This week I was in Austin TX, hosting another roundtable for users of Priority Engine, TechTarget’s SaaS-based purchase intent insight platform. This event was graciously hosted by our friends at Box. What I enjoy about these user groups is that each new mix of people brings out new ideas, new challenges and new findings. In this session we hit upon some tried and true applications for purchase intent, but we also identified some exciting applications and use cases for this data set.
Based on direct insight from our customers, we came away with 7 core thoughts on how multiple teams at technology organizations use purchase intent to drive success:
Purchase intent insight is for Customer Success teams too!
Priority Engine is traditionally thought of as a Marketing and a Sales tool, however an often overlooked group of users is Customer Success teams. With the named account function in Priority Engine, a Customer Success Manager (CSM) can load their customer list into the tool, and then identify when the right time is to upsell/cross-sell. This might seem a bit obvious, but the other interesting application of this data we discussed was using it to predict churn. If your customer is heavily researching how to solve a problem you solution addresses, you need to engage them!
Augment your lead scoring models and accelerate prospects through your funnel
TechTarget and Sirius have done multiple webinars that have covered this concept over the last year, but we love to hear when people are putting this into practice. We had multiple people at this round table discuss how they have accelerators to the MQL score based on various Priority Engine insights.
Support field teams and event recruitment efforts
Most people in the room had used Priority Engine to help in these efforts but what was uncovered in this discussion is that Priority Engine contacts attend these events at an accelerated rate. With the ability to segment by geo, topic, and timeliness of activity, contacts are more responsive. One marketer said that they saw Priority Engine contacts bring 10% stronger attendance rates compared to other data sources. They also noted that those contacts converted downstream to opportunities at a higher rate.
Purchase intent is a key weapon in your ABM arsenal
Many in the group were at various stages of their ABM plan, but all are applying purchase intent from Priority Engine to for fuel specific ABM efforts:
- Some have used Priority Engine to identify which accounts, and expand the volume of accounts that they focus their ABM efforts against.
- Some have loaded their ABM list into Priority Engine, but then they build Salesforce dashboards to help call out which Priority Engine ranked contacts have OR have not been touched by sales (as put by one user a “shame list”).
- Others have used accounts that visited their booth from a recent event (badge scans), to then execute an ABM strategy against. They supplemented that list with Priority Engine contacts and data.
New ways to enable your sales teams with better insights and inroads
Reps today have so many tools, so many windows and tabs open, at all times and it is hard to get them to take advantage of new insight if it cannot fit into their workflows. With direct integration through a custom account dashboard as well as a fully operational tab within Salesforce, Priority Engine helps reps leverage purchase intent data to understand:
- Is the account worth calling?
- Who should I call?
- What should I say?
Additionally, the key to better sales rep engagement is to start small. Identify one rep or a small team of reps that like to test new ideas. Work with them on a singular execution tactic. As you realize success, have them share the tool, and the competitive nature of sales reps will help spread adoption.
Many customers are using purchase intent insight to drive multiple success initiatives in their organizations. If you would like to learn more about how Priority Engine fuels these use cases and more or are interested in attending one of our upcoming user group roundtables, please reach out today.
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