Understanding Buyer Intent

Here's how I treat intent signals + an example. TLDR - it's no different than how I treat any other outbound. The intent signal just gives me a reason to research the account. It isn't THE reason to reach out. Here's an example. Vanta announced their Series C funding today. If I received an intent signal from Vanta today, I wouldn't send them an email saying "Congrats on the funding! Noticed you were looking into training for your Sales team. I'd love to show you how I can help!". 427 sellers are probably sending them some version of that same email right now. Instead - I'd go to their funding announcement. I see: "Vanta plans to continue to go upmarket as it branches out from its startup roots" & "The company also plans to use the new funding to build out its AI products". Now, back to the problem I solve. Help sales teams stop losing pipeline to status quo. Now, I imagine how that problem might play out for Vanta. Moving upmarket = selling to companies who aren't as agile as startups. Companies who already have a way of solving the problem Vanta solves. Companies who might be more resistant to change the way they've always done it. And, it sounds like sellers will be getting more AI products/capabilities in their bags. An AI solution likely means more stakeholders will need to be involved to assess risk/privacy/etc. There's also varying degrees of skepticism in AI. Sales cycles may be slower as a result. Lastly, I'm looking for - what seems to be their maturity re: the problem/goal. The funding article references Atlassian, Omni Hotels, Quora and ZoomInfo as ENT clients. This tells me Vanta is having some success already. They're not trying to land their 1st ENT customer. Now, I take all of that context and write an email about my hypothesis. Subj: Christina's Comment Christina spoke about the move upmarket (building off the ENT wins w/ Atlassian, Omni, Quora). Not sure if you're seeing more stakeholders get involved in those ENT deals. The avg # for a complex deal is 11.2. Very different consensus requirements vs. a startup. More stakeholders = more buying group dysfunction. On avg, 40-60% of these opportunities end up lost to 'no decision'. GE taught their reps a different approach to get consensus with bigger ENT buying groups. Open to hearing how they did it? Jen Email #2 would be a similar format, but would tackle the AI problem hypothesis. I'd keep cycling through different problem hypotheses. Because as much as Vanta just became a prime target for us, the same can be said for everyone else with Vanta in their territory. Stand out with your insight + problem specificity.

“What’s it going to take to pull this deal into the quarter?” One of the dumbest things I’ve ever heard come out of a Sales Manager’s mouth during a pipeline review. The team did everything right...solid discovery, aligned solution, pricing agreed. The client even confirmed it was a fit, but their timing? Not this quarter. That’s not a sales problem, that’s just reality. Here’s the truth: - Customers buy when they are ready, not when you want them to. - You don’t get to dictate their business priorities, internal bandwidth, or budget cycles. You get to understand them, anticipate them, and respect them. - If the sales process was done properly, and all their needs are satisfied, then pushing for artificial urgency is the quickest way to lose trust and possibly the deal altogether. Great salespeople close when the customer is ready. Desperate salespeople try to force it and wonder why the relationship doesn’t last. We all want to hit the number, but let’s not confuse pressure with strategy.

I stopped asking "What are your priorities?" in sales calls. I'd get generic, unhelpful answers each time. I ask these instead: 1. What are the top 3 metrics you're measured on this quarter? ↳Knowing their key performance indicators reveals what truly matters. 2. What's keeping you up at night about hitting those goals? ↳Their biggest fears and challenges point to where you can create value. 3. Where are you currently losing revenue or leaving money on the table? ↳Quantifying the cost of inaction builds urgency for change. 4. Have you explored other solutions before? What didn't work? ↳Understanding past failures helps you differentiate and avoid the same pitfalls. 5. What would a successful outcome look like for you in 6 months? ↳Aligning on their definition of success guides your solution positioning. 6. Who else is impacted by this issue across the company? ↳Identifying all stakeholders ensures you bring the right people into the process. 7. What's your budget range for addressing this? ↳Getting a sense of investment appetite upfront avoids wasted time. 8. What's your decision-making process and timeline? ↳Mapping the path to a decision keeps the momentum going. 9. What concerns do you have about moving forward? ↳Surfacing objections early allows you to directly address them. 10. How will you measure ROI if we're successful? ↳Defining ROI metrics upfront justifies your pricing and business case. Vague, open-ended questions lead to vague, unhelpful answers. Get specific, and you'll uncover the insights to truly understand the buyer's situation. --- Repost ♻ to help your network with this important skill Comment “SEQUENCE” below if you want me to send you 13 email sequences that sell like crazy. 

This sales question makes me cringe: “Fast forward 90 days are we okay if that problem is still there? Or are we committed to solving this as soon as possible?“ Here’s why I don’t like it: “Are we okay if this problem is still there?” subtly implies they’d be foolish to say yes. It’s like asking, “Do you want to fail… or take action with me now?” There’s no neutral ground. “Fast forward 90 days” creates artificial urgency. It’s your 90-day clock, not theirs. You’re trying to align their decision with your quota. The subtext is: I need to know if this is closing soon. And buyers can feel that. The moment they sense the question is about your needs not theirs they can smell your commission breath and their walls go up. Now contrast that with: “Do you mind me asking, how are you thinking about timing given everything else on your plate?” That invites, rather than insists. It makes the conversation about them, not you.. There’s no push. No judgment. Just quiet observation. That’s the engery shift. From steering the conversation… To sitting beside it. When you stop trying to force momentum, You surface more truth.

Should you retarget by intent? We ran the test... Most B2B retargeting looks something like this: Someone visits your site, any page at all…and immediately: they’re getting hit with “Book a demo” or “Start your free trial” ads. No nuance. No context. Just one-size-fits-all messaging chasing every visitor around the internet. It’s simple. It’s easy. But also pretty broken. Here’s why: > Not everyone on your site is in the same headspace. > Blog readers aren’t ready to talk to sales. > Product page visitors are curious but not convinced. And people on the demo page? They’re this close but something’s holding them back. Treating all three the same? That’s how you burn ad dollars without actually building pipeline. So we ran a test. One of our clients had a basic retargeting setup. One campaign. One CTA. One generic message. We broke it apart and rebuilt it based on intent. ___________________________ Here’s how we segmented it: Blog readers Top-of-funnel folks in research mode. → We showed them value-first content: guides, checklists, downloads. Product & feature page visitors Mid-funnel visitors sniffing around the solution. → We served ROI calculators, interactive tools, and “how do you stack up” style CTAs. Pricing/demo page visitors Bottom-of-funnel leads with real buying signals. → They saw direct “Book a demo” and “Start your trial” ads with tons of social proof. ___________________________ Here’s what happened over 60 days: Old campaign (one-size-fits-all): > Low click-through rates (~0.4%) > Modest form fill volume > Demo-to-close rates hovering around 17% New segmented retargeting: > 3.1x higher CTR > 2.4x more total form fills > 29% increase in demo-to-close conversion from high-intent segments ___________________________ Better message-match. Cleaner funnel transitions. Better results.

Buyer goes from LOVING your demo to ghosting you? We've all been there. Instinct screams: push harder, manufacture urgency! But hang on. Was tuning into the Attributed podcast, and Ted McKenna explained that the whole urgency play when buyers hesitate backfires over 80% of the time! Why? Often, it's not that they don't want it, they're overwhelmed or stuck. Our pressure doesn't help, it just adds to their paralysis and makes them retreat further. This is SO key for B2B sales and marketing. Instead of force-feeding urgency, how about we make it easier for them to decide? Remember, it's about solving their problems, not just selling our solution. When we help them navigate their indecision, we all win.

Why Salespeople Struggle to Create URGENCY: Urgency gets buyers to act now. But most salespeople create urgency that feels like a gimmick.   “We will no longer be offering this type of package." “Prices go up next week.” “Buy now, and I’ll throw in a discount.”   That’s not urgency. That’s an enticement wrapped in a ticking clock.   It’s price-driven. Not purpose-driven.   Real urgency doesn’t sell pressure. It sells impact.   Urgency isn’t about what they’ll save. It’s about what they’ll miss.   Challenge them to self-reflect. To feel the cost of inaction. To ignite urgency and create ownership of the consequences and impact, ask: 1. What are your biggest challenges in X-area that you'd regret not solving six months from now? 2. Who is impacted by this, and how? 3. What happens if nothing changes? 4. If you could achieve these results now, how would it impact you, your coworkers, company and customers? 5. What’s the long-term cost of waiting?   These aren’t scripts. They’re implication based questions.   They turn your buyer from passive to proactive. From “maybe later” to, “I need this now.” Don’t tell them to act now. Help them see why they need to.   That’s not pressure. That’s salesmanship.   It’s not manipulation. It’s motivation.   Let them sell themselves on why now matters.   Urgency isn’t yours to push. It’s theirs to discover.   When customers articulate their urgency, rather than being told, you’ll never need to, “drop your price” again. #sales #selling

“It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change.” - Charles Darwin Adaptation is the key to survival and success in nature and business. When I was recruited to lead an organization with no sales process, it was clear we had to adapt to thrive. We implemented a CRM system, gathering critical customer data, including people, roles, products, volumes, contract expirations, and other key information. This was the foundation for our first sales process. Initially, our sales process evolved to include traditional stages: lead generation, prospecting, lead qualification, contact, proposal, negotiation, contracting, and implementation. This helped us forecast and prepare for the future. However, as the market evolved, we realized the need to adapt further to stay competitive. We made subtle but impactful changes to our sales process to be more customer-centric. After all, customers don’t think about purchasing decisions in terms like "proposal phase." Instead, we redefined our approach to include stages such as: not in the market, stimulated, defining the problem, evaluating options, mitigating risk, making decisions, and implementing. These changes were fundamentally important. They allowed us to ask better questions, create supporting materials tailored to the buyer's persona at the right time within the sales cycle, and align more closely with our customers' intentions. For example, understanding what a CFO needs when defining a problem or how a CIO evaluates options enabled us to be better partners and remain in sync with our customers' processes. This adaptation elevated our organization in the eyes of our customers and helped grow our pipeline. More importantly, it provided real clarity and certainty in our pipeline, enabling the management team to make informed business decisions. Benefits of a Defined Sales Strategy: * Improved Forecasting: A structured process helps predict future sales more accurately. * Better Resource Allocation: Understanding the stages helps deploy the right resources at the right time. * Increased Customer Satisfaction: A customer-centric approach ensures that clients' needs are met more effectively. * Enhanced Team Alignment: Clear stages and processes align the sales team with organizational goals. As times change and markets move faster, what must we do to continue adapting and thriving? This question should be at the forefront of strategy discussions. Continuous responsiveness to change will ensure growth. #Adaptation #BusinessStrategy #SalesProcess #CustomerCentric #Innovation #Leadership

Your highest-intent prospects aren't all the same person. I was reviewing several of our recent BOF campaigns and I was reminded of the fact that: The closer someone gets to conversion, the more your messaging matters. But most marketers treat high-intent audiences like they're all the same person. They're not. Someone who abandoned cart yesterday needs different messaging than someone who's been browsing for three weeks. Someone on mobile at 2pm needs different creative than someone on desktop at 9pm. Here’s what you should do: 1️⃣ Understand intent decay patterns. We've tracked this across client accounts - purchase intent has a half-life. After someone shows buying signals, you have roughly 72 hours of peak conversion opportunity. Day 4-7, intent drops 60%. By week two, you're basically starting over. Many advertisers waste this window with generic "complete your purchase" messaging. 2️⃣ Segment your BOF audiences by recency, not just behavior. Recent cart abandoners get urgency-focused creative. Week-old browsers get social proof and reviews. Month-old prospects need fresh product education. Same goal, different psychology. We've seen 40%+ ROAS improvements just from this basic segmentation. 3️⃣ Rotate creative elements based on engagement, not calendar. Most teams mess up by refreshing on schedule instead of performance. Monitor micro-signals: when CTR drops 15% from peak, when frequency hits 2.5x without converting, when engagement falls while impressions climb. Don't wait for Meta to flag fatigue. 4️⃣ Test messaging depth, not just messaging type. Generic "20% off" performs worse than "still thinking about those running shoes?" for cart abandoners. Specific beats generic at every intent level. We use AI to personalize hooks based on browsing behavior, and it consistently outperforms broad creative by 25-35%. Most BOF campaigns fail because they treat high-intent traffic like low-intent traffic. You've already done the hard work of getting someone interested. Don't waste it with lazy messaging.

Sales folks, take note! Spamming a target company's employees with your services and requests for meetings will result in your company making its way onto a buyer's blocklist. As a buyer in the localization industry, I receive dozens of emails and LinkedIn requests every single day from vendors looking to showcase translation, AI, QA services, and more. It's not humanly possible to give personal replies to every outreach. When vendors can't get through to me, they often reach out to everyone on my team... and sometimes to many others across my company. I'd love for this practice to stop. It wastes valuable company time and makes a vendor appear desperate and non-strategic. Here's what to do instead: 1. Appeal to ego! Invite a target company’s decision-maker to a panel, or start a vlog series and ask buyers to appear and discuss industry topics. It’s also a great opportunity to reposition your company as a thought leader. 2. Offer genuine insight, not just services. Share a case study, white paper, or benchmarking data that’s actually useful to the buyer’s role, and do it without a sales pitch. 3. Build a reputation before you build a pipeline. Comment thoughtfully on posts. Contribute to community conversations. If you consistently show up with value, you’re far more likely to get noticed. 4. Target smarter, not broader. Don’t shotgun your message to an entire company. Learn the org. Understand the buyer’s scope. Then send one well-researched, personalized note that shows you actually did your homework. 5. Focus on mutual value. Can you help solve a known pain point or offer perspective on something changing in the market? Frame your outreach around collaboration, not consumption. 6. Use timing to your advantage. Keep tabs on when companies are hiring for roles associated with your offerings, launching in new markets, or attending conferences. That’s when buyers are more receptive to new solutions. 7. Lead with generosity. Offer a no-strings-attached resource, intro, or suggestion that doesn’t benefit you directly. Reciprocity is a powerful trust builder. And please! Don't ever ever call me on the phone! ;)