5 ways to improve your B2B prospecting using a connected view of relationship data

Historically, companies that have adopted a data-driven approach to sales have realised revenue growth over double the industry average. Ever-increasing volumes of data and technological advances in big data processing and machine learning are only going to compound this as a differentiator in future. Without embracing a data-driven approach, companies risk missing out on new business and losing existing customers to rivals who have the information and context they need to prospect more efficiently and effectively.

Quantexa’s decision intelligence platform enables organisations to become more data-driven in their approach to B2B prospecting and can uncover new, valuable opportunities with high chances of conversion through the application of new analytics technologies such as entity resolution and network generation.

HSBC recently used this platform to create a connected view of organisations and relationships for their business customer base. This allows them to uncover new revenue opportunities, which to date has been worth hundreds of millions of dollars to the bank.

So here are five things your business can do to leverage data and advanced analytics to drive revenue growth through B2B prospecting:

1. Create a true 360-degree view of customers and prospects

A single customer view is not a new concept. But the starting point for any prospecting activity should be to create an accurate and complete picture of any existing customers and potential prospects. This may sound straightforward but can often be challenging, especially when dealing with customer records from different business lines, freeform CRM entries and third-party data. Once you have brought information from all sources together to create a true 360-degree view, you will be left with a rich, high-integrity dataset that provides a strong basis for prospecting.

2. Build a connected view of organisations and relationships

Understanding how organisations are linked to one another, as well as to individuals, is key to identify the most suitable and valuable prospects with the highest chances of conversion. These links may be based on ownership, personal relationships or payments from one business to another – all help to establish a rich dataset that enables the identification of new opportunities to be based not only on information about the prospect itself, but also the ecosystem within which it operates.

3. Automate analytics and scoring to obtain consistently high-quality leads

Translate the knowledge and experience of your best sales staff into an automated system to consistently identify the best prospects. This will allow you to gain greater productivity from your sales teams, who can focus on interactions with clients and prospects instead of trawling through data or validating long prospect lists. The development of a scoring algorithm to prioritise prospects will also ensure you focus on those with the highest potential value.

4. Provide sales staff with the information they need to engage a prospect and convert a sale

Enable sales staff to have meaningful conversations with prospects by providing them with timely and relevant information, such as recent news stories. The platform will also highlight opportunities for warm referrals based on an understanding of the prospect’s connections to other organisations or individuals.

5. Breathe new life into your existing CRM estate

Surface prospect opportunities within your existing CRM estate and integrate within existing workflows to ensure that reviewing and actioning new opportunities is a frictionless process. This maximises staff productivity and empowers you to get the most out of your CRM software.

Once you have achieved these five steps, you will be able to target prospects with a higher propensity to buy, win more deals, shorten the sales cycle and ultimately realise significant revenue growth, just like HSBC.

To find out how to improve your B2B prospecting to uncover hidden prospect opportunities and support the growth of your business, email christophersanders@quantexa.com or book a demo here.