Data-driven sales: How to collect, use and act on data to acquire new customers

Written by Amanda Barrett-Howe

Updated on February 1, 2022

Reading time 13 min.

You’ve heard it before:

Data is the world’s most valuable resource.

We’re creating so much data that it’s becoming difficult to put into perspective.

But, let me try:

There are 40 times more data in the digital realm than stars in the universe.

Pretty wild, right?

Just take a look at the growth of digital information created over the last 11 years.

It’s NOT slowing down.

But make no mistake – having access to this much data is a good thing.

The more data you have, the more action you can take.

Data steers you in the right direction.

However, if you measure too many metrics, it’s hard to know what course of action to take.

Relying on instinct isn’t enough to guarantee results when prospective customers have more choices now than ever before.

So, what’s a sales team to do?

The answer:

Find relevant data through a repeatable process while understanding what your buyers want.

That’s how you form sales cycles that achieve your main goal: sales.

This guide shares the importance of using data to make smarter sales decisions. It shows the data you need to collect, plus practical tips on how to leverage data to make better decisions.

The importance of data-driven sales decisions

Sales reps love to act off gut instinct.
However, your gut might not always be right.

Using data to make sales decisions reduces the risk of gut instinct proving to be wrong. The more data you collect, both past and present, the more you’re able to reach leads and prospects in the right channel, with the right message at the right time.

According to research, McKinsey found that 53% of fast-growing sales teams are more effective at using data to drive their sales strategy.

Simply put: Data-driven decision making helps you sell better.

How to find sales data

Every data-driven sales decision starts with data.

But where does that data come from?

The fun part is that many salespeople unknowingly sit on large amounts of data they can use to make better, more informed decisions, and become more profitable.

Aside from the colocation data center, let’s start with the three most obvious sources.

CRM

Your customer relationship management (CRM) platform is a data goldmine. The vast majority (91%) of companies with more than 11 employees are using a CRM to store customer data, follow-up with leads, and qualify potential customers.

Yet with so much information to pull from, which metrics do sales teams need to keep a close eye on? Some of the most important include:

• Deal stage. Where in your sales pipeline is your customer? How fast are they moving through each sales stage? Using your CRM dashboard to track the status of every deal puts you in control of the sales process for more successful outcomes.
• Total active deals. How many deals are being made or finalized? What’s your average deal size? Indicators like these can inform whether you need to step it up when it comes to capturing leads, or whether you have more bandwidth for outreach.
• Sales cycle length. How long does it take to complete the customer journey? How can you use this data to shorten the process and increase efficiency? A robust CRM system will make data visualization easier.
• Customer lifetime value (CLV) forecasts. Set weekly or quarterly sales goals to help measure your progress. Use the data in future sales and marketing strategies to help you understand how much you spend on acquiring each customer.

Email marketing platform

Email marketing is a powerful tool, regardless of which department you sit in.

Here’s why:

An email marketing platform provides insight and data into buyers wants, needs, and motivations. How?

• Open rates. Open rates show which pain points prospective customers are looking to solve or what interests them. For example, let’s say you send two separate email campaigns on digital signature and B2B sales trends. If one email gets more opens than another, that’s your chance to reach out and share related content, strengthening your relationship.
• Click-through rates. It’s one thing for buyers to open an email, but what links are they actually clicking on? This data helps you become more proactive in your outreach.

Website analytics

Website analytics show how people are engaging with your website.

Great for marketing teams – and great for sales teams, too!

Website analytics presents a huge opportunity for sales teams to collaborate with marketing when providing feedback from the trenches to improve messaging, lead quality and close rates.

Let’s see how:

• Messaging: The way buyers’ reference and talk about your company can help the way you communicate on your website. Sales reps sit day in, day out with potential customers and this kind of feedback, shared with marketing, can help you nail down what makes your product and service unique.
• Forms: Sales blame marketing, and marketing blame sales. How do you improve lead quality? Ask the right questions on your forms.
• Close rates: When you start analyzing data on why buyers visited your website, why they signed up and requested a meeting and what challenges their organization is faced with, you begin to understand how your product and service can help them.

7 tips for making data-driven sales decisions

You’ve gathered your data from all the best data sources. Now it’s time to put them to work and get a better understanding of what your potential customers want.

Here are seven tips to help you navigate the decision-making stage.

1. Set your main objective beforehand
2. Shift the focus from lagging to leading
3. Segment your customer data
4. Automate data collection
5. Combine quantitative and qualitative data
6. Establish data ownership
7. Create one source of truth

1. Set your main objective beforehand

Setting your main objective before diving in isn’t only a no-brainer, it’s a must. It’s the best way to ensure your team is working toward a common goal.

Sales objectives might be:

• Generate high-quality leads at scale
• Improve sales conversion rate
• Increase profit margins
• Increase customer retention
• Reduce churn rate

Follow the SMART goal framework when setting these objectives.

2. Shift the focus from lagging to leading indicators

Focus on leading indicators which help you grasp a more comprehensive understanding of your company’s performance.

3. Segment your customer data

Gathering data is a good start. Interpreting it is a whole other story through instance segmentation.

4. Automate data collection

Use automation to speed up the process of getting customers through the sales pipeline.

5. Combine qualitative and quantitative data

Combine both types of data to deliver better customer experiences.

6. Establish data ownership

Who is responsible for gathering what data? This process will help involve your sales team and encourage commitment to outcomes.

7. Create one source of truth

Gather your data, but also make sure it’s organized, so your team can leverage it to get buy-in.