A sales cold call...90% research?

I've been fortunate enough to work in a few different industries, although slightly less fortunate that one of those industries happened to be estate agency (please don't stop reading, I'm not one anymore!). It seems that all the jobs so far have had one thing in common, one constant. Someone, early on in your role will sit you down and say 'you'll pick it up, it's just about doing your research.'

I would love to hear of a profession where the boss would enter the office on Monday morning and say 'for the love of God guys, no one do any research!' because I simply don't think it exists. Research is the backbone of any industry, of any business, of any success story. In a past life I learnt how to write feature length film scripts. We were taught that the project consisted of 90% research and 10% writing. If you don't know what you're writing about, how can you possibly bring a script truly to life?

I'm pretty certain a similar percentage applies to a cold call. One of the keys to doing research in scripts was to bring characters to life, develop their backgrounds, and establish their underlying needs and desires. The same can be said for a cold call. If you jump in and start the story without knowing what your character wants the script's going no where. To bring context to a call you need to figure out why you're calling. If the character's (customer's) desire is to have your product then why? What are they getting out of it?

Research is fundamental in success, across all industries. As my teacher used to say, 'if you can set up an intriguing back story, the plot just comes naturally.' Translated into sales terms, 'know why you're calling, and the sale will flow much smoother.'