There’s an overwhelming amount of sales pitch information you can gather before meeting with a prospect. Spending too much time researching one prospect can overload your mind with data you may not even use AND take away time you could be spending proactively preparing for other sales. Here are the types of research Toby Murdock, writing for Selling Power, says you should focus on for your next sales pitch.

Personalization

If you’re pitching to this company, you’ve obviously either found or been told how it can benefit from your product or service. Build on that. Find additional advantages your product or service could offer them. And if you realize another product or service would better suit the prospect, pitch that instead (or in addition to!). The sale is all about the prospect, so highlight how you can help them, and mention other companies you’ve aided in the past.

Review Past Mistakes

Failure is the ultimate teacher. Have you pitched this product or service to a similar prospect before and had the sale fall through? Think over that meeting. Where did things go wrong? Did you realize in hindsight that you could’ve fixed that problem if you had the information you do now? If you’re prepared for prospect objections and worries, you’ll know how to set their minds at ease immediately.

Plan Key Points

Once you have this information, plan out the key points you want to drive home to the client and make sure you cover them without getting sidetracked. Murdock recommends beginning with summarizing your prospect’s needs to make sure you fully understand them. Then, state the positives of your potential business relationship, supported by examples from current clients. Finally, “provide evidence that your solution is up to the task and will be delivered on time, on budget, with specific outcomes.” When you review your sales pitch information in advance, you'll have better outcomes.