There is so much talk these days about inbound marketing sharing helpful content online so prospects can find you during their buyer's journey and you can capture their contact information to nurture them through the process. Understanding what a prospect is interested in learning when is invaluable, because it gives you the advantage of knowing how to best connect with the prospect. It's almost like saying that lead intelligence is the new black!
The idea is truly fantastic! Think about it just for a second… what if, when a prospect went looking for a solution to a business challenge they were facing, your website appeared in the search results online with the perfect response to their question? Your goal is to be seen both as the provider who understands their needs and who is an expert in your field. Of course there is a lot more to inbound marketing then just blogging and showing up in search. Inbound is about using search, social, email, lead nurturing, lead scoring, and so on.
But, this article is not about generating leads — it's about how lead intelligence can help you convert those leads to customers. How many leads that at one time seemed promising have, for whatever reason, moved to the other side of the file, where they are just not being worked? Maybe it’s because they were not interested or it was bad timing. Perhaps it was that the company had a change in personnel, or they had already committed for the next 12 months, or they simply were not calling you back. Let’s face it, these days it’s tough to get someone’s attention and then to keep it. There is a ton of competition out there competing for your prospects’ time.
How much better would you be at delivering a timely phone call or email if you knew what your prospects were interested in with regard to your product or service and when they were interested? Right now salespeople are flying blind (so to speak). You call prospects when you have a chance or when you book it on your calendar, not when they need you. You call them with your agenda based on perhaps something you heard in a sales meeting or maybe an article that you read that sparked an idea… what if your call was directly in line with an interest they actually had. Sound too good to be true? It’s not. Lead intelligence is one of the great reasons to get started with inbound marketing.
Lead intelligence makes sense of the data you collect from your website visitors. This information will help you:
And more! However, you must use this information wisely, otherwise you’ll scare your prospects away. Lead intelligence gives you a lot of information, but with great knowledge comes great responsibility.
Let’s say you get an email from your lead intelligence tracker saying that a prospect has filled out four of your forms looking for more information on a particular subject, and has been on your site for an hour today, and is in your time zone. They provided their phone number, so you’re excited to call.
Play it cool. Lead intelligence is a significant part of sales performance, but you may end up scaring someone away before you even get a chance to make a pitch.
The key to using lead intelligence in a way that results in a sales conversation is to look for ways you can help. If you keep your focus on providing value and offering helpful information, you won't come off as a stalker or being overly pushy.