Research, research, and research some more!

The other day I heard on TV that Donald Trump learned his success strategies from his father, who was a very successful real estate developer himself. According to the program it was stated that the reason Trump's father was successful (and the one of the important factors to Trump's own success) was that he always made it a point to find out the cost of everything. This gave him a lot of leverage in negotiating with contractors.

So the question is that does this principle apply to all industries? The answer is most definitely yes. Not only does this principle apply to all industries but it applies to all areas of life and work. It is even more relevant when dealing with not only vendors but also clients.

Before you make that call to a prospect make time to research that prospects business and industry information. You should plan to make "research" a regular task in your approach planning.

If your prospect/client is a publically traded company then the research is easy. Just go on their website and read up on the company, any latest news, etc. Go to the public library or a book store and scan through some industry related publications, trade magazines. Scan through the news paper or web for industry or company related news published on blogs and other non-traditional news medium. You can also subscribe to sites that offer public company research such as Bloomberg, Hoovers, etc.

If your prospect is private then you can still do industry research. You can contact their local chamber of commerce and find out about them i.e. if they are a member. If they have a site, you can scan for information there as well. As with publically traded firms, scan their industry related trade journals and other publications.

In summation, do your homework. Be prepared to talk intelligently about the prospect/client's industry and other news that affects their business. A little prep time will make you stand out from your competition.

Till next time...

Sal
www.salmankkhan.com