Buyer Intent: How to Leverage Data to Drive Sales
Buyer intent is the likelihood that a buyer will make a purchase. Sales teams use buyer intent to find and target prospects and turn them into high-quality leads. Recently, there has been an uptick in the number of sales teams that are adopting the buyer intent mindset, tools, and methods. In fact, Gartner predicts that “by the end of 2022, more than 70% of B2B marketers will utilize third-party intent data to target prospects or engage groups of buyers in selected accounts.”
In this digital era, collecting quality behavioral and intent data from prospects is key to selling effectively and efficiently. With the right data supporting them, sales reps can make data-driven decisions to prioritize high-quality leads within best-fit accounts. This means sales reps can spend more time selling to buyers who are most likely to close rather than on prospects who are on the fence. In this article, we’re revealing how to determine buyer intent and how sales reps can use intent data to drive sales and increase revenue.
How is buyer intent determined?
With tools like sales enablement software, that collect and provide context regarding when a prospect interacts with a company determine buyer intent. This includes competitors too! Thus, buyer intent data showcases the people and organizations that are actively looking to buy.
The question is… how?
Buyers looking to make a purchase typically spend weeks or months researching products, comparing competitors, and interacting with brands. These are strong digital signals that indicate whether a person or organization is ready to make a purchase.
Innovative technology solutions aggregate buyer intent data such as actions like:
- Someone clicks on a specific link in your sales presentation
- Many people at a targeted company visit your website
- A specific person at a company frequently visits your website
- How long someone interacts with a specific slide, web page, or email
Harnessing buyer intent data enables sales teams to target companies with account-based marketing (ABM) campaigns, personalize the sales experience, and prioritize leads based on their level of engagement with the company. For example, say a rep pitches an executive at Company X and follows up with a meeting a few days later. However, after this follow up, time goes by with no interaction.
A week later, the rep begins to notice through their buyer intent tool that three other colleagues at Company X have spent time visiting the website in the last 48 hours. Because so many people from the same company are taking a look at the website, it’s likely that there may be an internal conversation going on at Company X to get buy-in from stakeholders. This is signaling buyer intent. Because of this data, the sales rep knows the time is now to reach back out and close the deal.
Buyer intent data helps signal where leads are in
their buyer’s journey and what to do next
Buyer intent data provides insight into a buyer’s research history to determine where the buyer is in their buyer’s journey. This allows sales teams to recognize interest signals buyers leave across third-party sites (like clicking on an ad). These signals inform sales reps of which types of content will help move the buyer along their purchasing journey.
For example, if the buyer intent data shows that a specific prospect is debating between purchasing from two similar companies, they are in the decision stage of the buyer’s journey. In the decision stage, the buyer evaluates and decides which product or service to purchase. Thus, sales reps in this stage should provide the buyer with resources like ROI calculators or case studies to prove value and gain credibility to beat out competitors. This will help the buyer determine which product is most beneficial to their unique needs and use case.
However, say the buyer intent data illustrates that the prospect is still searching for a solution to their problem. This suggests the prospect is in the consideration stage. This is where the buyer has identified their problem and is actively researching all the possible solutions. By leveraging intent data, sales reps can recognize that this prospect is in the consideration stage. Thus, the prospect should be presented with a free trial or demo that will visualize the value of the product or offering.
Leveraging intent data to recognize how and when
leads are contemplating whether to choose a
competitor
It’s important to focus on why prospects end up purchasing from a competitor. By focusing on buyer intent data, sales teams can determine where in their sales cycle leads and prospects are most likely to turn towards the competition. This enables sales teams to create better sales interactions by improving sales collateral.
By leveraging buyer intent data and collaborating with marketing to determine where and how their content can be improved, sales teams can better serve their leads and reduce the number of prospects turning towards the competition. Say buyer intent data shows that after being presented with your product comparison 1-pager most prospects choose a competitor company. Odds are this 1-pager holds little value for your organization and the products you offer. In this case, it’s best to collaborate with the marketing team to create more impactful data-driven content. This content will motivate buyers to choose your product over competitors.
Final Thoughts
Buyer intent data is crucial to ensuring your sales team is:
- Prioritizing the prospects that are most likely to convert into customers
- Sharing the right content at the right time in a buyer’s journey
- Optimizing content at each stage of the sales cycle to close deals
If you’re looking for a sign to radically improve your sales performance by Q1 of 2022, this is it. Start your journey by booking a demo of the Prezentor sales enablement platform and discover how to use buyer intent to drive your sales.