Hey, Scott from The Sales Mastermind here. Today’s edition only takes 2 minutes.
Sales is a lagging indicator - before you make a sale, a buyer must decide to buy. Therefore, elite sellers focus on helping the buyer make the decision instead of trying to sell.
To gain insight into our buyers' perspectives, we need to understand as much as possible about both the individual and their companies.
Often, it's better to start with research before validating your findings with the buyer and their wider organisation.
Begin by researching publicly available information about or from your buyer, the company itself, and other relevant sources.
To find the best publicly available information, start by looking through:
- Social media posts
- Required public reporting, such as Annual Reports
- Case studies or testimonials
- Customer review websites such as Google Reviews
- Employee review websites such as Glassdoor
- Job descriptions
- New articles
- Press releases
- Digital footprint tools such as BuiltWith
Once you have collected enough information, try asking AI to do the heavy lifting. An example prompt would be:
I am a at and want to sell , which solves for teams.
Using the attached public statements, please assess three different entry points into . Clearly outline which department to use as the entry point, which pain they are experiencing, and why my product is the best fit for them.
Alternatively, ask the AI to do the data collection too; this prompt works for tools like ChatGPT's Deep Research.
I am a at and want to sell , which solves .
Please explore as many publicly available data sources for , focusing on their , and outline how I can best engage with their team. Tell me which team or executive to use as the entry point, which pain they are experiencing, and why my product is the best fit for them.
Data sources to pull from include, but are not limited to:
- Social media posts
- Required public reporting, such as Annual Reports
- Case studies or testimonials
- Customer review websites such as Google Reviews
- Employee review websites such as Glassdoor
- Job descriptions
- New articles
- Press releases
- Digital footprint tools such as BuiltWith
Make sure to include all sources you use for this project.
Lastly, once you've done the research, validate everything by asking great questions of the buyer and everyone in their organisation, from top-level executives to individual contributors in departments where your product or service could improve the business.
If you want more; reach out to Pointer and join their annual membership for the full certification. Remember to tell them "Scott sent you"
Until next week,
Scott Cowley
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