What Are Customer Buying Signals?

Customers send little transmissions out into the ether before they purchase what they’re in the market to buy. “There’s life here on this planet,” they say.

Proactive organizations that respond to these early customer signals are the ones who win the sale, forming a relationship with the customer when they’re in the information-gathering stage before alliances have been solidified. “We’re here and have what you’re looking for,” these organizations respond to customers who’ve indicated they’re on the hunt for a solution.

But exactly what signals suggest a customer is hot to buy rather than a cold cup of coffee? What signs should companies look for to secure a sales-ready lead?

What Are Customer Buying Signals?

Customer buying signals are the actions people take that indicate they’re interested in purchasing a product to solve a problem. Sales teams can use customer buying signals to weed out genuine leads from a field of prospects to maximize their prospecting time. Marketing teams can use customer signals to craft an ideal customer profile (ICP) and determine what collateral gets the most bang for its buck at each buying cycle stage.

At in-person meetings, customer buying signals come in body language like making eye contact or nodding heads. Asking questions and willingly sharing pain points they’re experiencing also indicate prospects are close to the bottom of the sales funnel.

Customers shopping online transmit signals that they’re sales-ready as well. By capturing these customer signals and using them to craft a targeted sales plan to catch a prospect’s attention, interest, and trust, companies can position themselves for success and achieve a higher percentage of closed-won deals.

Top Five Customer Signals That Shouldn’t Be Ignored

Watch out for these the top five online customer buying signals to advance your company’s sales and marketing efforts:

1. Informational content download or video view

This customer buying signal is the online equivalent of a customer spilling their guts. Engaging with content on your website that describes common problems (and your company’s solution to those problems) is a customer buying signal that she is experiencing the problem identified in the collateral and needs someone to help her solve it.

An in-person interaction where a prospect divulges their pain points indicates the salesperson has been brought into the circle of trust. A prospect engaging with your content online is likely not as far down the sales funnel as someone dishing in person. Website research happens earlier than meeting with a salesperson, and the prospect isn’t divulging her problems verbatim. Still, online actions can speak louder than words if appropriately responded to. While customers doing pain point research on your website may be higher in the sales funnel, these customer buying signals are extremely valuable as datapoints.

Problems indicated by the content the prospect engages with allow your marketing and sales teams to personalize the messaging sent to the prospect. The customer signal data gathered from their interactions with your content provide the intelligence you need to speak directly to the prospect’s wounds and proactively demonstrate the value of the salve provided by your company.

2. Case study download or video view

After a customer has done some Google searches on her pain points and has read a few articles or whitepapers on your website that accurately describe her trouble and how your products can remove that pain, she wants real-life examples of salvation.

Has your company already solved what’s stressing her out at organizations that are similar to hers? How did you solve it? How long did it take? What benefits did the organization ultimately see? Do these benefits align with her business goals? Let’s see some KPIs.

Downloading a case study or watching a testimonial video is a strong customer buying signal. It indicates that your company has made it through the preliminary rounds and the final stage. You’re shortlisted, and you should engage with a prospect offering you these buying signals with active, multipronged efforts.

3. Contact form fill

Filling out a contact form on your webpage is the customer buying signal equivalent of the first time a prospect raises their hand in class. They are no longer passively observing you from a distance, sending you cues by batting their eyelashes, providing you their email address when requested, or flexing their muscles when you look their way. They’ve passed you the note on folded-up, college-ruled paper. They’re interested. Yes or no?

Within their message, the prospect undoubtedly includes some nuggets of insight for you. Why are they reaching out? What product are they interested in? Have they actively disclosed why they’ve been lingering on your website?

Sending a contact form is one of the earlier opportunities customers have online to bring you onto their team and give you the inside scoop. It indicates you’ve passed the preliminary tests, and they have a baseline level of confidence in you. Build this confidence by responding to their message promptly and well-informedly from a place of interest and expertise. Use all the insight and customer buying signals they’ve provided you up to this point to craft a response that makes the prospect feel understood and that you’re suited to offer them support.

4. Attend a company webinar or conference

Attending a webinar versus a company conference once was (and hopefully will return to being) much different levels of effort for a prospect, so they previously sat at different stages of the marketing funnel. But in the pandemic era, virtual company conferences are a bit like webinars on steroids, which is why I’ve grouped them here.

Whether in-person events become common again or not, a prospect who registers for a webinar or a conference sends you a strong customer buying signal. They are interested in your product. They are spending a chunk of time learning more about what you can do for them. Show them reciprocal respect and reach out proactively with information about how your product can solve their specific woes.

5. Request a product trial

It’s down to the last stretch. The finish line is in view, and you and your sharpest competitor are sprinting to get their toes across first. When a prospect has requested to try out your product, it’s hardly a nuanced customer signal. She is on the market, she likes your style, she wants to take you on a date and see if there’s a spark.

You can use all the cumulative data from customer buying signals this prospect has sent you to make your product the most attractive to her. Show her your good side. Offer her advice on how your product is suited just to her. Her problems and your product are a match made in heaven.

Make her product trial a precursor to purchase by providing the prospect with educational content on how she can use the product for her specific needs, supercharging her trial experience.

Industry-Specific Examples

The manifestation of customer buying signals can vary widely across different industries. Here are a few illustrations to depict how these signals might appear in diverse sectors:

• Retail: In a retail scenario, a customer comparing prices or products on your website or asking about a particular product’s availability can be a strong buying signal.
• B2B Software: For B2B software enterprises, a potential client downloading a whitepaper or signing up for a free trial could signify a solid interest in your offerings.
• Real Estate: In real estate, a prospect inquiring about financing options or scheduling a property viewing is likely interested in making a purchase.
• Automotive: Within the automotive sector, a potential buyer scheduling a test drive or asking about financing options demonstrates a strong buying signal.

Understanding the unique buying signals within your industry can significantly enhance your sales and marketing strategies, ensuring that your team responds effectively to potential customers.

Actionable Strategies

Now that we have unearthed the significance of customer buying signals and explored examples across industries, it’s time to delve into actionable strategies that can be employed to leverage these signals for enhanced sales performance:

• Implement Technology: Utilize AI and machine learning tools to capture and analyze customer buying signals in real time, enabling timely and personalized responses.
• Educate Your Team: Ensure that your sales and marketing teams are well-versed in recognizing and responding to customer buying signals.
• Engage Proactively: Don’t wait for the customer to reach out. Engage proactively based on their buying signals, offering solutions addressing their identified pain points.
• Personalize Your Approach: Tailor your communication and offers based on each prospect’s unique needs and behaviors.
• Measure and Optimize: Continuously monitor the effectiveness of your strategies in leveraging customer buying signals and optimize based on insights gathered.
• Maintain Ethical Practices: Ensure all strategies adhere to data privacy laws and ethical guidelines, fostering customer trust.

Adopting these actionable strategies can significantly enhance your engagement with prospects, shorten the sales cycle, and boost your conversion rates.

The Benefit of Online Customer Buying Signals

One of the big advantages of online customer buying signals is that conglomerates can use them to make decisions about individual prospects. By learning the behavioral trends of your website users and noticing patterns of how people consume content, purchase products, and take actions, you can make smarter choices on what you offer a prospect to shorten the sales cycle.

Your website’s search box is an easy place to gather customer buying signals and mine actionable insights if it’s enabled with AI. Insights surfaced by a cognitive search platform will help you understand what signals indicate a prospect is more likely to become a customer and how best to treat that prospect to turn them into a customer more quickly.

Lucidworks can help put your online customer buying signals into action. We’ve helped companies across many industries use actionable insights to improve each of their customers’ experiences, transforming their data lakes into river mills.

Learn how you can turn customer buying signals into profit by connecting with us.