Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/873536
continued on page 12 blowing up the model: "Buyers are smart about you." Then comes the challenge to DSRs. "What's your excuse?" Surfi ng vs. Searching None. That's not Eric Schmitt's MO, but the vice president of Rapids Foodservice does have a few insights to offer, having tried and failed at yielding quality search results on Google. He's not alone. Most assume that if you type more words in the search box, the better the odds. Actually, it's Google and online adver- tisers that stand to benefi t from unre- strained searches. "How many of you have ever used the minus sign?" says Richter about 10 min- utes into one of his presentations. Upon scanning the room, he carefully notes the scant number of raised hands. "The average size of one of my audi- ences is about 500 people," he says, "and if I can get three people to raise their hand, that's a lot. And here's the crazy thing: I've done presentations for col- lege audiences--kids who have grown up using the Web--and it's not much better." At the end of every presentation, he invites attendees to create their own complimentary account to his Know More University, which includes all the resources he's gathered over the years to convince professionals like Schmitt that sales intelligence is not a waste of time. If you want to remove search results, for example, use the minus sign. So, "Plastics -manufacturing" delivers results with the word plastics but removes all results with the word "manufacturing." Note: the minus sign must be touching the word you want to eliminate from the search. Quotation marks are equally helpful in refi ning search results. Plastics + manu- facturing delivers results displaying both words somewhere on the page, but in no particular order. But using quotation marks around a group of words, e.g., "plastics manufacturing," ensures that the words within quotes are treated like a phrase, and the results will contain the phrase in that exact order. Schmitt does recall the high school librarian teaching some of those Google tricks but it didn't stick. "Honestly," he says, "I expected Google to be better at Getting Started Sales intelligence expert Sam Richter likes linking greatness with sports analogies, so it's not surprising that he brings up a few legends when he's asked about putting the pieces together and achieving sales success. "When you look at people like Tom Brady, Peyton Manning and Russell Wilson, they're obviously exceptional athletes but they're not the best athletes," he says. "There are many people who can throw the ball farther, and are faster and stronger. What makes them great is the time that they put in Monday through Saturday. Same with Michael and Magic. "That's the mindset that salespeople have to have to succeed post Google," he adds. "Sales have changed. Today, you need to be genuine. You need to be authentic and the only way to do that is to prepare and really do your homework, which means being knowledgeable about your products and services, as well as knowing what's important to the other person." And knowing more starts with the basics. Below are a few tips from Richter to help you start incorporating sales intelligence into the sales process. • Use an asterisk when you can't remember. For example, for a job title type "vice president of * at widget corp"; or an email search: "*@widegetcorp.com". • Searching a Company: Visit www.buzzfi le.com/home/ basic. (Create a free account.) • Business Card Lookup: Enter https://connect.data.com. (Create a free account.) • Looking for news about a specifi c company or person: Go to www.yougotthenews.com. • LinkedIn: For more effective people searches, use Boolean inside the search form, e.g., "vice president" + marketing; use the various fi lter options on the right side; click + to open a fi lter and then enter a city, industry, school, etc. into the form. • LinkedIn Power Search: Visit www.YouGotTheLeads.com. • Political Contributions: Go to www.opensecrets.org/donor- lookup. • Golf Handicap: Impress your client by fi nding more at www.ghin.com. • Address Search: Visit www.411.com. To learn even more about incorporating sales intelligence into your sales process, register for Richter's "Know More University" by visiting samrichter.com/university. Note: FEDA members can use the coupon code 'save more" at the checkout and save 60 percent on a membership! September/October 2017 11