The role of the sales team has drastically changed over the years. Before the internet age, sales was the primary source of information for buyers during their decision-making process. Plus, much of the interaction done between sales and the buyer was on the phone or in person. Sales learned a lot about their prospects from their body language and verbal cues.
Today, buyers are often over 60% of their way through their decision process before engaging with a sales person. A majority of their research is done online. Because of this, if sales people aren’t aware of what a buyer has been reviewing on their website, they’re at a disadvantage. They can no longer play the role of the educator and be the sole source of information for educated buyers.
Understanding the educated “digital” buyer
To help sales get the information they need to support the educated digital buyer, you could start with reviewing your Google Analytics. While the data and insights available is invaluable to marketing, it’s usually too “big picture” for sales.
You need to get at that individual level and look at a buyer’s digital body language or their online activity and interactions (website pages visited, emails clicked, forms submitted, videos viewed, downloads made). You’re now watching cues online just like when you watch subtle cues during a face-to-face meeting.
An effective way to do this is through marketing automation. It lets you track a lead’s online activity from being an anonymous visitor to marketing qualified lead and beyond. Sales gets a deeper understanding of what the lead is looking for and can use that data to create highly targeted sales pitches that close the deal.
Plus, by tracking the sales process through the platform, marketing can get ideas on what content is needed to support the sales cycle and improve close rates.
MoreSALES can help – our Marketing Automation/Sales CRM platform can help accelerate your sales pipeline without breaking the bank.
