We've all done it (at least I hope we all have, otherwise I'll come across quite weird here...). Say you're at a party somewhere and someone starts talking about a holiday to Cuba. You're pre-empting everything they're saying because you've already seen the pictures on Facebook, you read the Twitter updates. As a matter of fact, it feels like you were on this holiday! You start jumping in adding your two pennies' worth to stories 'remember when you smoked cigars on the beach front?' before realizing you should probably calm your enthusiasm somewhat.
But knowing where to lead a conversation can be really, really useful, especially in a sales scenario. I saw an example a while back where a sales manager's potential customer had appeared on a television show and won a pretty competitive competition that of course, he'd be dining out on for some time to come. It got a small mention on a local online resource but no where else, no where major. Now if you're a sales guy and you've got a meeting with this potential customer would you normally know that? If you hadn't read the source (a likely chance) and you hadn't seen the programme than why would you?
But automated sales intelligence picks this up and gives you the knowledge just days before you meet. Of course, if you turned up, met, and just didn't mention it, that's not to say the meeting wouldn't go well. But imagine how much better it'd go, how much more he'd take to you, if you mentioned the show and sent him down a road of retelling the events. It's personal. It's shows you care. The next sales guy then might not mention it at all and just go about his business with no personal interaction. Who is the potential customer most likely to remember?
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