Stymied about what to say when you contact prospects? It can be especially tough if you feel like you don't know enough about their organizations to craft a relevant message. Recently, I received a note from someone who was frustrated with sales-call planning. She wrote:
"In your books, you talk about the importance of doing research prior to contacting a prospect. I'm having a hard time with that. I sell to marketing departments. But since companies don't share their information publicly, it's really tough to find out what issues they have. What should I do?"
And she's right. It's virtually impossible to find pertinent information online. Companies don't want to have their problems exposed to the public unless it's absolutely necessary.