If you show up on a sales call with a new prospect and you haven’t looked them up on social media you will have two big problems on your hands. The first, and probably the most important, is that you risk coming off as unprepared, uninterested and unprofessional. Research is so easy now it only takes a minute or two to learn the basics about a company or individual from their website or LinkedIn page. The second issue is that checking them out ahead of time can give you ideas on how to approach the sales call. You may discover that you have a common friend. Or you may discover that you have relevant experience in a part of the business you were not planning on talking about. At the very least you can speed up the call by already having a context for the discussion you are about to have with the prospect. Don’t spend all day on it but a few minutes (2-4) can be well worth the investment of time.
