March 04, 2015
I understand how small talk can be really uncomfortable; however, I may be one of the few people who actually enjoy it (probably because of my high levels of curiosity). I tend to use the general small talk questions, "How are you doing?" "Where do you work?" "What did you do this weekend?" etc, as ice breakers that could potentially lead to more explorative questions.
In marketing the small talk comes in different forms and has to be interpreted by data at certain points; but, in sales it's a little different. Conversations happen at many different points and it's a sales person's job to get to know their opportunities and prospects as soon as possible with the small talk and all.
So, how do you get to know your prospects best? What questions should you ask? What data points should you keep track of? We have the answers for you in this one page cheat sheet.