The Importance of Technographic Data in B2B Prospecting

Gartner analysts predict the global B2B SaaS market, currently valued at an impressive $145B, is already on track to grow another 40% over the next two years. 

Even in today’s sluggish economy, there’s still considerable demand for B2B SaaS. So, for sellers like you, having the right tools in your stockpile can give you that little extra edge when it comes to finding the right customers for your business. Technographic data is one such resource that makes the B2B prospecting process faster, simpler, and much more precise.

Read on to learn what technographic data is, how it’s used, and the impact it has on B2B prospecting.

What is technographic data?

Technographic data is information relating to an organization’s use of technology products, services, and solutions. It can tell you what kinds of tech tools a company has in its arsenal, details of their implementation, and potential challenges they present.

When you and your team get to prospecting, you can use these insights to craft tailored product offerings that align with target customers’ unique technology needs. And this sneak peek into their technology stacks provides the perfect opportunity to prioritize sales efforts and propel the customer journey forward.

What’s a technology stack?

A technology stack (or tech stack) is a collection of tools and services a company uses to build and run applications across its digital infrastructure. Each tool in the stack creates, analyzes, and ingests data in such a way to ensure a specific application runs smoothly for each and every user. Think of it like an imaginary Jenga^Ò tower, with each block representing a certain tool, code, or programming language. All these blocks stack on top of one another, exchanging data back and forth to make sure an application operates at peak capacity.

Now, there are different types of tech stacks depending on an organization’s specific business focus. So, for example, a company’s marketing department will most likely employ a marketing tech stack (or martech stack) to execute any number of activities to attract, nurture, and convert quality leads. That martech stack might look a little like this:

Similarly, sales teams also employ their own curated tech stack of applications to help make their jobs more efficient. That sales tech stack might look something like this:

You can see how each application is stacked on top of each other, integrating, analyzing, and ingesting data to ensure each program runs smoothly for all users across the organization.

However, it’s important to remember any changes made to an existing tech stack can pose significant impact on a company’s digital ecosystem, including limited integration capability and a less-than-optimal user experience. That’s why companies need to be sure they find the right mix of tech tools to set their teams up for success.

And since companies don’t typically share information about their tech stacks to the outside public, access to technographic insights is a real treat for B2B sellers like you. Technographic data gives you a clearer understanding of the front and back-end technologies of prospective customers, which then allows you to design compelling, personalized communications that align with the technology needs of potential buyers.

How is technographic data sourced?

When it comes to sourcing and collecting technographic data, you can pick one of three options: (1) issue surveys, (2) scrape information from websites, or (3) partner with a third-party vendor.

Surveys:

Whether it’s by phone, email, or through third-party researchers, you can issue surveys to various technology users at target companies. The information you gather will help you develop a deeper understanding of target accounts’ technology needs, challenges, and overall effectiveness.

Website scraping:

You can also use scraping tools to extract detailed information from a company’s website regarding its use of tech solutions. And while this method might offer more accurate intel than a self-commissioned survey, it does require some technical know-how to ensure these scraping tools zero in on relevant data.

Third-party vendors:

The most accurate way to collect technographic insights is to partner up with a . These companies have the ability to source comprehensive, reliable, and relevant technographic data sets from across the web, which you can then purchase to help streamline prospecting efforts.

How does technographic data help B2B sales prospecting?

Since there’s no way of getting a complete, detailed blueprint of target customers’ tech stacks, technographic data really is the next best thing. These sourced insights give you as much information as possible to develop authentic messaging that resonates with prospective customers’ technology needs. Once a prospect sees you understand their unique business case or concern, you’re one step closer to conversion.

Here are some of the more specific benefits technographic data brings to B2B prospecting:

The more granular you can get in the prospecting process, the better you’ll be able to tailor sales strategies to the needs and concerns of potential customers, and technographic data allows you to do just that. Teams can leverage technographic insights to properly segment accounts based on common necessities and objectives. You can then use this info to tailor outreach messaging and product offers for each of those individual segments.

More relevant sales communications

There’s an old expression that goes, “You catch more flies with honey than vinegar.” It’s cute way of saying that the best way to win someone over is to play the nice-guy card. But when it comes to B2B prospecting, that honey should also be paired with a heaping spoonful of industry expertise. That’s why technographic data is so important—it allows you to formulate friendly, personalized interactions backed by data-driven insights, which goes a long way with prospects.

Better lead prioritization

Learning how to prioritize sales opportunities is a hugely important skill, especially when it comes to prospecting, and technographic data is just another resource to help make the prospecting process even smoother. By applying technographic insights to your list of prospects, you get a much clearer picture of your customer profile, which helps you refine your list of qualified leads even further.

Better yet, you can add intent data into the mix and really differentiate between who’s sales-ready (i.e., sales qualified) and who’s just browsing.

Boosted conversion rates

Once you get a good sense of who, among all prospects, presents the better sales opportunity, you can concentrate all your efforts on these high-priority buyers moving forward, which boosts chances for conversion. Since technographic data is so huge in helping optimize segmentation, engagement, and lead prioritization efforts, it’s a significant factor in driving conversion and speeding the sales cycle.

Enhanced ABM efforts

Technographic data not only helps drive effective sales prospecting; it also allows you to deliver more personalized marketing messaging to each account. For instance, let’s say technographic data reveals a segment of your target prospects all employ a specific tool in their respective tech stacks. Now you can align with your marketing cohorts to craft an account-focused campaign, highlighting how seamlessly your solution integrates with that particular tool. In this way, technographic data gives you the ability to get as granular as possible with your ABM efforts and focus on accounts that matter most.

Technographically speaking…

Technographic data is a game changer for B2B tech sellers worldwide. It allows you to speak intelligently to prospects’ technology issues and determine the best prospecting approach for each customer segment. More importantly, technographic insights eliminate all that frustrating guesswork from the prospecting process, making it that much easier to spot revenue-driving opportunities with utmost efficiency. Finally, combining technographic data with other key intel, like firmographics or intent data, delivers a much clearer picture of your ideal customer. Once you know which prospects fit the criteria of your ICP, you can design more strategic outreach that moves the needle closer to conversion.

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