely to make changes.”
As usual, the research bears this out: prospects are?65% more likely ?to accept your InMail if they switched jobs within the past 90 days.?
Why? Because they want to demonstrate they can make a big difference in their new job. That’s only one trigger event; there are more than you’d think. You just need to track them down.?
? Celebrate and build upon the achievements of your prospects.
Levitin shared another anecdote to illustrate this next checkbox: “A few months ago, before my sales call, I listened to a podcast given by the VP of the company. When I mentioned this at the beginning of the sales call, he became so animated that he extended the call by over 30 minutes.”
“And yeah, I got the deal.”
What are your prospects proud of? What do?they?want to talk about?
If you can find out, and connect those talking points back to your own product or service, you’ll have found a way to practically have your prospect start getting excited about what you have to offer all on their own.
? Use customer reviews to build urgency.
What everyone?else?says about your prospect and their business is just as important as how they portray themselves … and can be an even more useful way to find trigger events.
“Check out their company website,” Levitin said, “along with their Glassdoor reviews (if they’re public), financial statements, and, of course, their Yelp reviews. You need to know what their customers are saying about them. What works, what needs fixing?”
Most of today’s companies are rightfully very buyer-centric in mindset (just like you!), so when you’re able to come into a meeting and say, “Look, here’s where your customers are getting frustrated and how we can help,” you’re going to the other person’s attention.
Like the other checkboxes on this list, customer reviews will work most effectively in coordination with the others.?
When you can surface pain points or conversation-starters that touch on multiple areas – “We know you’ve been recognized as a genuinely helpful salesperson but customers are saying they’re frustrated with communication delays from your company” – then you’re really in the money.
And just like that, the homework is done. Feel free to go out and play