Privacy is a topic that will undoubtedly continue to be top of mind. Demand for it will continue to grow, and the internet of tomorrow is almost certainly going to be a more private place. There\u2019s a sentiment that this may be bad for marketers, but for B2B revenue teams, this future doesn\u2019t have to be worrisome. We have access to the ultimate gold mine: First-party customer data<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Good sellers know that building a good relationship with a customer is critical. They also know that the best way to close a deal is to partner with a customer to solve problems and pain points. What\u2019s the best way to do this? Good old-fashioned research.<\/p>\n
KYK is critical<\/h2>\n
It starts with outbound outreach. Understanding the buyer, the company and their product\/market fit are easily achievable through a Google search or LinkedIn scroll. The best sellers take information gleaned from this research and infuse it into outbound communication. <\/p>\n
When a buyer gets hooked (as evidenced by your due diligence), they should infuse that information into a premium demo where a solution engineer joins to solve a real problem facing the buyer\u2019s business.<\/p>\n
First-party data<\/a> is a cheat code for sellers to thoroughly research and get to know their customers. The most successful sellers dig beyond basic information available, like the geographies a company covers, what products or services they offer and how many employees they have. It requires a little extra time and effort, but it\u2019s well worth it when sellers uncover and analyze information about how a prospective buyer behaves online.<\/p>\n
Not sure where to begin this type of research? You already have a ton of it right at your fingertips.<\/p>\n
Finding reliable and useful first-party customer data<\/h2>\n
CRM systems<\/h3>\n
A lot of the basic information about companies (HQ location, markets they sell in, size of the company) can be easily found in the customer database of most companies \u2014 generally a CRM system.<\/p>\n
This is some of the most crucial and fundamental data about customers<\/a> that can be leveraged in sales conversations, and it\u2019s right there, already collected. But you\u2019d be surprised how many salespeople don\u2019t take advantage of it! Don\u2019t fall into that camp.<\/p>\n
Public information<\/h3>\n
A lot of pertinent info on your customer is probably on the internet as a matter of public record. Public companies must file detailed financial reports quarterly. Their CEOs will often also pen a letter on what is going on with the company, its current positioning, challenges and focuses. And don\u2019t forget to look for other filings and investor calls!<\/p>\n
If it\u2019s a private company, there\u2019s still plenty of information to be gleaned through publications that have written about the company or through some quick Google searches. All of this is great information for your sales team.<\/p>\n
LinkedIn<\/h3>\n
Both the business page and your contact\u2019s page on LinkedIn are great windows into your customer\u2019s mind. What are their accounts posting about?<\/p>\n
Remember that it\u2019s largely marketing teams handling the social media posting for businesses, so when a topic is talked about on their LinkedIn pages, you know it\u2019s top of mind for them, and important to how the company wants to be perceived. That strategic information can bolster any pitch.<\/p>\n
Conversation AI and other technologies<\/h3>\n
A lot of sales technology is capturing vital information that is worth reviewing. For example, AI technology can record a series of Zoom conversations with customers and analyze how they are going, and where the sentiment of your customer is leaning \u2014 toward your company or a competitor.<\/p>\n
Not only can you use this kind of technology to get a better understanding of your customer, but you can also use it to analyze your sales team\u2019s effectiveness. Seeing what successful sales reps do and how it differs from reps who have less success can strengthen your whole approach. <\/p>\n
For example, in my own experience, I\u2019ve seen that the best-performing sales reps talk less than 50% of the time when on with a customer, while the worst-performing sales reps speak around 80% of the time. Using this information to make your broader sales team more effective is just as useful as the data gathered on customers.<\/p>\n
Websites<\/h3>\n
Potential customers who come to your website leave a lot<\/em> of footprints. If you know what to look for, you can tell where they are in the buying decision process. Think of it like a digital car lot. In the real world, the moment someone walks on the lot, the salesperson watches from the office to see what cars they check out, how long they spend on certain models, and other telling behaviors. <\/p>\n
Through observing these patterns, a good salesperson will have a strong understanding of where to start the conversation and where they should lead it.<\/p>\n
If a customer spends a lot of time on your site, heads to multiple pages, and reads specific pieces of content, they provide an incredible amount of useful data<\/a>. If they come back multiple times \u2014 or even better, if another individual from their company visits the site, that\u2019s a sign that your salespeople should come out of the office, so to speak, and engage them more directly.<\/p>\n
Ads on search engines that lead to your site are another useful tool, as they identify the specific phrases and search terms that led a particular person to your site. If you provide many different products, knowing which one a customer is interested in before they even tell you will speed the sales process along.<\/p>\n
Customer service databases<\/h3>\n
Finally, a shockingly low number of sales teams utilize another resource sitting in their company, ready to be made useful: Customer service information.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s easier to sell current customers additional products than to bring new customers into the fold. Sales efforts to expand these accounts should make ample use of the data compiled during their time as a customer. What products are they using? Are they having issues? When was the last time they put in a ticket \u2014 is there one open right now? What\u2019s their customer satisfaction score?<\/p>\n
Knowing the answers to these questions before pushing for an expanded account is vital. This type of data is the foundation of the relationship you\u2019re trying to build upon. And you want to be aware of the customer\u2019s historical and recent experiences with the products they already have. <\/p>\n
It\u2019s going to be an uphill battle to sell a new product to a customer who is currently frustrated with the old one, and it might damage the long-term prospects with that customer if you try to do so at the wrong time.<\/p>\n
Knowledge is power<\/h2>\n
Many of your competitors are likely not using this info, so you have a real opportunity to jump ahead of them when you\u2019re fighting for the same business.<\/p>\n
First-party customer data<\/a> will help you map your team\u2019s sales approach to what the customer needs, making your offering appear more valuable. Even in a more private, online future, these means of getting to know your customers are going to make the difference between closing a sale and a months-long approach that results in no revenue.<\/p>\n
Sales conversations used to happen in the boardroom, and now they\u2019re almost entirely online \u2014 tapping into the technology we have at hand, as a result, can be a game-changer.<\/p>\n
Sean Whiteley is founder of Qualified<\/em>. <\/p>\n
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If you want to read about cutting-edge ideas and up-to-date information, best practices, and the future of data and data tech, join us at DataDecisionMakers.<\/p>\n
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\n Sean Whiteley, Qualified<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Privacy is a topic that will undoubtedly continue to be top of mind. Demand for it will continue to grow, and the internet of tomorrow is almost certainly going to be a more private place. There\u2019s a sentiment that this may be bad for marketers, but for B2B revenue teams, this future doesn\u2019t have to<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":621015,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[72071,55,46],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-621014","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-first-party","8":"category-incredible","9":"category-technology"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/621014","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=621014"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/621014\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/621015"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=621014"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=621014"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=621014"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}

Event<\/h3>\n\nTransform 2023<\/span><\/p>\n

CRM systems<\/h3>\nA lot of the basic information about companies (HQ location, markets they sell in, size of the company) can be easily found in the customer database of most companies \u2014 generally a CRM system.<\/p>\n

Knowledge is power<\/h2>\nMany of your competitors are likely not using this info, so you have a real opportunity to jump ahead of them when you\u2019re fighting for the same business.<\/p>\n