Recently we’ve talked a lot about how we think through finding higher quality leads using things...
How psychographics can help your sales process
Our recent posts explore how you can use firmographics, demographics, and technographics to identify the best companies and individuals likely to buy your services. We’re going to go one step farther today and talk about the mental piece of the sales process: how to use psychographics in sales.
Psychographics is a big word that—in this case—means understanding how your customers think and feel about the problems you’re helping solve for them. What’s it like to be them? And how can you help?
- What are psychographics?
- How do psychographics connect to other prospecting traits?
- How can Intro CRM help?
What are psychographics?
“Psychographics is a qualitative methodology used to describe traits of humans on psychological attributes.”
Wikipedia
This definition of psychographics is a great start. When we think about what it’s like to be your customers, it is intangible. We want to describe these traits as best we can, knowing it can’t be perfectly boiled down to numbers. And knowing we’ll never know exactly what it’s like to be them.
We see psychographics almost like the icing on your cake. You find a great company, the right person to talk to, and you have a grasp of their technology needs/status, so how do you know for sure they will close?
You can use psychographic positioning to write the copy that makes them lean forward in their seat, click that link, or follow you on LinkedIn. Is their industry growing or contracting? Is their company hiring or downsizing? Will your product cut their costs or increase their sales? Do they have the authority to make decisions, or do they have to get permission and run it up the ladder?
Questions like these help us gain a deeper understanding of the job to be done by your product. On the other side of every deal is a person—understanding what’s going on in their mind very much influences your ability to close a deal with them.
How do psychographics connect to other prospecting traits?
Psychographic data can be challenging to come across because we aren’t mind readers! However, it is possible to extrapolate based on the information you can more easily collect about your prospects with thorough prospecting.
The power in psychographics comes when you combine it with other areas like firmographics, demographics, and technographics. These other traits are searchable and shared between prospective companies and contacts.
With the use of firmographics, you can start to understand the company culture, maybe get a feel for their buying habits and spending cycles. These are straightforward things like headcount, revenue, country of operation. Company descriptors are important here too, which may be found in subindustry classifications or by filtering for specific keywords. Let’s say you’re selling to a marketing agency… Great! But which kind? Brand? Content? Creative? It matters.
For a big company, you need to think big. Remember there are many stakeholders and considerations. More formal process, paperwork, and approval may be required. For a small company, you might be able to get this done with one email to the CEO. Getting to the point with informal (but still professional) language that’s direct—that might be the ticket.
When it comes to using the demographic data you collect, you can learn how to best speak to and serve the person you’re pursuing. If you aren’t speaking their language and aligning with their values/motives for the job, it won’t stick.
Here, it’s time to think about what it’s like to be in their role. What department are they in and how do they think of their job? If you are selling a solution to HR professionals, do they think of their job as being focused on compliance and administration? Or do they consider themselves in PeopleOps, the heartbeat of the company and an extension of the CEO? How long have they been in their role? What educational attainment is required for them to do their job?
Lastly, can you use technographics to help you gain clarity around the things the company values? Are they using a current technology stack for things like frameworks, payment processing, or their website? This gives you a sense that using the latest tools matters to them. They might want convenient integrations and for everything to be compatible with current standards.
Are they investing in premium tools? For example, are they self-hosting their website or are they paying for hosting with a premium provider? This type of decision shows you that they have a strong sense of “make vs. buy”, and are open to buying products or services that might enable them to focus on what makes them unique.
How can Intro CRM help?
Here at Intro CRM, we strive to make sales as easy as possible. When you work with us, we handle the boring parts. We help define the criteria for your leads, find the most accurate data possible, and build your lists. All you have to do is give us feedback on the lead lists we generate for you. We the qualified leads for you and you’re off to the races.
We work with you to create sales efforts you’re proud of. We want to help you close deals and find repeatable ways to acquire new customers. If that sounds interesting, let’s chat!
