{"id":982,"date":"2012-04-12T12:52:36","date_gmt":"2012-04-12T17:52:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/etereman.com\/remanu\/?p=982"},"modified":"2012-04-12T12:52:36","modified_gmt":"2012-04-12T17:52:36","slug":"show-up-prepared","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/etereman.com\/remanu\/2012\/04\/12\/show-up-prepared\/","title":{"rendered":"Show Up Prepared."},"content":{"rendered":"

Woody Allen says, \u201c80% of success is showing up.\u201d
\nWoody Allen is wrong.
\nHe should say, \u201cShowing up will make you 80% successful.\u201d
\nIt\u2019s like getting to the 80-yard-line and then not scoring. It doesn\u2019t count for much. And, it\u2019s the equivalent of getting 80% of the way through your sales cycle and finding out your prospect is going with your competition.
\nI don\u2019t know anyone in sales that wants to be 80% successful. If you are happy with almost winning the sale, stop reading now and go back to watching Dancing With The Stars<\/em> or American Idol<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Oh, you\u2019re still reading? <\/strong><\/em>Good. Let\u2019s get to work.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Show<\/a>

Photo Credit: Andrew Rich via Getty Images<\/p><\/div>
\nThe secret to success is showing up prepared<\/strong>. There are many ways to prepare for a meeting or sales call. This article is focused on LinkedIn because it\u2019s my favorite place to start and often the best source of insight. Not every prospect uses LinkedIn, however, so learn these strategies and apply them to other technologies and other sources of information. Google, Facebook, and Twitter are great as well. Keep in mind that often the best source for information is your own offline network. Who do you know that knows your prospect? This is small industry. Somebody knows something. All you have to do is ask the right questions.
\nLinkedIn is one of the best ways to ensure that you are prepared in terms of your prospect. Most salespeople spend too much time memorizing their PowerPoint deck and every feature and benefit of their product or service, and not enough time (think<\/em>, none) preparing intelligent questions or searching for commonalities that will help them to connect on a personal level. But not you\u2026not anymore. What you will be able to accomplish in under fifteen minutes will take days, weeks, or even months off your average sales cycle.
\nAssuming you already know your prospect\u2019s name and company, follow the steps below in advance of your next sales call or meeting.
\nFind your prospect on LinkedIn. Click through to the profile and look for:
\nHow you\u2019re connected to your prospect.<\/strong> Often, you\u2019ll find that you are a 2nd<\/sup> or 3rd<\/sup> degree connection and that you have a mutual connection that you can reach out to for insight and the inside scoop.
\nPrevious employment.<\/strong> Has your prospect worked with or worked for anyone that you know? Have you done business with a former employer? Perhaps you worked for the same company at some point?
\nEducation.<\/strong> Do you love the school football team? Do you hate the school football team? Did you go to the same school? Did your prospect earn a degree that is completely unrelated to her current position? For instance, I look for people who attended law school but do not practice. Or a VP of Sales that studied molecular biology. Makes for a fun conversation.
\nWebsites.<\/strong> Does your prospect have a blog or link to a non-profit organization or foundation? If so, click! Read the blog and print a post or two out to bring with you to your meeting. Same thing about the social cause \u2013 be prepared to ask questions about your prospect\u2019s involvement.
\nTwitter.<\/strong> Many LinkedIn users list their Twitter account. Click on it and uncover what your prospect likes to tweet about. Is it something related to business or does your prospect tweet about a hobby or personal interest?
\nStatus.<\/strong> What is your prospect working on? What has your prospect commented on?
\nRecent activity.<\/strong> This gives you an understanding of how active your prospect is on LinkedIn. If there\u2019s no activity, that\u2019s an indicator that your prospect is a passive user and that you\u2019ll have to do a little more digging to find out what\u2019s new.
\nInterests. <\/strong>If you\u2019re meeting with the VP of a fleet maintenance company and your prospect lists fine wine or marathons, it\u2019s time to study up. People love to talk about their passions, and this is your opportunity to uncover the path to your prospect\u2019s heart. Come prepared with relevant information and questions.
\nGroups and Associations.<\/strong> What groups does your prospect belong to? Anything look familiar to you? Are you members of the same group? Are there groups listed that stand out as unique or unexpected?
\nHonors and Awards.<\/strong> How is prospect known within his industry? Is there something recent that you can congratulate her on?
\nRecommendations.<\/strong> What do others say about working with your prospect? What is he known for? What value does she provide?
\nAdditional applications.<\/strong> Some LinkedIn users will turn on the Amazon.com, WordPress, LinkedIn Events, TripIt, or SlideShare applications (to name a few). If so, you\u2019re in luck. Check to see what books your prospect has read recently and be prepared to ask engaging questions about how your prospect has used something he\u2019s learned from that book in his business. Has your prospect traveled somewhere you have been (or perhaps to your birthplace)? What events has your prospect attended recently?
\nSound like a lot? It is. A lot of gold.<\/strong>
\nAnd it\u2019s all on one page, right in front of your face. With a little practice it will take you only a few minutes to uncover enough insight to warm up a prospect at a first meeting.
\nI\u2019ll make you one guarantee: you walk in armed with the information you gather from your prospect\u2019s LinkedIn profile and you will instantly differentiate yourself from the 98% of salespeople (think<\/em>, your competition) that show up and \u201cwing it.\u201d And, being prepared with engaging questions sure beats looking at the walls in your prospect\u2019s office trying to come up with something pithy to say about bass fishing.
\nInterested in learning more about how to use LinkedIn? Captain Reman has created a 52-page ebook that spells it all out in easy-to-implement steps.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"Click<\/a><\/p>\n

\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Woody Allen says, \u201c80% of success is showing up.\u201d Woody Allen is wrong. He should say, \u201cShowing up will make you 80% successful.\u201d It\u2019s like getting to the 80-yard-line and then not scoring. It doesn\u2019t count for much. And, it\u2019s the equivalent of getting 80% of the way through your sales cycle and finding out […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":997,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false},"categories":[7],"tags":[91,103,88,104],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nShow Up Prepared. - REMANU<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/etereman.com\/remanu\/2012\/04\/12\/show-up-prepared\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Show Up Prepared. - REMANU\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Woody Allen says, \u201c80% of success is showing up.\u201d Woody Allen is wrong. 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