Sales intelligence dos and don'ts: part 2

Prospecting is hard work. There are a million pieces of information at your fingertips. But how do you know which tidbits to use, and how to use them right? Today we’re sharing more do’s and don'ts of sales intelligence:

DO - Keep it social!

Today, news moves at the speed of Twitter. Know your prospects most recent updates by keeping the Twitter intelligence tile front and center in your prospect overview. You can congratulate them on a recent company accomplishment they tweeted about or mention if you liked an article they recently shared when reaching out. Show you’re invested in learning about their business.

DON’T - Don’t be creepy.

It’s ok to say “I saw your company just tweeted about a new partnership. Congratulations! Can you tell me more?” You definitely shouldn’t say “I saw your 2014 vacation photos online. You look great in a swimsuit!” Social courtesy goes a long way and will help you connect with your prospect naturally. Generally, anything your prospect or their company have shared on Twitter or LinkedIn in the last few weeks is fair game.

DO - Personalize your dashboards.

Different things matter to the different personas you contact. Use Sales Intelligence Tiles to create custom layouts in your prospect dashboard for different types of conversations.

• Are you cold calling the head of business development? Your layout should prioritize competitor information and relevant company news, like funding or major partnerships.
• If you’re calling a marketer, you’ll want to have social feeds front and center.

DON’T - Don’t find yourself out of the loop.

We all know that awkward moment where you email a prospect to set up that demo and it turns out they already had a demo with your colleague Brian last week. That makes you and your company look really bad. Prevent this faux pas by always checking recent account activity and notes before sending that email or picking up the phone. Don’t be an email repeater.

Just like any other social interaction - from first dates to family reunions - sales intelligence takes thought and practice to strike the right balance between being informed and sitting in a tree outside your prospect’s window. Sales intelligence tiles in Outreach let you streamline the tedious research so you can put more thought into the right way to personalize and prospect intelligently.