You Can’t Optimize What You Can’t See: Why Sales Teams Need Visibility Into Buyer Engagement

Sales teams today typically don’t know anything about what their potential customers were doing prior to contact with the sales team. Buyers do most of the research themselves by reading articles, comparing products, and looking at the company website. The teams are then only seeing one piece of the overall process that the buyer is going through. If teams have visibility into how the buyer engaged with the company's marketing materials, they will be able to determine what product or service the buyer was interested in and what time frame the buyer will be ready for a conversation with the sales representative.

Sales Conversations Become More Helpful

The conversation between buyers and sellers is much more helpful when both parties have some knowledge about each other. When buyers have previously reviewed items that are being discussed in the conversation with their seller (i.e., they've viewed product features, downloaded guides, etc.), the seller now has a basis for understanding which parts of the product matter most to the buyer. Sellers do not need to spend time reviewing basic information; this allows them to start discussing what matters to the buyer. This results in a more naturally occurring and more valuable conversation for the buyer. 

Marketing And Sales Work Better Together

Data about buyer engagement enables both marketing and sales to determine what actually works best for them. Marketing may be able to identify which articles, guides, or videos are attracting the most attention. 

Sales will know which of these resources help advance a conversation with a buyer. Together, both teams can gain knowledge from the same source of data to develop better strategies for buyers instead of just guessing by relying on actual engagement data.

Sales Teams Can Focus On The Right Leads

Not all leads are at the same stage of readiness to purchase. While some may be doing research, others will have already determined they need a solution. The engagement data will allow the sales teams to identify which one is in each category. By having the ability to see when a prospect has been to your site multiple times, or has been reviewing product information, you can determine the level of interest the prospect has developed. Teams can then concentrate their efforts on these interested prospects, rather than expending time and energy on those who are not ready. 

Content That Actually Helps Sales

Teams in sales departments are able to see which types of content buyers find the most helpful when it comes to making buying decisions. This is supported by engagement metrics based on actual buyer behavior. When teams are able to track which content buyers are reading and downloading, they will very quickly develop an understanding as to which types of content support buyers in their decision-making process. A Google Analytics consultant may be able to provide additional insight into how visitors navigate through your company's content and where their attention becomes distracted. 

With this type of knowledge, a company can create content that will help facilitate meaningful sales conversations. Sales teams perform better when they understand what buyers are doing before a conversation begins. Visibility into buyer engagement helps teams know what interests prospects, when they are ready to talk, and which resources help them make decisions. When sales teams can clearly see buyer activity, they can focus their time, improve conversations, and create better experiences for potential customers.