Understanding your prospects

To create dead-on messages, you have to know the ins and outs of your prospect – from daily struggles to big-scheme goals.

Getting an in-depth knowledge of your prospect involves looking outside of the box. Don’t just rely on what the company’s “About Us” page can offer or a few insider comments. Get to know their industry, their competition, and what makes them stand out. This will make it much easier for you and the prospect to help each other out.

First and foremost, get to know the company.

Use your coach and research to help you gain knowledge of the company’s history, how they are organized, and their management team.

Secondly, take a look at the industry as a whole.

What are current concerns in the industry? What are some challenges that could be or are beginning to emerge for the industry? Examine how industry leaders are taking care of and preparing for these challenges.

Third, get to know the competition and what’s out there.

This will give you a good idea of where your prospect lies. Identify top companies that serve as major competition in the industry. Know what challenges are occurring in the industry and understand what the competition is doing to address these issues. These examinations will help you understand how your prospect compares to the competition – what are their strong points and what are their weaknesses?

Fourth, research what your prospects’ offerings are.

How is your prospect handling industry challenges? Analyze and identify ways that they are making themselves standout in the marketplace. Once you have a good understanding of the broad scope, zoom in on the products they are offering and how they address the outside problems.

Getting to know all about your prospect through the company, its industry, competition, and offerings will help you to not just look at your prospect from your point of view, but see your product from their point of view.