In this post, we break down how GTM teams can reduce risks associated with revenue and pipeline generation by focusing on their most valuable B2B buying signals. We start by sharing insights on how the B2B buying process has changed in the new era of Efficient Growth. We then detail how GTM teams can adapt to this new normal by identifying and working their most valuable prospect accounts based on buyer readiness.
Seismic Shifts in the B2B Buying Process
How GTM Teams can Adapt to the New Era of Efficient Growth
The Most Valuable B2B Buying Signals of Buyer Readiness
Identifying the Most Valuable B2B Buying Signals for You
Seismic Shifts in the B2B Buying Process
The end of free money has brought about a new era of efficient growth and doing more with less for B2B SaaS companies. Gone are the days of unlimited budgets and headcounts for Sales and Marketing teams. These teams must now find ways to achieve their goals with fewer resources.
The B2B buying process has also undergone a significant change, with buyers becoming more diligent and selective about the solutions that they invest in. Buying teams now have smaller budgets and headcounts themselves, so they are looking for essential technologies that can help them tackle existing problems or drive active initiatives. The sales process has become more complex, with longer sales cycles, more stakeholders involved in the buying decision, and a higher proportion of decisions requiring C-level approval, especially from the CFO.
At the same time, decision-makers are drowning in promotional messages that are coming at them from all sides. To stand out in this noise, the typical “spray and pray” approach is no longer effective. Prospects today demand relevance and personalization in all their communications.
To make the most of their limited resources, GTM teams must be more selective in the accounts and personas that they target. They also need to be thoughtful in how they personalize their messaging to get the attention of their target buyers.
How GTM Teams can Adapt to the New Era of Efficient Growth
To succeed in this new era, GTM teams need to take the path of least resistance to achieve their pipeline and revenue goals. Focusing on prospects that are most in need of your solution is the safest path to success. This is buyer readiness.
Buyer readiness is a measure of the company characteristics that make a prospect a great fit for your solution right now. Companies with a high buyer readiness score are those that have active pains, needs, or initiatives where your solution could help the most right now.
Our experience has revealed that between 5-15% of the target audience market (TAM) for a company will have a degree of readiness for the solution, making it the highest value segment to focus on with targeted GTM strategies. This approach eliminates the waste of resources targeting companies that are unlikely to purchase in the near future.
It’s crucial that Sales and Marketing teams work together to identify and target these prospects, as a well-coordinated approach will result in the highest ROI. This means creating a consistent narrative across all touchpoints, such as the website, LinkedIn ads, search ads, nurture emails, outbound emails, content, webinars, and more.
Let’s explore how you can identify these signals by tracking the digital body language of your prospects.
The Most Valuable B2B Buying Signals
Evaluating the readiness of a potential buyer is a crucial step in the sales process. Understanding the prospect’s motivations and the current situation can help you tailor your approach and increase your chances of success. To help you evaluate buyer readiness, you can consider several key dimensions, including firmographic information, initiatives, technical profile, pain signals/events, and buyer movement.
- Firmographic information, such as company size, geography, funding stage, and industry, can give you a broader understanding of the prospect’s business. This information can help you determine the potential fit of your solution and the level of resources available to the prospect. This is a good starting point in the process of evaluating buyer readiness.
- Initiatives information found in data sources such as job listings, SEC filings, and existing contacts on LinkedIn, can provide insight into the prospect’s current priorities and plans. For example, if the prospect has recently hired new executives or has a high number of job listings in a particular function, it could indicate a focus on growth and the potential for a new project or initiative in that function.
- The Technical Profile of a prospect is also critical in evaluating their readiness to buy. Understanding the technology stack that the prospect uses and the presence of specific titles within the organization can give you insight into their technical maturity. Only targeting prospects that use Mission Critical Tech Stack for their operations will help you focus your efforts on those who are most likely to be interested in your solution.
- Pain signals such as layoffs, data breaches, ransomware attacks, poor customer reviews, and failed audits can also provide valuable insight into the prospect’s situation and motivation. Understanding the challenges that the prospect faces can help you tailor your approach and highlight how your solution can address their specific needs.
- Finally, evaluating buyer Events, such as new additions to the executive team, mergers & acquisitions, and new product or campaign launches can help you determine the best time to reach out and the type of messaging that will resonate with the prospect.
To sum up. evaluating buyer readiness by considering the prospect’s firmographic information, initiatives, technical profile, pain signals/events, and buyer movement can help you determine the best way to engage and build a successful relationship.
Identifying Your Most Valuable Buying Signals
Now that we’ve shared a framework to map out buyer readiness, let’s look at the two methods that companies can use to determine the most effective buyer readiness signals for them.
The first method is to analyze the existing customer base. Start by evaluating the fit of your current customers and determining your core markets. Are these markets affected by current market trends or challenges? To get a better understanding of the buying readiness of these customers, have a conversation with the sales team. Listen to their insights and ask questions to gain a deeper understanding of how they evaluate buying readiness. This will give you valuable insights into the characteristics of companies that are most likely to purchase your products or services.
The second method is suitable for early-stage startups or businesses launching a new product. Similar to the first method, the sales team can be utilized to identify 2-3 clusters of interest that you want to target. This will help you focus your efforts on companies that are more likely to have a high buying readiness for your product.
Our goal with this post is to help you identify the unique prospect characteristics that link your value proposition to the companies that need you most right now. By following these steps, you can increase your chances of closing more deals and reaching your sales goals.
Interested in a no-obligation workshop to identify your buyer readiness signals? Drop me a note here and we can do a session to help you focus on your highest-value prospects.