Imagine being able to approach customers so strategically that you close your next deal with just one intensive sales call followed by a single follow-up meeting. This would save immense time and resources on the many sales activities involved in an average sales process.

The fact that some sales organizations close deals faster than others is no coincidence. An important key to fast sales success is Account Intelligence. This provides sales reps with actionable insights based on technology-driven analysis of customer data. Dealcode's AI Guided Selling Software für Hubspot und Pipedrive also includes an Account Intelligence feature.

Do you want to be well prepared going into negotiations and impress with customized solutions? Read more about how Account Intelligence helps you to approach customers strategically in 5 steps.

1. Keep an Eye on The Right Timing

Especially when it comes to selling, it is crucial to recognize and take advantage of the right moment. This applies to the entire sales cycle, from initial contact to the final, often critical follow-up.

The Perfect Moment for Initial Contact

When should sales reps first approach a customer? In daily B2B sales life, sales reps often work on what ends up in the sales funnel next. Relevant framework conditions, such as the potential customer’s current budget, are usually not included in the sales strategy.

Account Intelligence provides sales reps with helpful hints on when the best moment is to make contact, indicating that it is time to take action. For example, a strategically good time might be when the negotiating partner has recently had a successful financing round.

Fast Response Time and Follow-up at the Decisive Moment

Some of the most common reasons for lost deals are late responses to queries from potential customers. In the fast-paced SaaS sales environment, sales reps are usually so busy that they often can't process leads in a timely manner or, in the worst case, simply overlook them.

The company SalesStaff researched how response time affects the likelihood of reaching the customer in time for a callback. The result: the likelihood of a call was reduced by 50 percent after just two days without a response from the sales rep - compared to a response within 30 minutes.

Account intelligence features inform sales reps when a quick response is critical to success and when it's the right time to follow up on ongoing negotiations.

2. Reach The Right Contact via The Correct Channel

Find and Speak to the Right Contact Person

Finding the right decision makers for sales calls is a daily challenge for sales reps. Contacting the wrong contact person often not only seems unprepared, but also costs valuable time - time in which reps are not advancing a single deal in the sales pipeline.

Changes within a company can complicate this task: It’s not uncommon for a company's decision-maker to change. By analyzing the company's profile and its employees in social networks and the media, sales reps with account intelligence always know which person to contact.

Choose The Best Communication Channels

Once you’ve found right contact person, the next question for sales reps is: How does the prospect communicate? Which communication channels can I use to best reach his or her attention? Which communication channel has the highest response rate varies from contact to contact. Account Intelligence features know on which channels a customer is particularly active.

3. Gain Insights into the Customer's Personality and the Company

Do you know those conversations that only scratch the surface, making it hard to find common ground? Stagnant conversations often come about due to the fact that participants know too little about each other and/or assume different framework conditions for their counterparts. Sales reps can never have enough information to strategically open a sales conversation and ultimately convince the decision-maker.

Knowledge about revenue potential, company size and the current challenges of the company form a sound basis to go on, yet this is not enough. Sales reps are aware that information about each individual contact person is also important in order to reach them as efficiently as possible during sales meetings. For example, reps may first ask whether the potential customer is new to the industry. In this case, this particular contact will most likely need more basic information about the product/service than more experienced industry colleagues.

Acquiring such information quickly for each deal takes time—time that can't be spent selling. A Survey conducted by Dealcode on the productivity of B2B sales reps found that gathering information is one of the second most time-consuming activities in day-to-day sales, next to prioritizing tasks.

With Account Intelligence solutions, this time can be saved, reps are well-prepared going into sales conversations and sales processes can be significantly shortened.

4. Approach Customers Strategically With The Right Hook

Have you already missed out on an opportunity to continue negotiations for an important deal by the first meeting because your approach was too superficial?

Standardized cold mails and template advertising messages are a thing of the past. You can only convince potential buyers if you are enthusiastic in your own sales tactics and the way you conduct the conversation. This is one reason why experienced sales reps leave nothing to chance and only pick up the phone when they have the proper hook ready.

Keyword Storytelling: Surprise your customers and entertain them with relevant stories, such as those related to industry-specific news, for example. Admittedly, sometimes that's not so easy.

The Account Intelligence feature’s analyses provide automatic input - in real time and supported by data. For example, Account Intelligence provides information about relevant trigger events, i.e. documented company events. These can serve as conversation openers for sales reps and often also reveal specific needs of the potential customer.

5. Tailor-made Solutions to Problems

With a few exceptions, good preparation is simply decisive for closing deals in B2B sales. The digital customer is increasingly better informed. For salespeople, this means that they have to always stay up to date in order to be able to respond specifically to the individual needs of the customer.

Predefined discussion manuals and advertising messages can be a guideline, but they no longer meet the expectations of SaaS customers. To sell, you need the right arguments. Only when customers recognize a benefit that is relevant to them will you keep their attention. This is especially true in the SaaS industry, where services are usually highly priced, complex and require thorough explanation. The best sales argument is and remains: Your product or application can solve specific problems.

What solution does your software provide individually for different buyer groups? The analyses of the Account Intelligence feature in Dealcode’s Deal Manager help answer this essential question.

Is your sales team ready to optimize their processes with data-driven Account Intelligence? Try Dealcode for free.