Sales folks, we have a problem with UFOs. Unidentified Future Opportunities, I mean.
We sift through heaps of data, trying to identify real opportunities. At times, it can feel like the whole process is equal parts numbers game and guessing game.
We don’t need more data. We need better data.
Let’s talk about how you can kick your B2B buyer intent data to the next level, end the guessing game, and turn those UFOs into SQLs.
Where We Are: B2B Account-Level Intent Data
Up until now, account-level intent data was the best we had. We could see that someone at a particular business was showing signs of interest, but we couldn’t narrow that interest down to the individual B2B buyer. So if your target account has 25,000 employees—good luck in trying to figure out the individual B2B buyer intent data!
Separating the signal from the noise is a Herculean task with account-level intent data. Are those website visitors genuinely interested, or just bots? Did your ad hit the right audience, or did it land in someone’s personal feed by mistake? It’s a time-consuming struggle for our demand gen teams, searching for a needle in a haystack they’re not even sure exists.
And that leads to salespeople wasting time trying to find who they’re looking for, instead of starting a conversation. We need data that gives us the “who” up front. That’s called B2B buyer-level intent data.
What Is B2B Buyer Intent Data?
B2B Buyer intent data is all about (surprise, surprise) individual buyers. It’s uncovering and surfacing the intent signals that you can use to move each member of the buying committee, and spotting these opportunities while they’re red-hot.
For example: Say you’re working at a supply chain logistics company. Bob Johnson, a CTO at one of your target accounts, signs up for a webinar or an in-person event about supply chain logistics solutions.
With a different company. Or at an event your guys aren’t sponsoring or even attending.
But with B2B buyer intent data, you still get an alert when Bob signs up for that webinar or event. And now you know he’s in-market. Time to reach out. Boom!
By spotting individual buyer intent early and accurately, both marketers and sellers can tailor their approach to each buyer, significantly increasing the chances of sealing the deal. No more guessing games!
Buyer intent data for B2B also makes it easy for you to tailor your cold email outreach and sales messaging to each individual buyer’s context and needs. That means quicker relationship-building, more relevant conversations, and shorter sales cycles.
B2B marketing now can get a whole lot more focused as well with the right buyer-level intent data.
Where Can I Get More on B2B Buyer Intent Data?
There are a lot of vendors promising to deliver buyer-level intent data. For the most part, though, they’re actually offering account-level data with a few bells and whistles. I know we use one ourselves!
But I’ve had the privilege of uncovering a new player with some pretty amazing technology. NetLine just launched INTENTIVE, the first platform designed specifically for providing and guiding sales and marketers to B2B buyer-level intent data.
I was pleased to lend my expertise to an eBook about this new sales frontier: The Proof is Out There: Discover True Buyer-Level Intent Data. In this guide, you’ll find out all about B2B buyer intent, what it means for sales, marketing and revenue growth!
In addition, myself and my fellow marketing influencers explain how to get it and how to use it.
My colleague Matt Heinz sums it up perfectly:
“The age-old question for anyone in sales is 1) who do I call next?, and 2) what should we talk about?
Buyer-level intent data answers both of these questions. It’s not just about “who” to call, when you add “why” and “when” it’s like adding rocket fuel to your sales engagement, productivity and conversion metrics.
And chances are, that individual intent signal likely has implications for the rest of the buying committee as well, so the opportunity to leverage it in building internal consensus and momentum towards change is massive.”
Bring Your UFOs Down to Earth
Call me a radical, but I think the primary job of salespeople should be selling. Not searching for the right prospect and definitely not cold calling or cold emailing without knowing if there is interest. And now… B2B sales leaders and reps can.
B2B buyer intent data won’t close those deals for you, of course, but it will set you up for success.
Ready to give up UFO-hunting? Download The Proof is Out There: Discover True Buyer-Level Intent Data to get started.
It’s pretty awesome if I do say so myself!
