In today’s competitive business landscape, data has become the backbone of successful sales strategies. One type of data that is gaining increasing attention among sales teams is intent data. Intent data refers to the information gathered about the online behavior of potential buyers, which provides insights into their interests, preferences, and buying intentions. According to Gartner, intent data includes “prospects’ web searches, the pages they visit and the content they consume.”
By leveraging intent data, sales teams can gain a deeper understanding of their prospects and tailor their sales approach to align with their buyers’ needs and preferences. In this blog post, let’s explore the importance of intent data and how your sales teams can use it to support your overall sales goals.
Align Sales and Marketing Teams
One of the key challenges that sales and marketing teams often face is alignment. When these two teams aren’t aligned, this can result in wasted efforts, miscommunication, and lost opportunities. Intent data can bridge this gap by providing valuable insights into the interests and behaviors of potential buyers. Marketing teams can use intent data to create targeted campaigns that resonate with prospects, while sales teams can leverage this data to tailor their sales pitches and align their messaging with the prospects’ interests. Aligning sales and marketing teams can result in a more seamless and effective sales process, leading to higher conversion rates and revenue growth.
To see an example of how this alignment can be achieved, you can review this case study by Motorola.
Identify High-Value Prospects
Not all prospects are created equal. Some prospects are more likely to convert into paying customers than others. Intent data can help sales teams identify high-value prospects who are actively researching and showing interest in their products or services. By tracking online behaviors such as website visits, content downloads, and social media engagement, sales teams can prioritize their efforts on prospects who are most likely to convert. This targeted approach can help sales teams save time and resources by focusing on prospects with the highest potential, resulting in a more efficient sales process and increased sales productivity.
Personalize Sales Outreach
In today’s era of hyper-personalization, generic sales pitches no longer cut it. Prospects expect personalized and relevant communication that speaks to their unique needs and challenges. In fact, Forbes notes that personalization is more important than ever: “Personalization is only becoming more granular, and if you don’t invest the time and effort into creating value for customers, it will become increasingly difficult to be successful.”
Intent data provides valuable insights into the interests, preferences, and pain points of prospects, allowing sales teams to tailor their outreach accordingly. For example, if a prospect has been showing interest in a specific product or service, a salesperson can use that information to craft a personalized pitch that highlights the benefits of that product or service for the prospect’s specific needs. This level of personalization can significantly improve the chances of engaging prospects and converting them into leads and eventually customers.
Anticipate Customer Needs
Every business knows that customer acquisition is expensive. It’s more effective to ensure current customers are happy, and intent data can support that goal. Interestingly, Harvard Business Review reported that it’s “5–25 times less expensive to retain an existing customer than acquire a new one.” Sales teams can stay ahead by understanding their customers’ evolving needs and preferences. Intent data can help sales teams anticipate customer needs by tracking changes in online behaviors and interests.
If a customer has been frequently researching a particular topic or product, sales teams can reach out to offer relevant solutions or insights. This proactive approach can help sales teams build stronger customer relationships, establish themselves as trusted advisors, and uncover new cross-selling or upselling opportunities.
Improve Sales Workflow
The sales cycle can be a lengthy and complex process involving multiple touch points and interactions with prospects. Intent data can help sales teams streamline the sales cycle and make it more efficient. By understanding the interests and behaviors of prospects, sales teams can identify potential roadblocks and address them proactively. For instance, if a prospect has been showing interest in a particular feature or functionality of a product, sales teams can focus on highlighting that feature during the sales process, addressing any concerns, and providing relevant information. This can help shorten the sales cycle and increase the chances of closing deals faster.
Use Plumly to Streamline Intent Data
Interested in optimizing intent data? Consider Plumly, an AI-powered sales operations platform specifically designed for MSPs. With key features like automated data importing and scrubbing, engagement scoring, digital sales plans, and, of course, intent data insights, Plumly can help streamline your sales process and optimize your workflow. Learn more about our key features or schedule a free demo with us to see Plumly in action. We look forward to showing you how Plumly can support success, drive revenue growth, and improve your customer experiences.
