Prospecting can be expensive, time consuming, frustrating and fruitless. But instead of viewing it as a necessary evil, a little research will make it rewarding and with a smile on your face it can even be fun!

In an ideal scenario, a salesperson researches prospects until he or she identifies a specific, high-value target, and then aims for that target with precision, like a sniper with a rifle. Many salespeople, however, use a proverbial shotgun instead. As the saying goes, “Many people aim at nothing and hit it with amazing accuracy!”

Research is Critical, But Sometimes a Phone Call is All it Takes

Sales strategies and tactics are always improved with research – from highly qualified referrals to cold calls and email marketing campaigns, make the most of the information you’ve got, you may have invested in list or spent good money on getting people to events with the right research you can add value easily and make the sales process considerably quicker.

It is possible, however, for the pendulum to swing too far in the other direction. Sometimes a salesperson becomes so caught up in conducting research that they forget to pick up the phone and get down to business. If they delay too long, there’s a good chance their competitor will have beat them to the punch.

What is the Best Strategy for Researching Leads?

In certain business environments, salespeople rely on in-house researchers, often interns, to conduct research on their behalf so that they can focus on selling. As such, it’s critical that information sharing and transfer is seamless – there’s no benefit if the salesperson forgets the details of a briefing conversation, or is handed a rough set of notes a few minutes before making a sales call. When researchers are situated in the same office as the salespeople, the close proximity encourages a natural flow of information. This is an especially healthy environment if the people conducting the research are also being trained as salespeople during the onboarding process.

However, no matter how much time you spend on LinkedIn and Google before you go, you can only gauge the true quality of a lead by getting out of the office, going to visit the prospect and learning more about him or her face-to-face or perhaps for a first meeting using the phone or Skype.

Create Consistency in Research Reporting

The “right way” to conduct research depends on the business, but the resulting research report should be concise and uniform. Most people aren’t going to read a 10-page document about a business. Setouts should be consistent across the team. Each piece of research should look the same every time, so each team member can interpret it in the way that works best for them.

In the age of information, people expect salespeople to know how to qualify a good opportunity before the first meeting. A good salesperson, however, seeks information beyond a prospect’s online presence. The information gleaned from exhaustive research, after all, is what the seller will use to challenge the prospect’s perception of the problem so the salesperson can begin to position their product as the solution.