Reading Your Buyer's Digital Body Language

Research Report Contents Customer S uccess Story: AON Corp. | 1 ?2 Executive Summary ?3 The New Buying Process 4 The New Sales Process 4 Embracing Online Buyers ?5 Reading and Responding 6 Reaping the Rewards ?7 About Eloqua?
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?Digital Body Language ?
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READING AND RESPONDING
TO YOUR PROSPECTS'
BUYING BEHAVIOR IN THE
WEB 2.0 WORLD

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© 2009 ELOQUA CORPORATION ?Research Report: Digital Body Language | 2
Your next customer will research and evaluate your products through websites and online networks long before your salespeople get involved. Just as consumers now search and buy online, B2B purchasing in a Web 2.0 world has transformed into an interactive process driven by the customer, not the vendor. In fact, a call to your salesperson may be the last step in the buyer's journey, greatly limiting their influence and expertise. Yet there is an emerging vanguard of innovative companies that have learned how to decode the online behavior of their prospects early on in the buying process to gain competitive advantage and win more business. This online behavior - website visits, downloads, email responses and more - is a new Digital Body Language that identifies buyers and reveals their intentions to salespeople.

Executive Summary Compare reading buyer's Digital Body Language to the traditional B2B transaction, a function dominated by sales and rooted in face-to-face interactions. The best sales professionals were highly adept at reading their buyers' body language and buying signals revealed during in-person meetings, such as business luncheons, "Multiple decision-makers and a relatively boardroom presentations and product demos. Nuances of facial expressions, eye small number of target accounts contact, raised eyebrows, head nods or crossed arms, could tell savvy sales professionals much about a prospect's buying disposition. He or she could then characterize the typical B2B purchase. address objections early to improve the odds of closing a deal. These factors make it hard for B2B marketers to identify and understand deeply These skills are no longer enough. Over the past several years, the buying cycle for B2B products and services has moved online. The evolution of the Web 2.0 their customers' various personal and environment with its easy access to competitive product information and peer corporate motivations." feedback has transformed how companies and individuals research and evaluate prospective solution providers. Salespeople get less face time with clients. Buyers - Laura Ramos, VP and Principal Analyst , Forrester are more educated and have greater leverage in the negotiation process. To succeed in this new environment, fast-moving businesses are adapting their marketing and sales processes to the Digital Body Language of their prospects. Digital Body Language is the online equivalent of the facial expressions revealed around the negotiating table. It is comprised of website visits, information downloads, keyword searches and email responses. In many ways, online buyer behavior provides the most accurate picture of prospect interest and intent. By analyzing the recency, frequency and clickstream data of website visits, marketers can zero in on the buyer's pains, concerns and motivation. The problem with the Digital Body Language phenomenon is that it is generally invisible to Sales. By the time the average salesperson is aware of the electronic dialog that has taken place between her company and her prospect, it is often too late to influence the buying process, scope of engagement or competitive threats.
© 2009 ELOQUA CORPORATION ?Research Report: Digital Body Language | 3
This is forcing a deeper relationship between sales and marketing. The alignment and communication between the two departments is now critical to overall success. Businesses that adapt to the new buying process consistently increase lead conversion rates, shorten sales cycles and improve win rates. Conversely, those businesses that cannot track, analyze and communicate the online behavior of their prospects will find themselves increasingly disadvantaged in a competitive marketplace.
The New Buying Process Before an organization can adjust its marketing and sales process to manage and measure Digital Body Language... [download for more]