The #6 mistake I see sales people and entrepreneurs make is selling to those who have a pain, or what I call a circumstance, INSTEAD OF focusing on those who recently experienced a Trigger Event, which makes solving that pain a high priority.
For example: Trying to convince the CEO of a small to mid-sized company to use your IT support services instead of having an employee - notice I said having an employee. Having what may be perceived to be an expensive employee is a pain/circumstance. Instead of focusing on the pain/circumstance look for the Trigger Events that make solving it a higher priority. One Trigger Event to focus on is when IT employees leave and companies look for a replacement. Now the CEO of a small to mid-sized company is 10 times more likely to consider an IT services company instead of hiring an employee - notice I said hiring an employee.
One way to learn of companies looking to hire an IT support person is to be notified by Indeed.com, when a IT support job is posted on any the popular job web sites.
My question, to be answered by commenting below, is “What unique methods or services do you use to find out when a Trigger Event has happened?”
Win $1,500 worth Trigger Event services by getting the most votes for your answer. Answers are voted on by clicking on the 
button that appears at the end of each answer. Comments/Answers need to be approved - to avoid spam - which typically takes just a few minutes.
You can’t vote on your own answers so Stumble!, Digg, Tweet, and email your friends so you get the most votes.
Have an EVENTFUL week!
Craig
P.S. You can stay up to date with the contest by subscribing to this blog, subscribing just to comments for each individual question when you submit your own comment. or if you are only voting you can use the subscribe feature at the bottom of this post to be notified when another great answer has been posted.
I have my sales people set up Alerts on those industries or specific technologies (we are in technology staffing) on both job boards and news boards.
The local biz journals have daily updates/alerts as well as the daily newspapers and you can typically filter out what you don’t need.
Absolutely join your industry group in LinkedIn and similar services.
There is alot of investing happening in the private sector and there are news briefs on these you can get for free.
Also, salespeople MUST work with other sales people in services/product industries that work with our clients but don’t compete. Through them you hear everything.
These are just some of the ways I find those Trigger Events.
Vote:I work with accountants and escrow companies to try and pinpoint people in a 1031 exchange real estate transaction. (Selling one company and buying another.) When they’ve just closed escrow on a property and have 45 days to choose another, they’re a very highly motivated client base.
Jodi Summers
The SoCal Investment Real Estate Group
Sotheby’s International Realty
jodi@jodisummers.com
http://www.SoCalOfficeRealEstateBlog.com
http://www.SoCalMultiUnitRealEstateBlog.com
http://www.107and117WChannelRd.jodisummers.com
**
Vote:I don’t make jokes. I just watch the government and report the facts. - Will Rogers
In the headhunting / recruitment world that I work in there are certain key events that mean a client will be more likely to work with us than source their own candidates.
Putting it into a system of questions I train people to ask the following questions which identify for me the validity of the business for me, the urgency and consequences for them of not filling the role and equally the benefits of doing it now. Thus the client gives me the reasons why they should use us
Reason
1. Why are you looking?
2. Who is doing this job now?
3. What happened to the previous person?
4. How long has the position been vacant?
5. What have you done so far to fill the role?
6. What’s your time scale for filling the vacancy?
Consequences
1. What are the consequences of not filling this role for several months?
2. What is the benefit of filling this vacancy within the next month?
Outside of this I urge consultants to follow up on all movers advertised in their trade press to congratulate them and see what we can do for them. Typically a new sales director will bring in some new people. We like to be there to help with that!
Regards
Stephen
Stephen Hart
Vote: