Researching prospects before a discovery call

You know it’s essential to research well the prospects before the discovery call. Most sellers don’t do this well. They just surf the website. Learn to dig deeper. AI now offers you so many opportunities to extract quick and powerful information about the prospect. Search in LinkedIn, social media, press. Find information about industry trends, financials. Don’t just search for information on the prospect but on its customers and what they need. Then, have both organization-level research and individual-level research on the person you’ll be talking to, their role, and their potential engagement.

Why does this all matter? On a psychological standpoint, research earns a lot of attention from the prospect because you are signaling respect and status recognition. Research does not just show your knowledge. It shows you respect the prospects’ time, and they matter to you. Psychology also shows that assessments of credibility by prospects are made extremely fast. People don’t wait to form a judgment about your credibility. Research is effective at establishing credibility early on in the conversation. Prospects also feel more psychological safety when you demonstrate knowledge about them, and their cognitive load is lower, which makes the interaction more pleasurable. Last, an implicit sense of reciprocity will make them treat you nicely if you demonstrate knowledge about them.

How does your research influence the conversation in the discovery call? Three ways. First, as ice-breaker. One of the best ways to start the discovery call is by asking a question showing you are aware of what the company has been doing. And not just something everyone is aware of. Something more nuanced, that is not readability available or on the landing page of their website. Something hidden in a LinkedIn comment. “I have seen you have launched initiative X. How is it going?” Use LinkedIn to find what’s going on with the company and is still not readily available knowledge. When you ask the ice-breaker question, the thought of your prospect should be “How the hell does he know about this?” And you have established a connection.

Second, research is used to display credibility. Your knowledge of industry trends, challenges, and the company’s specific issues makes you perceived as an expert, as someone you want to have a conversation with.

Third, research is used to guide tailored discovery questions. If your questions are standardized, the quality of your conversation will be much lower, but the more knowledge you have about the industry and the company, the more guided the conversation is going to be and the higher engagement you’ll get from the prospects.

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