A keen ear will help you more than you think. Data collection is such a prominent part of sales and marketing. Wherever you go for marketing advice, there is an emphasis on using data to target your audience. This is true because evidence-based decisional informed decisions; your business is far too important to leave certain things to guesswork, right? However, how do you know what data is relevant? Are you stuck on a hamster wheel of data collection that doesn’t translate to any sales? What do you do with the data you collect? Listening and selling is a revolutionary new approach to business-to-business sales.
Sure, you have that amazing landing page with an opt-in form, and you are getting the sign-ups, but what are you delivering? Are you consistent with reaching out to them? What about past customers—how do you keep in touch? You might know a subscriber’s birthday, but how does that help you? Do you think that sending out a birthday message will help boost your brand’s credibility or sales? Think about what metrics would actively affect your sales. What is currently working for you?
Listening to your targets differs greatly from merely collecting any and all forms of data about them. If you are stuck with a large database of useless information, then you are spending too much time and resources on activities that you can’t translate into sales or improve your business. The best thing you can do is take a step back and understand the needs and concerns of your customers. If you have created a system that allows you to monitor their behaviors, then it should be fairly easy to keep them engaged.
This is true for all industries and business model. It doesn’t matter if you are B2B or B2C; it doesn’t matter if you are service-based or product-based. Your offerings should be something based on what they communicate to you.
Instead, construct a roadmap of your customers’ journey by looking at what makes them complete a purchase. Those key steps will point out what made them confident in their purchases. If a customer is informed and comfortable with the information presented to them, they are more likely to complete purchases.
Sift through the data you have to look at what creates that confidence. You will see that previous customers are more likely to return if their experience is favorable. You will see that you would have nurtured your relationship with your customers. Instead of focusing your marketing efforts on data collection, shift your attention to give context to the data you have.
