Effective selling involves the ability to lead a person, group or business toward a mutually beneficial transaction - and it is no longer a skill required exclusively by salespeople.
A great salesperson will often be a strong, persuasive communicator with a good understanding of the product they intend to sell and the ability to identify its usefulness to a potential buyer.
A great marketer will understand the key customer demographic relevant to a particular product or service, and the best ways to capture their attention.
A great business person will understand gaps in the market and identify a product fit to fill those gaps. These are all tactics that tied together can result in a sale.
Studying a business degree or an online Master’s in Business Analytics can help you become a better marketer, business person or seller through a range of methodologies including gaining an understanding of the subtle and not-so-subtle indicators emitted by a customer.
These are called buying signals.
What is a buying signal?
Prospective clients or customers go through a process before making a purchase for either a product or service.
A buying signal describes the action or behavior a prospect demonstrates during this process that indicates they are interested in purchasing.
Business people, marketers and sellers work hard to detect these ‘cues’ - both verbal and non-verbal - to determine the level of interest a prospect has, with the ultimate goal of increasing company sales.
Detecting these signals or behaviours is vital to determine promising leads who are more likely to make a purchase, so time and resources can be allocated more effectively to this particular cohort of prospects and the company can receive a greater return for their investment.
Once upon a time all buyer signals were physical and carried out in brick and mortar stores.
Nowadays however, with the digital world at our fingertips, the kinds of buying signals that businesses can pick up on has grown exponentially.
‘Old school’ buying signals
Before the age of digital storefronts, retail and services sales were all conducted out of physical locations - which meant once upon a time all buying signals were physical in nature too.
Physical interactions with prospective buyers offered salespeople the opportunity to notice cues that indicated a person was a potential customer.
A good salesperson would respond to these cues as early into the process as possible, identify and close the gap between problem and solution and accelerate purchasing decisions.
Some of the key physical buying signals can include:
Asking multiple questions about the product or service
Asking questions to gain more information about a product or service is a great indicator the prospect is open to purchasing.
Although difficult questions may make it appear the customer is not keen, the reverse is actually true; people who are not keen do not ask many questions, and customers who are keen want all the information possible.
Asking for pricing is another great indicator the prospect is ready to purchase.
Holding or looking at the product for an extended period of time
Engaging with an item for a significant amount of time is an indicator the prospect is likely turning over the purchase in their mind.
The digital equivalent of this would be spending significantly more time on a particular product page than any other page.
Expressing a problem and seeking a solution
If a prospect reveals a genuine need and is looking to you for a solution, there is no greater buyer signal.
They are on the hunt for answers and are open to the company’s offerings, and will likely respond well to a good salesperson who can close the deal.
Friendly and attentive behavior
Prospects who maintain good eye contact, ask questions and who smile, nod or otherwise engage with the conversation are all strong indicators the prospect is willing to purchase from your company.
In reverse, avoiding eye contact or short, blunt answers to questions are signs they are not interested in continuing the discussion.
Digital buying signals
The digital world of online storefronts and purchasing is a new realm that has significantly broadened the number of buying signals available for a business, salesperson or marketer to capitilize on.
Digital buying signals may include:
Signing up to the company mailing list
Signing up to receive a newsletter or discount code is a strong indicator that a prospect is looking to purchase from your business.
In doing so, it offers marketers the opportunity to send targeted emails that may include additional incentives to purchase such as a discount or free trial period to help encourage and speed up the purchasing process.
Abandoned cart
Having a prospect proceed right through to placing an item in their cart (and leaving enough details for you to get in touch with them in the process) shows clear interest in the product and is just about as hot of a lead as you can get!
As when signing up to a mailing list, this kind of buyer signal allows marketers to send targeted email journeys to the prospect that might offer a discount code, a ‘hurry this item is nearly out of stock’ message or reduction in price on the specific item left in the cart, to further tempt the prospect to buy.
Interacting with a company’s social media or website
Potential customers may show interest in a company by liking, following or sharing content from their social media accounts, or spending a significant amount of time on the company website.
This can help provide valuable data to the marketing team on who is engaging with your brand and gives them the means to promote to them more frequently via paid advertising.
Paid advertising may be additional, more frequent social media ads, display advertising (targeting those who engage with your site with ads on third party websites), targeted private messaging, pop-ups on the company website and cross-promotion on other social media platforms the prospect is active on.
Engagement with sales collateral
Utisilizing sales tools or platforms that allow a business to track prospect’s interactions with sales collateral such as emailed pitch decks or product one-pages can help determine potential interest in a product or service.
One instance of this may be sending a mass email blast to a database, with those who open or click on content within the email considered a ‘warm lead’. Warm leads may garner further attention with a follow-up sales call.
This is a sales qualification process that can help weed out less engaged prospects and instead allow sales to focus their time and energy on more engaged, and hence potentially higher-converting, leads.
Although digital buyer signals reign supreme at this point in time, successfully deciphering all types of indicators can help a business better allocate their time and resources for a higher return in the form of profit.
Understanding these signals is no longer purely a skill required by sales, and the better understood these signals are by all key stakeholders, the more successful a business can become.