Hishem AzzouzHost Of Recruitment Mentors Podcast

How a Lack of Research Can Cost You

Name: How a Lack of Research Can Cost You
Uploaded: 2026-03-18T16:01:16+00:00
Duration: 1 min 26 s
Channel: Hishem Azzouz
Description: In this segment, the speaker warns junior consultants and service providers that failing to do basic research before a sales or consulting call can…

18 Mar 2026 · 1 min

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1:26

In this segment, the speaker warns junior consultants and service providers that failing to do basic research before a sales or consulting call can immediately undermine credibility and cost deals. He illustrates the problem with generic, uninformed questions such as “Tell me about your company,” “Who are your investors?” or “What revenue are you turning over?” and contrasts them with deeper, investor‑aware questions like “What would Investor ABC think about this hire?” and “What does that hire need to achieve for the investor?” The speaker argues that asking the latter signals preparation, understanding of the client’s strategic context, and genuine interest, which in turn positions the consultant as a valuable partner. He stresses that positioning does not require formal attire, but it does require thorough research, clear preparation, and an enthusiastic, non‑blasé attitude. The overall message is that the quality of pre‑call research and the way it is expressed directly influences whether a prospect perceives the consultant as competent and committed, ultimately determining whether the opportunity is won or lost.

Chapters

Simple things that can lose you searches is going, tell me more about your company. How do you not know about our company? You're asking us for 150 grand. Or simple things like, how much revenue are you turning over at the moment? Or it's like, you know, or who are your investors? These are fundamental basics that you can find out really quickly before the call. And going from, tell me more, who are your investors, to What would your investor ABC think about this hire and what's their perception? What do they need from this hire? That's a very different take. It's two different people. Who do you want to spend 150 grand on? The person who asked you who your investor is, or the person who asked you what's your investor take on this hire and what's their opinion on the hire and what does that mean for them? And you've named their investor. They're going to go, oh, this person knows what they're talking about. They know us. They know what we're trying to do here. So I believe that position is everything. And it doesn't mean you have to be the most prim and proper individual. You don't need to be, you know, in your suit and show up, but you need to be well researched, you need to be prepared, and you need to really show that you want it as well. Like, you know, I've been on many, many calls with junior consultants and sometimes come off and gone, how did you feel that went? And, you know, the feedback has been, I'm not even sure you really wanted the role, to be honest. You're pretty blasé about it. And —people can read that, they can feel it, they can see it. So I think position is really important.