Saturday, November 7, 2009

5th Dimension of research for a probing dialog

In my last blog I wrote about researching about the person, the job function , the company and the industry
Finally time to complete the research piece for the dialog- In the mean time I found that some these ideas have been greatly dealt with in terms of the search engines and how to use them in a new book called "take the cold out of cold calling" http://www.takethecold.com/.

Take the time after putting your research on the above 4 dimensions to think like the person you will meet and try to find the top three likely competitors that may be on the fray. make sure you do a comparative analysis between your company products and services and theirs.

Yes this mans a lot of homework- but it only means you do it one time - after this your life is easier-!

Once you have done all you research - make a file for this customer , practice your pitch- and then get ready to make a phone call or meet in person! Since you can clearly focus on what the person is looking for- the dialog will be fruitful-

Let us take an example-

You get a lead from your web department that Mr John Carefull at AQUA Engineering downloaded brochures about equipment for desalination processes and identified himself as the design engineer.

Let us say your research reveals that aqua engineering designs and specifies and on occasion acts as the equipment buyer for global companies setting up plants in coastal areas with water restrictions. On their website they state that they wanted to be seen as the designer of the most reliable equipment. Also a quick linkedin search shows that John worked at GE before coming to Aqua Engineering- and you lucked because there is a facebook friend who is common to the two of you! Talking to your common friend you discover- they don't know each other well but meet off and on at the local bowling alley and John is an avid bowler!- So if you want to meet him directly, you know how to find him!

If you get john on the phone- that will be great but you could reach his voicemail- so have a powerful message that will make him call back- prepare this before you call-
such as

Hi John , I am ABC from XYZ company and we noticed you are interested in reliable equipment for desalination plants- In our latest equipment we particularly focused on long term reliability and maximum uptime and have some unique ways to achieve this. we have our own service centers in 24 strategic locations near coastal areas around the world to back this with great service. I would appreciate the opportunity to talk with you more about how we can best serve your needs and help you achieve your goals with your customers. Please call me at your earliest convenience
my number is....

I you get him on the phone- be prepared to talk about the same things and getting an appointment. Keep it short- create curiosity about your capability - your goal is to meet this person.

Next some probing questions and a template for account development!