| If your selling geography is limited, meaning you | | | | quotation marks around the phrase.o Ask people |
| have a limited number of prospects to call on, | | | | with whom you are doing business in that industry |
| then you simply must make the cold call count. | | | | what they know about the company, or if they |
| One way to make your cold calls count and set | | | | know any important individuals within that |
| yourself apart from all the other salespeople is to | | | | organization. Ask them to refer you to those |
| gather information on your prospects. But, how | | | | people.o Ask around. Find any colleagues or other |
| can you get the information you need? | | | | business partners who have had any contact with |
| Ideas for gathering information before the cold | | | | the company. |
| callo Go to the prospect's company website. Read | | | | Following are some ideas regarding gathering |
| their mission statement, learn about their goals | | | | information on individuals:o Do a Google search on |
| and objectives, ascertain their financial situation, | | | | the Internet using the person's name.o Check out |
| and look for areas where they could benefit from | | | | the Who's Who directory in their area and see if |
| your product or service.o Read their annual report | | | | the person is listed.o Research school directories. |
| and absorb as much information as you can.o | | | | If you know where the person went to school or |
| Search newspapers for articles, advertising, and | | | | college, you may be able to get a yearbook at |
| other information.o Do a search via the Internet | | | | the school or local library.o Do a search on the |
| for articles and other items related to the | | | | local newspaper's website. Again, use the person's |
| company. If you type a company's name into a | | | | name.o Ask other people at companies you are |
| Google search, followed by the word "scam," you | | | | doing business with if they know the prospect |
| can often discover if a company has been | | | | personally, or know anything about him or her. |
| involved in any recent scandals. Just don't put | | | | Ask if you may you drop their name. |