Despite its importance, salespeople don’t spend a lot of time doing prospect research. In fact, SalesFuel found that before calls, only:

• 30% of sellers research the tendencies of their ideal customers
• 35% review a prospect’s website
• 36% stay up to date on the prospect’s industry
• 25% look at the prospect’s social media

SalesFuel also revealed that buyers want to work with sellers who know them, and their business, well. This identifies a clear gap when it comes to what buyers want and sellers’ actions.

Why do prospect research?

To connect with buyers and show you understand their needs, you must have knowledge about every facet of their business.

A thorough understanding is the only way to effectively position yourself, and your solution, as a winning choice. And you’ll also know important details, like their communication preferences, that can strengthen the relationship.

You’ll find that trust and credibility follow when you’ve learned about a prospect and demonstrated that knowledge. They will see that you’ve taken the time to learn about them. And you’ve been thoughtful about how your solution can have a positive impact.

Doing prospect research can also save you time. Your findings can uncover whether or not a prospect would be a good fit. Proper qualification ensures that you don’t pursue leads that aren’t worth your efforts.

What to look for

The more types of intelligence you gather, the more well-​rounded the knowledge you gain.

Basic information, like company details and their offerings, should always be covered. Then, expand your research to include broader intelligence, including:

• Industry: current challenges and opportunities in the industry
• Competitors: main competitors, their strengths and weaknesses
• News: relevant announcements or events
• Pain points: their key challenges and frustrations
• Customers: key business issues and objectives
• Software stack: tools and technologies they use
• Workflow: how they currently operate
• Financial performance: profitability status
• Communication preferences/​availability: tailor outreach efforts based on specific needs and usage

Methods for learning about leads

There are many resources available for quality research. HubSpot’s Jay Fuchs discusses the topic in a recent article. He shares insights from other sales professionals, highlighting their best research practices.

 He admits that some of these methods are “unconventional,” but they are effective.

“While there are certain tried-​and-​true methods you already probably know,” he writes.

“…there are some other more ‘under the radar’ ones you might want to consider."

One example comes from Marcin Pienkowski of Think Beyond. He shares that while traditional prospect research methods, like browsing LinkedIn, can be effective, he discovered a more insightful approach.

By observing how prospects express frustrations online, he gets a look into their challenges.

“Decision-​makers rarely announce, ‘We have a problem,’ but they drop hints everywhere,” he explains.

He explains how prospects can be found posting about vendor issues or needs. Or they comment on industry posts about challenges they’re facing.

“These aren‘t just random gripes — they’re invitations to start the right conversation."

These peeks into their discontent open major opportunities for you to promote your solution’s benefits. You can position yourself to perfectly address the pain points they’ve mentioned.

Use digital shadowing

Another way to research prospects is to engage in what Simify’s Mac Steer calls “digital shadowing.” Rather than relying only on traditional research or sales data, he adds an additional approach.

Steer studies a prospect's digital presence by examining their social media and assessing their website’s user experience. Subscribing to newsletters or product trials helps gain key insights into their brand, customer interactions and potential pain points.

“This approach allows me to understand not just what they do, but how they think and operate,” Steer says.

These are just two nontraditional ways to conduct prospect research. For more tips on boosting your pre-​call knowledge, take a look at these other suggestions.  

Photo by Polina Zimmerman