5 Keys to Being a LinkedIn Sales Research Expert
As stated in my new book, Close Deals Faster: The 15 Shortcuts of the Asher Sales Method, “In a globalized, Internet based economy, there is no excuse for a salesperson not to have done thorough research on the buyer and their company prior to the first meeting.”
There’s still too many salespeople going on sales calls without doing at least a modicum of research. It’s puzzling, since the internet makes it very easy. Mastering sales closing techniques without also learning how to research prospects is folly.
For corporate sales, LinkedIn remains the top resource for sales research. Most sales people already use Premium, and many also invest in Sales Navigator. These make research and prospect discovery much easier and I highly recommend the investment. For the sake of this post I will take a general approach so as not to exclude those on the free plan.
Here are 5 keys to be a LinkedIn sales research expert.
- Research the Company
- Research the Industry
- Research the Individual
- Research Competing Firms Doing Business with Them
- Research Buyer’s Main Competitors