Any time you make assumptions about a buyer, ask yourself if that assumption is true about you and the way you buy. If you were your buyer, how would you want a salesperson to approach you? Would you want a spam email in your LinkedIn inbox? Would you find that less offensive than a phone call?

If you were challenged to create better business results at your own company, would you want the person who could help you to wait for you to find them? If you were buying a serious, large, complex set of outcomes, would you do a ton of research before you ever engaged with a salesperson?

If you were working hard to move your business forward, would you want a salesperson to spend her first meeting with you trying to establish some common ground on which to build a relationship? Or would the value of your relationship depend entirely on her ability to create value for you?