Q. Would a bit of research on the prospect BEFORE making the call help to aim you in the right direction? For example, going to the company's website, looking at their annual report (if a public company), etc.

A. Researching each prospect before you call them is generally a waste of time- if you have done your target marketing well.

You should be working from a prospecting list that has been selected based on the demographics of companies that are most likely to use your product/service. It should have the names and phone numbers of the people with the job titles most likely to buy your type of product/service.

Your "research" time is usually better spent on actually making offers. None of this "research" answers the fundamental question, which is:

Does the prospect want what I am offering now, and is he willing to pay for it?

Making prospecting offers will usually lead you to appropriate buying influences within an organization.

I have observed that a lot of "research" done by salespeople is a means of avoiding prospecting. This is mostly because the prospecting methods they use (unlike HPS) are too unpleasant and emotionally draining to use extensively. "Researching" is more fun and seems like productive work.

Research often finds lots of interested prospects who magically lose their interest when you ask them if what you are offering is something they WANT.