Effortless ways to see your prospects’ buying signals.
I’ve been on both sides of this fence: As the decision-maker who has no interest or need in the product being relentlessly pushed at me, and as the ‘pusher’, the new business person with no real target or lead magnet, just the command to ’start conversations’.
My take out: Unless you have something of value to share, the only other time you should reach out to a prospect (to avoid being annoying) is when you have a clear signal that they might be preparing to buy your services.
But how on earth to know when is the right time?
Well, there is more information that you might have realised, drifting around the ether of the internet. And it’s a relatively easy job to set up warnings for buying signals so that you can approach people at a timely moment.
Here are a few of my go tos:
#1 LinkedIn Sales Navigator Buyer Interest Alerts
When employees or leadership at a saved account have engaged with your company's LinkedIn Page or company website, these alerts signal. With Buyer Interest Alerts, you have buying intent insights that help you decide when to engage, allowing you to provide a timelier and more customised buying experience.
#2 Google Alerts
Set these up for company news so that you can reach out in a more personalised way. Funding, profit alerts (positive or negative), appointments, acquisitions, announcements, publicised failures are all signs that marketing incumbents and activities might well be reviewed. Another nice aspect of this option is that it’s free.
#3 LinkedIn Sales Navigator Saved Accounts
When you save accounts in Sales Navigator, you’ll be provided with unique insights and alerts that help you get introductions to decision-makers and stay informed on what you need to know.
#4 Lead Forensics
If you have a bit more budget and want to get serious about new business insights, this tool is brilliant at understanding who is interested in you, and what specific topics or work they’re most interested in. I’ve used this data to ’serendipitously’ contact prospects, and prepare proposal decks that ‘magically’ contain the same case studies I know they’ve spent the most time viewing on our website.
#5 LinkedIn Sales Navigator Search function.
Use to filter down to the decision-makers of interest to you, who’ve joined a new role or company in the last 90 days. I use this information to send a card (if you know they’ll be at the office) or personalised message welcoming them to the role.
If you’re serious about intelligent new business then setting up buying signal alerts is the most intelligent way to save time and preserve your reputation.
If you want more ways to sharpen your sales processes, the Agency New Business module of the Complete Kaffeen Toolkit is for you. You can grab it in the Kaffeen Shop.
