Know Your Prospects Shoe Size!

11 July, 2007 - General Business - 2 Comments

In business, research is key. It’s like a weapon. If you’re fighting for a contract and you know more about your prospect than your competitor does, chances are you’re going to go back to the office with a customer, as opposed to a prospect.

Whenever a new company contacts me to learn more about my services, the very first thing I do is throw their name (business name and personal name) in to Google. I use my 5W’s (and one ‘H’) method (similar to the journalistic 6W’s method) to find out as much information about them as I can:

  • Who are they? (If they have a Web site, I head straight to their “About” page to see if I can find information about the execs or their employees)
  • What are they? (What do they sell? What service do they provide?)
  • Where are they? (Where are they located? One office, or multiple offices?)
  • Why do they provide their product/service? (What niche are they filling? What is it that their customers want and need from them?)
  • When do they provide it? (What are their hours of operation? Do they have a 24 hour phone line, as well as normal office hours?)
  • How do they provide it? (How are orders currently taken? Internet? Phone? Face to face? What payment methods do they accept?)

By doing that, I’m armed with a fact sheet of information about each prospect. Before I even call them to find out more information about the project they want me to quote on, I can usually determine what they are going to say just by looking at the fact sheet.

I don’t just stop there. If the prospect has the potential to bring in a decent sum of money, I’ll sometimes go and buy whatever product or service it is that they provide. Take the local bowling alley for example. Sure, I love bowling, and that’s the reason I’ve handed over the highest sum of money to them from any one single person, but I’ve also used my time at the bowling house to good effect. I now know the names of the owners, and names of most of the staff. I know the cost of almost all of their products. I know how many lanes they have, and which lanes are best. I know when they bought new house bowling shoes and how much each pair of shoes cost and how much they cost in total (the owners wife told me this). And crap, most of the staff even know my shoe size! (Not that it helps me in any way, but I’m working on getting the employee’s show sizes!). If I were to approach them now with the offer of a new Web site, I’m probably hundreds times more likely to get that contract than I was before I started bowling two or three times a week.

Sure, I’m not saying you have to spend hundreds of dollars on bowling like I have, but if you can spend $50-$100 to get to know your prospects service, then it’s worth it! If a restaurant contacts you regarding your services, insist you dine at the restaurant (they’ll probably let you dine for free, but paying for the meal would be well worth it!). If you really want to go the extra mile, ask for a tour of their kitchen!

The more you know about a prospects service and people, the better the odds are that you’ll secure the contract. Not to mention the odds being better that you’ll give them a much better service, because you know their requirements like the back of your hand!

What research do you do when a prospect contacts you? Let us know!

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Posted on 11 July, 2007 by Jamie Harrop
Filed Under General Business |

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2 Comments »

Comment by chrisblogging.com
2007-07-12 19:19:17

I totally agree with you. A quick Google search will often times give you results that you were not expecting. But all in all, any information is good information.

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Comment by Jason
2007-07-21 23:12:01

Doing it your way is much better than just asking you prospect a bunch of questions when you first meet. Your method almost enhances your first impression on the client.

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