Part of being a top-notch salesperson is not just closing deals and having your customers love you, but it is in the beginning phases of the sales cycle, prospecting for new customers. In the business to business field of selling, one has to identify their target prospect, find the appropriate decision-maker(s), get their attention, and secure an appointment. 
Now, this may sound easy, but it is that second step, finding out with whom you need to get your face in front of. Obviously this is going to be a different person depending on what you are selling and what type of prospect you are targeting. For example, if you sell coffee and break-room supplies you might need to talk to the office manager or an operations manager. If you are selling IT products you may need to meet with the head of IT or even the CFO. In many cases there might be several people involved in making the decision on whether or not to buy from you and your company. It has been my experience, and usually not a good one, that if you start in purchasing, you will rarely make the sale. If you do, it will not be on your terms.
How do you find that special person? Well, good thing we live in the 21st century because there is this great tool called the internet. It never ceases to amaze me that salespeople will do a great deal of work to get an appointment and never do a quick Google search of their prospect. The more information about that prospective company or person you are armed with, the better. Knowledge is power. At least before picking up the phone have a name ready to ask for, even if this is not the correct person they will tell who you need to talk to. One other important note, your prospect may not even be a prospect. A little background work will allow you to determine if you should pursue them at all. It will save you a great deal of time and heartache if you knew that prior to making that appointment. For example, if you are selling transportation services, and the company you are targeting doesn’t or rarely use that type of service that might be good to know before you walk into the decision-maker’s office.
There are all sorts of great websites one can use to find that person inside the prospective company. Some of these include Jigsaw, Linkedin, BusinessWise, and dozens of others. Some are free, some are not.
So the next time you need to put some quality prospects in your pipeline, put on your detective hat, and do a little spying. You never know, you might just uncover that sale you were looking for.
