In our last tip of the month, we talked about learning and using the customer's buzz words. Doing this shows that we are "in the know", and can help us build our credibility with the customer.

Another thing we can do to help us accomplish the same thing is to "get the buzz" on the customer's business. Specifically, this means finding out what's new with the company.

One great (and easy) way to do this is to go to the customer's web site to look for news releases and announcements. In just a couple of minutes you may get information about: product releases; organizational changes, promotions and new hires; or acquisitions and divestitures; among other things.

By doing this, you could gain a perfect opener for a call.
You may be able to open with questions like:


"Congratulations on your 4th quarter results. To what do you attribute your double digit growth?"
"I saw that you announced an alliance with Acme. How will this affect your team in the coming months?"
"Congratulations on your new position. What are your key objectives in your first 6 months?"
"I saw that your new platform has just been released. How are your customer's reacting so far?"


These kinds of questions are based on recent developments, and are impressive to most interviewees. The one thing to be careful of is that there is a chance that your contact may not be as up to speed as you are. You may need to help them learn what you have already learned!