Let’s start with knowledge is power and proceed from there.

Ahhh yes, knowledge…but that’s just table stakes, right? It’s how knowledge is used that makes all the difference in the selling game.

The celebration of Google’s incorporation anniversary – which is actually September 4, but yesterday was devoted to Labor Day – shouldn’t focus entirely on the mightly search engine. Instead, Google is the proxy that represents how you can use knowledge strategically to establish trust with your buyers.

If your top targeted prospect is a public company, learn about their stock price history. How do earnings look? What is the CEO talking about regarding "what’s next?" What does the CMO say lately through social media?

Those types of threads are the tip of the iceberg.

You’re not burying your head in Google just to learn a few tidbits you can drop on your client in their hallway as you walk to the meeting room, it’s to learn about their business so you can be a better solution provider.