When I was fresh out of college, I did something that haunts me to this day. Before you make assumptions, let me just stop you and say, no, I did not get arrested. During my first year of study for a History MA, I applied for a job as a research assistant. To my surprise, I was called to interview with a professor who was writing a book on the American Founders. The job involved long days at the library fact-checking and researching, but I was okay with that; this was one of the things I enjoyed most about being a History major. I gleefully went to the interview, told the gentleman about my undergraduate degree and why I enjoyed American History. I politely asked him about himself, how long he had been at the university… all the pleasantries one engages in with an interviewer. When the interview was over, I got up, left the gentleman with a writing sample, told him it was nice meeting him and left the room.
That night my dinner companion said to me, “Do you realize who you just met with?” I naively said no. He proceeded to tell me that the professor I interviewed with was a noted expert in US Colonial and Revolutionary-era history… in addition to being a two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning author; a Jefferson Lecturer in 1998; and recipient of the National Humanities Medal in 2010. If you’d like to know who the professor was, I think you know what I’m about to say… Google it. I buried my head in my hands, embarrassed that I went through the entire interview not knowing a single thing about the man sitting before me except his name. Needless to say, I did not get the job.
Okay, so I was probably never going to make in onto a list of this professor’s notable students. But the experience did teach me a valuable lesson: never, ever, go into a meeting where you don’t know a thing about the person you’re meeting with. This is golden advice for any agency pitching a new business prospect as well.
Spend some quality time (online) together…
My interview took place before the days when a quick search would return a person’s life history. In fact, a brief Wikipedia search today taught me everything I would have needed to know to impress the professor and get the job. Today we have access to just about anything we need to know thanks to the worldwide web. That means when you score a meeting with a prospect, you should immediately set aside some quality time with Google. Get to know your prospect, consume their website, learn who they are and what they do. Become one with the prospect.
Get stalker-esque
Follow your prospect on their social media accounts. What is the expression—“the eyes are the window to the soul”? Well social media is undoubtedly the window to a potential new client. See who they follow, what they retweet, share or like. Reach out to them with links and shares that fit their interests, and seek interactions with them. Comment on their posts and try to become part of their network. Also, forge connections with the prospect’s connections. Does this seem a little intrusive to you? Maybe a little weird or stalker-ish? Truthfully, it kind of is… but the bottom line is, if they don’t want their info out there, then it wouldn’t be there. People curate their own images and content. If you are not comfortable sifting through social media then have someone younger do it. I can guarantee you they will be comfortable with it.
Ask Around
Use your connections to find common ground—especially, people you have in common. Ask your business associates what they know about the prospect. Try to gain insights into what makes them tick, their chief concerns, and their “triggers.” If you find a good connection, ask them for a referral or introduction. Look for events, community activities and business associations where you might informally meet the prospect.
Survey Says
Nothing grabs a prospect faster than bringing them insights into their customers. Check social media to see what customers are saying about the company and its products. Use those comments to build and distribute an online customer survey (tools such as Survey Monkey make it ridiculously easy to achieve something like this). Or, do man-on-the-street or in-store polls to glean feedback on products and services. Package what you learn and share part of it with the prospect to get a first meeting. Keep digging for more insights.
Go Traditional
If searching online is getting you some good information but not first-meeting-quality information. you can always go with more tried and true research methods. Dig into the company, its products, people, brands, competition and industry. You can do this with traditional secondary research; track online news about the company, category and industry. Read the industry trade websites, and attend some industry trade shows. Call the prospect’s channel (distributors, retailers, salespeople) and ask them about the product, sales process, customer service, etc. We call this “boots on the ground” (a.k.a., guerrilla research).
Knowledge is power, especially in the game of winning a first meeting with a prospect. Power up the search button and you’ll never be haunted by the research you neglected to do.
