Understanding a prospect's circumstances, preferences, and pain points enables you to craft a more thoughtfully tailored value proposition and dial in on a more personal appeal. That makes sound research pretty mission-critical, going into a sales engagement.
In many cases, your ability to cater to a prospect only goes as far as your initial research lets it.
While there are certain tried-and-true methods you already probably know (you've likely scoured your fair share of LinkedIn profiles in your day), there are some other more “under the radar” ones you might want to consider.
To help you out, we here at The HubSpot Sales Blog — the sales-related and sales-adjacent content world's badass, truth-to-power problem child — reached out to some sales leaders for their unconventional prospect research methods. See what they had to say!
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6 Unconventional (but Effective) Prospect Research Methods
1. Watch how prospects complain online.
Marcin Pienkowski, Head of Salesforce at Think Beyond, says, "I watch sales reps burn hours researching prospects the old way-scrolling LinkedIn, reading press releases, scanning company reports. That works fine, but I stumbled onto something better for understanding what keeps prospects up at night: I watch how they complain online.
"Decision-makers rarely announce ‘We have a problem,’ but they drop hints everywhere. They‘ll jump into a competitor’s thread about features they wish they had. They chime in on industry talks about bottlenecks. Their company's Glassdoor reviews reveal processes holding teams back. Even quick comments on Twitter or Reddit threads expose unsolved headaches.
"These aren‘t just random gripes — they’re invitations to start the right conversation. When I notice patterns, I never reference them head-on. Instead of saying ‘I saw your team mentioning workflow issues,’ I open doors naturally: ‘Many teams in your space tell me [specific problem] keeps coming up. Does that ring true for you?’
“This lets them share their story on their terms. The strongest sales conversations take root before the first hello. Once I grasp their pain points before that initial call, I'm steering the ship, not paddling to catch up.”
2. Monitor social media and digital communities to gauge sentiment around B2B technology trends.
Ryan T. Murphy, Sales Operations Manager at Upfront Operations, says "In my career, I rely on unconventional data points to understand prospects better. One effective method I've used is monitoring social media and digital communities to gauge sentiment around B2B technology trends. This helps in curating product offerings that align closely with current market demands.
“When I was with the media SaaS company, I found that analyzing organic web traffic sources could reveal untapped prospect profiles. By understanding where surges were coming from, my team boosted organic traffic by 1,178% and custom marketing strategies, directly increasing revenue by $2.2M.”
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3. Review public comments on industry blogs.
Aaron Whittaker, VP of Demand Generation & Marketing at Thrive Digital Marketing Agency, says, "One unconventional technique I use is reviewing public comments on industry blogs, forums, or even news articles relevant to the prospect's sector.
“By analyzing what they — or their peers — have expressed concerns about or praised, I can uncover pain points that even their marketing material might not highlight. It's a treasure trove of unfiltered insights that often point me directly toward a need I can solve with the product or service I'm selling.”
4. Scope out a company's less visible online assets.
Whittaker also says, "Another method is to scope out the company's lesser visible online assets, such as its careers section and employee reviews on platforms like Glassdoor. Pay attention to the language they use when describing their internal culture or organizational goals.
“For example, a job posting might emphasize 'communication challenges within a distributed workforce,' giving you a clear inroad to position your product as a solution. These unconventional research methods not only inform my sales conversations but also instantly set me apart as someone who truly understands the prospect's world.”
5. Use “digital shadowing.”
Mac Steer, Owner and Director of Simify, says, "One unconventional method I use to research prospects is what I call ‘digital shadowing.’ Instead of relying solely on traditional market research or sales data, I immerse myself in the prospect's digital footprint.
"This involves thoroughly exploring their social media presence, analyzing their website's user experience, and even signing up for their newsletters or product trials incognito. By doing this, I gain invaluable insights into their brand voice, customer engagement strategies, and potential pain points.
"This approach allows me to understand not just what they do, but how they think and operate. It's a time-intensive process, but it provides a level of understanding that traditional research methods often miss.
"For example, when we were considering a partnership with a tech startup, I spent a week using their app as if I were a regular customer. I interacted with their chatbot, explored their help center, and even purposely encountered issues to test their customer service.
“This hands-on experience revealed strengths and weaknesses in their product that weren't apparent from their pitch deck or financial reports. It ultimately led to a more informed decision and a more strategic partnership proposal.”
6. Analyze customer support transcripts.
Tristan Harris, Sr. VP of Marketing at Next Net Media, says, "Response conversation tone shifted our entire research approach. While everyone digs through LinkedIn data, we started analyzing customer support transcripts and online community discussions.
"Our outreach response rates doubled after we started matching how prospects actually discussed their problems. Something unexpected surfaced: The language prospects used in help forums differed dramatically from their polished company posts.
“They'd describe challenges in practical, everyday terms rather than industry jargon. These weren't just research points — they became our connection bridges. Real conversations beat professional profiles. Forums and support threads reveal how prospects actually think about their problems.”
I said this at the top of this article, but I'll mention it again: In many cases, your ability to cater to a prospect only goes as far as your initial research lets it — so it helps to have a diverse array of prospect research methods at your disposal.
Ultimately, you want to find avenues that give you perspective on both a prospect's broader, more persona-oriented circumstances and personal pain points. Tracking down that kind of insight often takes more than scanning LinkedIn pages.
Hopefully, this post offers you some novel, productive ways you can better understand your prospects and conduct more thoughtfully tailored sales engagements.
50+ for Social Selling on LinkedIn and Beyond
Use this guide to improve your social selling efforts and close more deals from platforms like...
- TikTok
- And more!
Download Free
All fields are required.
