Real-Time Data Capture - Sales 2.0 Style

I was just reading a great post by the folks over at The Pursuit Group that provides an example of digital body language, a concept first introduced by Steve Woods at Eloqua in his book aptly titled, Digital Body Language.  The post focuses on the huge gap that exists between a standard implementation of a SFA/CRM system and what can be achieved through extending the implementation to include other data-capture, inbound/outbound or marketing automation toolsets.  The difference is obviously night and day but can be taken one step further.

The difference highlighted in the post is one of pure data and intelligence and does not speak to the ability to capture this data in real-time.  There is a lot of research on the limited amount of time that an inside sales person or account manager has to reach the prospect after they spend time reviewing content.  The impact that this has on conversion rates can actually be quite daunting especially if you currently have no visibility into the real-time digital body language of your prospects.  Fortunately, there are a number of really great solutions out there that are providing this level of functionality.  One that seems to be garnering some attention at the moment due to the slickness of it's solution is Pardot.  Pardot has developed LeadDeck, an application that shows in real-time the visitors to your website and does an excellent job of resolving to specific companies and shows those prospects that are clicking through from outbound activity or who have visited in the past.

For anyone that has spent time reviewing this type of data, the single biggest frustration is seeing a marquee company name cross the screen without any additional information on who specifically within that organization is visiting.  At go-ESI we have been using Pardot for the past few months and from time to time I will sit and watch the LeadDeck screen.  On one occasion I noticed a hit from a company in the SaaS space that was an ideal prospect.  We had not called on this company to date and so I knew that this was an organic search and we were flying blind in terms of just who was spending significant time on the website.  We always know more than we think though and sometimes we get a little lucky.  Recognizing the client website that was being visited I immediately jumped into Jigsaw and did a "Title" search for the target persona.  There was only one match and imagine my surprise and that of the prospect when I dialed the number and struck gold.  There was a slightly uncomfortable exchange as I explained just how I had come across the information and had reached him while has on page #3, but one that also served to immediately break the ice and created a solid opportunity for go-ESI and the client.

Sales 2.0 in action.  Happy hunting!