The terms prospect, lead and buying signal are all well-known to B2B sales professionals, but their differences can be unclear. In part, the reason is that different CRM and marketing automation providers are using the terms in different ways. That's why we feel a clarification between prospect, lead and buying signal, and their roles in sales process, seems appropriate.

Our definition is very close to the framework used by HubSpot among others, and helps unify the conversation within a sales team, and further enhance sales and marketing alignment, or smarketing. Be sure to clarify sales terminology in your sales playbook!

Nothing is harder to sell around than a prospect unwilling or unready to buy. A company that checks every box in your ideal customer profile doesn’t hold weight if the decision maker isn’t in a position to sign a deal with you now.

According to HubSpot, as many as 25 percent of the deals that are marked closed-lost are because of timing, or rather, the lack of it. The best way to not fall into these statistics is to track and act smartly on buying signals. 

Imagine picking up the phone for a cold call, getting the right decision maker on the line, delivering your sales pitch and then hearing this: “Thanks for calling, your timing is great! We’re just in the need of what you’re offering. Tell me more.”

This little dream scenario might sound silly here, however, the idea of reaching out to a company that can clearly benefit from your offer just as they’ve seen an increased need for your product or service can definitely happen. And, it’s not just about getting lucky.

You will have a significantly better timing in your sales outreach and win more deals when you

1. Include the right buying signals in your Ideal Customer Profile, and
2. Find out how you can (use a sales intelligence platform to) track these relevant changes that reveal a window of opportunity in your target accounts.

How? We'll tell you that in this article.

Nothing is harder to sell around than a prospect being unwilling or not ready to buy. A company that ticks every box in your Ideal Customer Profile doesn’t hold weight if the decision maker isn’t in a position to sign a deal with you now. Fortunately, with modern technology, it's possible to follow buying signals from public and open data to know when a customer is ready to buy.

Here is our quick take on how to streamline the process of winning more business as a sales professional in staffing: by uncovering sales opportunities within your existing customer base.

While sales is the foundation on which some organizations are built, there are also many companies that are far less sales-driven. These companies, for example creative agencies and consultancy firms, will get most of their deals from existing customers or connections.

No one ever said finding new B2B sales leads is easy. It's not enough to find companies that match your Ideal Customer Profile, you also have to know when they are ready to buy to catch them at the right time. For that, use insights from buying signals.

The recruitment business is highly competitive. You probably have several companies competing over your potential customers regardless if you work with recruiting a larger spectrum of competences or if you’ve chosen to work more targeted, recruiting only for specific roles.