We all sell, all the time, and there are endless jokes and ads about how knowledge of the person you are selling to (whatever you may be selling) can help you seal the deal. Everyone's been there -- figuring out the likes and dislikes of someone we want to impress before we meet them, researching a professor's political position before writing a paper -- and for a sales person in the Internet age it's time to know about each customer before we pick up the phone and call. Here's the objective -- when you pick up the phone to talk to a customer (whether you are a business owner or a sales person) you must be talking to the customer about THEIR business.