57 Percent Of The Purchase Decision Is Complete Before A Customer Even Calls A Supplier

57-Percent

It has become increasingly difficult to track and understand customer behavior in a digital world. As technology advances, so does the complexity of the customer journey. 

57 percent of the purchase decision is complete before a customer even calls a supplier. This means customers are already aware of their needs and wants and have narrowed down their choices to just a couple of products or services when they reach out for more information. 

The Power of Research 

The power lies within research done by customers before they even contact you. Customers now have access to more information than ever before, meaning they are more informed and ready to make decisions quicker than ever before. 

That being said, it’s important that businesses are able to quickly adapt their strategies and use the research customers have already done as an advantage. 

What Does this Mean for Businesses?

Businesses must be aware of what customers are looking for when researching their product or service, as well as being able to provide accurate information about pricing and availability in order to keep up with customer expectations. 

Companies should also be able to provide relevant content such as blogs, videos, and webinars, which will help customers feel more educated on their purchase decisions. 

Additionally, businesses must stay ahead of their competitors by offering additional value-added services such as free shipping or discounts, all while staying ahead of trends in the industry. 

Utilizing Data 

Data can be used as an amazing tool when it comes to understanding customer behavior and making decisions based on those insights. 

Companies should look at data points like search keyword usage, website visits (frequency & duration), purchase patterns/trends (seasonal/annual) and more in order to gain a better understanding of how customers are using their products/services and where there may be areas for improvement or additional value-added services that could be offered. 

Utilizing this data helps companies stay ahead of trends in the market and anticipate customer needs accordingly.  

The Importance Of Pre-sales Engagement In B2B Purchasing

In today’s digital world, more and more businesses are turning to the internet for their purchasing needs. With that being said, it is important to understand the importance of pre-sales engagement in the process of buying and selling products or services. 

Pre-sales engagement is a key factor in achieving success when dealing with business-to-business sales. 

Let’s take a closer look at why pre-sale engagement is so important for B2B purchasing.  

Understanding Your Target Market 

The first step in pre-sales engagement is understanding your target market. Knowing who your target customers are and what they need from you will help you create an effective marketing strategy that speaks directly to them. 

You want to be able to give potential customers the information they need before making a purchase decision, such as product features and benefits, pricing, customer service availability, warranties, etc. 

By understanding your target market, you can create messaging that resonates with them and makes it easier for them to make a purchase decision. 

Building Relationships 

Another key component of pre-sales engagement is building relationships with potential customers. 

This could include attending industry events or networking functions, setting up informational meetings with potential customers, or utilizing social media platforms like LinkedIn or Twitter to engage with potential buyers. 

By building relationships before the sale process begins, you can establish trust and credibility with potential buyers which will help increase your chances of closing a sale. 

Utilizing Data Analytics 

Data analytics also plays an important role in pre-sales engagement as it helps provide insights into how customers are engaging with your business online. Utilizing data analytics tools can provide valuable insights into how people are finding your website or landing pages on search engines as well as what content they are interacting with once they land on those pages. 

Having this data at hand can help inform future marketing efforts as well as help identify areas where improvements need to be made in order to increase conversions and sales down the line.

How To Leverage Digital Marketing To Influence The Purchase Decision Process

In today’s world of digital marketing, it is essential for businesses to understand how to leverage digital marketing to influence the purchase decision process. Digital marketing has become an integral part of modern business strategy and can be used as a powerful tool to drive consumer behavior. 

As such, it is important for businesses to understand how digital marketing affects the consumer decision-making process in order for them to effectively use digital channels to their advantage. 

The consumer purchase decision process can be broken down into five stages: awareness, interest, consideration, intent and action. Each stage of the consumer purchase decision process provides an opportunity for businesses to leverage digital marketing in order to influence consumer behavior. 

Awareness Stage

The first stage of the consumer purchase decision process is awareness. At this stage, consumers may not even be aware that they have a need or desire for a particular product or service. 

It is at this stage that businesses must focus on creating brand awareness through various digital channels such as social media, search engine optimization (SEO), content marketing, email campaigns and more. 

By engaging with potential customers at this early stage, businesses are able to build relationships and increase brand recognition which will help them later in the purchase decision cycle. 

Interest Stage 

Once consumers are aware of a product or service, they then enter the interest stage where they begin researching options and comparing products/services from different companies. 

During this stage, businesses should focus on providing valuable content that educates potential customers about their offerings and encourages further research into their product/service line. This can be done through blog posts, videos, infographics and other forms of content marketing. 

Consideration Stage

During the consideration stage of the purchase decision process, consumers will evaluate different options based on factors such as price point and features offered by each product/service provider. 

Businesses should focus on personalizing their messages in order to address any concerns or questions that potential customers may have about their offerings so that they stand out amongst competitors. 

This can be done through targeted advertising campaigns geared towards particular customer segments or personalized emails sent directly to individual customers depending on their needs and preferences. 

Intent & Action Stages

Once consumers have evaluated their options during the consideration phase, they enter into either an intent or action phase depending upon whether they are ready to make a purchase now or need additional information before doing so. 

During these final two stages of the purchase decision process, businesses should focus on providing incentives (e.g., discounts) in order to encourage immediate purchases or provide more detailed product/service information if needed before making a buying decision (e.g., free trials). 

Additionally, providing customer support during these final stages can help ensure customer satisfaction once a purchase has been made which can lead to repeat business down the road. 

How To Use Data And Analytics To Understand The Customer Journey Better

Data and analytics can be powerful tools for understanding your customer’s journey. By analyzing customer behavior, you can gain valuable insight into customer preferences and make informed decisions about how best to respond. 

The Customer Journey 

A customer’s journey begins when they are aware of your product or service, investigate more about it, compare it with similar offerings from other companies, decide on their purchase decision, and finally, use the purchased item or service. 

It is important to understand how customers interact with your brand throughout this entire process in order to optimize it for maximum impact. 

Analyzing Customer Behavior 

Data and analytics can help you understand what customers are doing before, during, and after they complete a purchase. For example, you can track customer interactions with your website or app by recording page visits, time spent on each page or section of the site, number of clicks on different elements of the page, etc. 

These metrics provide valuable insight into which pages have been visited most often and which features have been used the most. This allows you to identify areas where improvements could be made in order to increase engagement with customers or encourage them to take certain actions while on your website or app. 

Additionally, tracking customer behavior also helps you understand why customers drop off at certain points in their journey, helping you pinpoint potential problems that need addressing in order for them to continue down the funnel towards making a purchase decision. 

Using Analytics To Take Action 

Once you understand how customers interact with your brand throughout their journey, it’s time to take action based on that information. You may find that certain pages are not converting as well as others, in this case you should look into why this might be happening by optimizing key elements such as content layout or messaging used on those pages in order to make them more appealing or engaging for customers. 

Alternatively, if certain features are being used more frequently than others then this could indicate an opportunity for further development – for example if customers seem particularly interested in a particular feature then perhaps expanding upon it would increase its appeal even further? 

The insights gained through data analysis can help inform decisions around which features should be prioritized when developing new products or services – helping ensure that they will meet customer needs effectively while also increasing chances of success within competitive markets.  

The Role Of Content Marketing In The Pre-sales Decision-making Process

Content marketing has become a popular tool for businesses to drive sales. By producing relevant content tailored to their target audience, organizations are able to educate potential customers on their product or service and help them make an informed decision prior to making a purchase. 

Content Marketing As a Tool for Pre-Sales Decisions 

Content marketing helps organizations build relationships with potential customers before they even purchase anything. Through content, businesses can communicate the benefits of their product or service and how it will solve a customer’s problem. 

This helps potential buyers understand what they’re getting out of the product or service before they make any financial commitment. 

Content marketing is also used as a tool for identifying leads who are likely to buy from an organization. This is done by tracking user interactions with content, such as clicks, downloads, shares, etc. 

It also helps companies understand user interests and preferences so that they can tailor their messages accordingly. By understanding what type of content resonates with their target audience, businesses can create more effective campaigns that are better suited to meeting customer needs. 

The Impact of Content Marketing on Pre-Sales Decisions 

Research shows that content plays an important role in pre-sales decisions. According to one study, 70% of consumers said that content had an impact on their purchasing decisions. Additionally, another study found that 93% of B2B buyers used online resources when researching products and services prior to making a purchase decision. 

These findings demonstrate just how influential content can be in influencing consumer behavior and helping buyers make informed decisions about products or services before committing financially.  

The Importance Of Building Relationships With Customers Before They Make A Purchase

Many businesses understand the importance of customer relationships but may not understand how powerful those relationships can be.

Studies show that customers who engage in meaningful relationships with brands before they make a purchase are more likely to become repeat customers and even recommend their favorite brands to friends and family. 

Let’s look at the facts behind the importance of building relationships with customers before they make a purchase. 

The Power of Trust 

One of the most important aspects of building relationships with customers is trust. In order for customers to feel comfortable making purchases, they need to trust the company they are buying from. 

This means providing excellent customer service and going above and beyond when it comes to product quality and delivery. A strong relationship between a business and its customers is based on mutual trust, which leads to increased loyalty and higher sales numbers. 

Building Lasting Relationships 

Another benefit of building relationships with customers before they make a purchase is that it helps create lasting relationships between companies and their customers. When businesses invest in getting to know their potential clients, they can use that information to tailor products or services specifically to them. 

These tailored solutions help build bonds between companies and their customers, which can lead to repeat business as well as word-of-mouth recommendations from happy clients.      

Creating Emotional Connections 

Finally, when businesses take the time to get to know their potential clients on a more personal level, it creates an emotional connection that is hard for other businesses to replicate. 

By showing genuine interest in individual customer needs, companies can create an emotional bond that will keep those customers coming back for years to come. 

This kind of relationship building also has the added bonus of creating brand advocates who will spread the word about your company far and wide! 

The Role Of Account-based Marketing In Pre-sales Decision-making

Account-based marketing (ABM) is a strategy used by businesses to target the most lucrative prospects and increase sales. ABM focuses on building relationships with specific accounts that are most likely to generate revenue. 

It is an important part of pre-sales decision making, as it allows companies to identify the best accounts for targeted marketing efforts. 

What is Account-Based Marketing? 

Account-based marketing (ABM) is an effective strategy for targeting specific accounts that are most likely to convert into sales opportunities. This type of marketing uses data from customer relationship management (CRM) systems and other sources to identify the key accounts that should be targeted. 

By focusing on these high value accounts, companies can better understand their needs and create highly tailored campaigns that are more likely to result in a sale. 

The Benefits of ABM in Pre-Sales Decisions 

Account-based marketing can provide several benefits when it comes to pre-sales decisions. For starters, it allows businesses to target only those customers who have a high potential for conversion. 

This means they don’t have to waste time or money on low probability leads. Secondly, ABM provides valuable insight into what customers need and want so that marketers can create more effective campaigns that are tailored specifically towards them. 

Finally, ABM helps ensure that all communication with customers is personalized and relevant so it stands out from other competitors vying for their business. 

In addition, research shows that account based marketing leads to higher ROI than other forms of B2B marketing strategies1. As such, many businesses are turning towards ABM in order to maximize their returns on investment when it comes to pre-sales decisions. 

The Benefits Of Automation And AI In Pre-Sales Decision Making 

In today’s world, automation and artificial intelligence (AI) are becoming more prevalent in the business world. Automation and AI are changing the way businesses make decisions, especially when it comes to pre-sales decision making. 

AI and automation allow businesses to make decisions more quickly, accurately, and efficiently than ever before. 

The Impact of Automation on Pre-Sales Decision Making 

Automation is having a significant impact on pre-sales decision making. Automated systems can help businesses analyze data quickly, identify trends, and make better decisions about pricing, product features, customer service strategies, and more. 

Additionally, automated systems can help businesses create personalized experiences for customers by providing tailored recommendations based on individual preferences or past purchases. 

By leveraging automated systems to help with pre-sales decision making processes, businesses can become more efficient and effective in their operations. 

The Impact of Artificial Intelligence on Pre-Sales Decision Making 

AI is also having a major impact on pre-sales decision making. AI technologies such as machine learning (ML), natural language processing (NLP), and deep learning (DL) are all playing a role in helping businesses improve their pre-sales processes.

ML algorithms can be used to analyze large amounts of data quickly while NLP algorithms can be used to interpret human language to better understand customer needs. 

DL algorithms can also be used to identify patterns in customer behavior that may not be obvious at first glance. 

By leveraging these technologies, businesses can make better decisions about pricing, product features, customer service strategies, etc., which can result in improved sales performance. 

How To Create A Pre-sales Strategy That Aligns With Your Overall Business Strategy

A pre-sales strategy is an effective way to understand how your sales process works and how it aligns with your overall business goals. It can help you identify common customer pain points and determine the best way to address them. 

By developing a pre-sales strategy, you’ll be able to create better customer experiences, streamline processes, and improve your bottom line. 

Let’s look at what goes into creating an effective pre-sales strategy that is both aligned with your business goals and tailored to meet the needs of your customers. 

Define Your Goals 

The first step in creating an effective pre-sales strategy is to define your goals. What do you hope to achieve through this process? Do you want to increase revenue? Improve customer satisfaction? Increase market share? Knowing what specific goals you are trying to achieve will help guide the development of your pre-sales strategy. 

Analyze Data 

The next step is to analyze data related to your business goals and objectives. This includes analyzing key performance indicators (KPIs), such as conversion rates, number of leads generated, average order value, etc., as well as analyzing customer feedback related to their experience with your sales team and product or service. 

These insights can provide valuable information on how best to optimize the pre-sale process for maximum efficiency and effectiveness. 

By understanding these metrics, you can make informed decisions about how best to adjust processes or create new initiatives that will help move the needle towards achieving desired outcomes.  

In addition, analyzing data provides valuable insights into customer behavior which can be used when crafting messaging or positioning of products/services during the pre-sale process.  

This can lead to more efficient conversations that focus on the benefits of a product/service instead of simply listing features they already know or don’t care about.  

Set Actionable Steps 

Once you have analyzed the data and identified areas for improvement, it’s time to set actionable steps that will help move the needle towards achieving desired outcomes. 

This could include creating processes for collecting feedback from customers in order to gauge their satisfaction levels or setting up systems for tracking KPIs more regularly in order to monitor progress towards achieving desired results. 

Additionally, this could involve training sales teams on best practices for navigating conversations with prospects during the pre-sale process in order for them better understand a prospect’s needs and offer solutions tailored specifically for their situation.  

Taking these actionable steps will ensure that not only are desired outcomes achieved, but also that improvements are made before any potential problems arise so they can be addressed quickly and effectively before they become too large of an issue.  

The Impact Of Globalisation On Pre-sales Decision-making

In the past, pre-sale decision-making was a regional affair. Companies would research the local market, identify potential customers and then target them with tailored marketing messages. 

However, the rise of globalisation has changed all of this. Nowadays, decision-makers must factor in the complex web of international relationships and trends that influence purchasing decisions. 

To understand how globalisation has impacted pre-sale decision-making, let’s take a closer look at what’s been happening in recent years. 

The Impact of Global Trends on Pre-Sale Decisions 

Due to globalisation, companies now need to consider not only regional differences but also global trends when making pre-sale decisions. 

For example, if a company is selling an online product or service it needs to consider how different countries view digital products and services differently. In some countries, for example, digital services may be seen as innovative while in others they may be seen as untrustworthy or even illegal. 

A company needs to take these factors into account when deciding how to market its product or service internationally. 

Consumer Habits & Preferences 

Globalisation has also resulted in changes in consumer habits and preferences when it comes to making pre-sale decisions. According to a recent survey by McKinsey & Company, consumers are now more likely than ever to research products online before making purchase decisions. 

This means that companies need to ensure their websites are optimized for search engine results so that they can reach potential customers who have already decided that they want to buy their product or service. 

Companies should also consider using social media channels such as Facebook and Twitter to reach out directly to potential customers and build relationships with them prior to making any sales pitches. 

The Future Of Pre-sales Decision-making: Predictions And Trends

As technology advances, so too does the way customers make decisions about what to buy. Pre-sales decision making is no exception. In order to stay ahead of the curve, it’s important to have an understanding of the trends and predictions for pre-sales decision making in the future. 

Data Analysis

Data analysis is already being used today by many companies to inform their pre-sales decision making process. 

Data analysis allows companies to gain insight into customer behavior and preferences, allowing them to make more informed decisions when it comes to marketing strategies. 

In the future, this trend is expected to continue as more data becomes available and companies become even more skilled at analyzing it. 

Personalization

Personalization has also become increasingly important in pre-sales decision making. Consumers want a customized experience when they shop online, and companies are responding by using predictive analytics tools that allow them to tailor their messages and products specifically for each individual customer. 

As this trend continues, look for companies to focus even more on personalizing their services in order to keep customers engaged and satisfied with their purchases. 

Artificial Intelligence (AI)

AI is quickly becoming a powerful tool for pre-sales decision making as well. AI can be used to analyze vast amounts of data quickly and accurately, allowing for better customer segmentation and targeting than ever before. 

AI can also help automate certain tasks related to pre-sales decision making such as recommending products or providing personalized customer service experiences based on past interactions with a particular user or customer group. 

Conclusion

If done correctly, pre-sales engagement can result in a considerable increase in sales for your company. By understanding the customer journey and using data and analytics, you can create targeted content that speaks to each stage of the decision-making process. This will result in more engaged prospects and, ultimately, more conversions.

References 

https://www.salesforce.com/uk/blog/2022/12/10-steps-for-B2B-customer-journey-mapping.html

https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/growth-marketing-and-sales/our-insights/finding-the-right-digital-balance-in-b2b-customer-experience

https://blog.hubspot.com/service/customer-journey-map

Was this article helpful?
YesNo

Wasim Jabbar

Hi, I'm Wasim - a startup founder and proud dad of two sons. With 15 years of experience building startups, I'd like to share my secret to achieving business success - quality marketing leads. Signup today to gain access to over 52 million leads worldwide.

Recent Posts